Neel Puja

Another intriguing part of Gajan is the ‘Neel Puja’. The women of the household conduct this puja by offering milk to the ‘Shiva Lingam’ and praying for the well being of their family and children. This puja is done by the village women in the nearest temple of Shiva.

‘Neel’ comes from the word ‘Neelkantha’, which is another name of Shiva. Neel means the colour blue and kantha, means the throat. This puja is a symbol of the holy marriage of Shiva and Parvati. The women pray for their marriages to be blessed by the deities.

A priest conducting the rituals of Neel Puja. Image Courtesy: www.youtube.com

As per the Hindu scriptures, the Gods and Demons were fighting for the ‘amrita’, the drink of immortality; a fatal poison came out of the ‘Halahal’. To save the creation, The toxic poison was consumed by Shiva which in turn made is throat turn blue in colour. Hence the name ‘Neelkantha’ was bestowed upon him.

People in West Bengal nowadays celebrate ‘Neel Sashti’. The goddess Sashti is considered to bring well being to the women of the family and their children.

The Neel Puja is one of the major part of the Gajan festival and is majorly a ritual for the women only but at various places, fairs are organized for the entire village. Various plays and songs are dedicated towards the marriage of Shiva and Parvati.

Charak Puja

The most interesting part of Gajan festival is the ritual of Charak Puja.‘Charak’ is a kind of tree which is traditionally worshipped in this puja. The Gajan sanyasis perform various acts or stunts that are taken to be acts of penance.

The branch of the Charak tree is brought to the puja premises. The branch is made to stand erect on a spot and is balanced with the use of bamboos. The sanyasis then pray around it and perform those stunts which are considered to be an act of penance. After this ritual is over, the Charak branch is immersed in a river body.

Charak puja is setup using the branch of a Charak tree. Image Courtesy: Wikipedia

 The Charak branch is believed to be a form of ‘Ardhnarishwar’ (part Shiva and part Parvati). It is considered to be a holy tree traditionally. A face mask is designed to stay on top of the Charak branch before making it stand up straight. While mostly, the mask suggests the presence of Ardhnarishwar, people of some villages assume that the mask resembles ‘Harakali’

What can be really intriguing in Charak Puja is the fact that the Sanyasi priests insert immensely sharp needles and hooks into the bodies of the other sanyasis. The sanyasis consider this as a process of purifying one’s soul from all the sins of mortal life. The sanyasis then hang themselves using ropes from the Charak branch and swing around in circular motions. Sometimes they jump from such heights to the ground as a stunt performed for the worship of the deity.  

The villagers, on the days of Gajan festivities, consider these sanyasis to be close to godly spirit and hence, the localites touch their feet and ask for blessings. The place where The Charak Puja is done is secured very well to check that the onlookers do not get hurt while the sanyasis perform the stunts. The place is sanctified by performing various rituals before the Charak branch is erected there.

Gajan in various districts of West Bengal

      Gajan is celebrated in various ways in different districts of West Bengal. Each district posses a specific characteristic of Gajan festivity to boast upon. Following are the various ways in which of Gajan is celebrated in these districts:

Nabadwip District-

      The Gajan celebration at Nabadwip includes worship of seven forms of Shiva. At a time, the sanyasis pray at only one temple of Shiva but they do so with each of these forms. The sanyasis fast throughout the day and do not even drink water. In the evening, they break their fast by eating fruits and sweets.

      The ‘Buro Shib’ of Buro Shib Tala at Nabadwip is considered the most ancient among the rest of the temples of Shiva. During the start of the yatra, Buro Shib is bathed first which is follwed by bathing of the rest of the Shivas.

Bardhaman District-

      Kurmun, Palashi and Sena Palashi are one of the places, famous in Bardhaman, for their Gajan festival and fairs. Four days before the fair is set up, the localites take up the ‘sanyas vrata’ and begin their fast. They fast throughout the day and break the fast in the evening by consuming ‘hobbishi’ cooked at their homes.

      The main attraction of Bardhaman’s Gajan was believed to be when the sanyasis dance with ‘Naramundu’ (human skull) or a dead body of a child.

      The fair goes on till 7-10 days with many events in between including ‘Jatra’, puppet-show and musical performances.

South 24 Parganas District-

      Just like the other districts, the Gajan celebration is pretty standard in this district. As the Sanyasis gear up to worship and fast, the localites prepare for various events and functions of Gajan.

       The ‘Palagaan’ groups perform at these functions. There are certain groups called ‘Satyanarayan Gajan Dal’ and ‘Lakhhinarayan Gajan Dal’ which are majorly famous to sing  and perform during the festivities of Gajan.

Hooghly District-

      Almost like the other districts, the main role is played by the Sanyasis or the Bhaktas in the festivities of Gajan here as well. The Sanyasis are inclusive of almost all the caste groups. The rituals of Gajan are strictly follwed with the localites taking up the vrata and fasting for their wish-fulfilment.

