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.