Charak Puja is one of the most celebrated Bengali festivals. The local people of Calcutta call it Batri Charak. Mainly in the rural areas, members of agricultural communities widely celebrate this festival. Charak Puja is devoted to Lord Shiva and Sakti, and people who celebrate this puja have to undergo a long fasting. During this fasting session, the devotees cannot eat from morning to evening and suffers from extreme physical pain. During Charak Puja, people taking up Brata and undergoing fasting, are only allowed to eat fruits and are bound to worship Shiva in order to get his blessings.
The day of Charak is also known as Gajan. On this particular day, stages are made of bamboo. The average height of this stage remains 10 to 15 feet. After, this long fasting session, when it gets over, the devotees get on the stage and start moving forward. On the other hand, knives, glass and thorns are spread all over the ground.
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Devotees fall on this ground, but are not hurt. It is believed that Lord Shiva has done this miracle by giving them his blessings.
There is another way, adopting which the devotees show their god's miracle by hurting their body parts and not showing the pain. This is how the extreme faith of the devotees is reflected through this puja. These devotees are popularly known as Charkia. Usually 10-12 members together perform this ritual. The main performer of this ritual is known as Deoboinshi. There are two types of Charak, (worship of Lord Shiva) one is Chak Charak, whereas, the other is Chila Charak.
Agomani Parghat is located at the Western bank of River Gangadhar. Since 1928, Charak Puja is taking place over here. Now-a-days, this place is popular for its “Charak Puja”. Usually this puja is held during the middle (14-15) of April. This festival is held on the day of Chaitra Samkranti.
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