      Sanyasis, belonging to lower castes, attempt the deadly rituals of ‘Banfoda’ and ‘Shikh foda’. They insert sharp needles and hooks on their body as an act of purifying of their body and soul.

Gajan and the significance of ‘Dharmathakur’

Hindu deity Dharmathakur, also known by the names Dharmaraj and Dharma is worshipped by the rural communities of the Rarh region of West Bengal. Dharmathakur is worshipped during the months of ‘Baisakh’, ‘Jaistha’ and ‘Asarh’ and rarely on the concluding day of the month ‘Bhadro’. ‘Bauri’, ‘Bagdi’, ‘Hari’ and ‘Dom’ are the castes that celebrate the ‘Dharma Gajan’.

Although it is important to note that it were not these castes those wrote scriptures about Dharmathakur, but the upper caste Brahmins. The scriptures like ‘Dharma Purana’ by Mayura Bhatta’ and ‘Dharma Mangala’ by Mayura Bhatta are dedicated towards the deity. 

A shrine of Dharmathakur. Picture Courtesy: Wikipedia

Also Manik Ganguly, Ghanarama, Sahadeva Chakravarty, and Ruparama contributed to the scriptures related to Dharmathakur.

Dharmathakur’s Gajan is different from Shiva’s Gajan. The depiction of a horse is crucial in Dharma gajan, but not in Shiva’s gajan. The worshippers of Dharmathakur are called ‘Bhakta’ or ‘Bhaktia’. It is also believed that this Gajan celebrates the marriage of Dharmaraj with ‘Mukti’.

In the rituals of Dharma Gajan, the chief follower or Bhakta is pierced with arrows which are burnt using ghee or kerosene and lies down on the flaming ‘Baneswar’, depicting the lord of arrows. The other Bhaktas carry him around and some dance around it holding flaming arrows. During the Gajan’s main event, there is a dual representation of Dharmathakur’s wedding. The Bhaktas carry a heavy stone Baneshwar as well as a wooden Baneshwar. The women meanwhile carry a full pot or a ‘pura kalsi’ taken out from the nearest pond. Meanwhile, there are rituals performed in the temple which mark the ‘milan’ of Dharmaraj and Mukti. 

It is widely known that the Hindu gods and goddesses have individual ‘vahanas’, i.e. they rode the animals. Dharmathakur’s vahana is believed to be a horse. Contradictory to that belief, elephant is supposed to be the vahana of Dharmathakur. The terracotta and wodden horses are quite popular in the Rarh region of West Bengal because of the festivity surrounding ‘Dharma Gajan’.

THE FESTIVITIES OF GAJAN

Gajan is a folk festival celebrated widely in the state of West Bengal in India. This festival is celebrated mostly in the rural areas of the state. The term Gajan comes from the Sanskrit word “Garjan” which signifies the roaring sounds of the Sanyasis while performing the rituals. This roar is accompanied with music which is specific to the Gajan festival. 

It is celebrated during the period of  'Chaitra Sankranti' which begins with 14th March every year and ends with the traditional ritual of 'Charak Puja'. This festival is celebrated for a week and innumerous rituals and sacrifices are observed during the time being.

People arrive in large numbers from far off places to enjoy the fairs that are set up alongside the festivities. They witness the proceedings of the festival as there are a lot of stunts involved in the name of sacrifices to the deity. These stunts are performed by different communities during this festival.

One of the participants of Gajan sporting a pierced back with decorated iron needles
Source: http://www.indiamike.com/india-images/pictures/charakgajan-festival

It is widely believed that Gajan is associated with the mythological significance of Shiva’s marriage with 'Harakali' or 'Dharma Thakur’s marriage with 'Mukti'. Hence, this festival can primarily be classified into two forms on the basis of mythology.

The Sanyasis form the ‘Barjatri’ (i.e. groom’s party). People join the celebration in large numbers as it is believed that being a part of it can help them purify their soul. The Sanyasis who performs the rituals in this festival are believed to be the disciples of Shiva. 

Shiva’s Gajan is the most popular among the two forms and is celebrated to calm Lord Shiva as he, according to the Hindu scriptures, is regarded as the most powerful among the gods. It is believed that a person who wants to surrender his soul to the lord should take part in the proceedings of the festival to attain 'Moksh' (i.e. liberation of the soul from the cycle of birth and death).

The tribal sections of West Bengal mostly participate in this festival as they believe in devoting their lives to the worship of the almighty. 

As the rural areas of Bengal mostly depend on agriculture for their livelihood, one of the main reasons to celebrate this festival is to pray for the arrival of monsoon, so that there are no glitches in the upcoming year's harvest.