Charak Puja: A Bengali Folk Festival

Dr. Dipendu Das

Charak Puja symbolises not only the co existence of human and nature but also mysticism; with the devotees feeling no pain inspite of being pierced and hung from hooks Dr.Dipendu Das elaborates.

Often in the mid of the month of April as one steps out of the busy urban space and enters the suburbs or the rural areas in the eastern part of India or Bangladesh, one may be greeted with loud drum beats, the sounds of Kashar and Ghanta accompanied by euphoric shout of applause or scream emerging out of a huge crowd in a large field. An attempt to trace the source in the midst of the din may present some extremely queer sights of the rituals of what is known as Charak Puja. Charak Puja is a folk festival popular among the downtrodden Hindu people, situated mostly in the rural areas in the eastern part of India, such as West Bengal and parts of Assam and also in certain regions of Bangladesh. It is celebrated on the last day of the month Chaitra of the Bengali calendar, which usually falls around April 14/15 every year. Though it is largely concentrated today among the subjugated and scheduled caste communities settled in rural areas, the festival in the past used to be held even in towns and cities.

Hutom Penchar Naksha, the celebrated satire written by Kaliprasanna Singha narrates the Charak festival held in the 19th century Kolkata – “The city of Calcutta is rocking at the sound of drums, the devotees are warming up and the blacksmiths are making all kinds of hooks”. The Englishmen called Charak Puja “the hook swinging festival”, which refers to the practice of the piercing of hooks in the human bodies and then swinging on the ropes tied to bamboos. The festival once held also in the towns, gradually lost its popularity among the urban masses and the upper caste populace and began to survive among the rural folk only. Being on the last day of the month of Chaitra, which is the last day of the year in Bengali calendar, the Charak festival in fact is a ritualistic farewell to the passing year and a reception to the coming year. It is believed that this celebration through penance helps in destroying all evil, suffering and pain faced in the year past and brings forth prosperity and happiness in the year to come.