The last day of Gajan
festival has approached and we are on our way to Krishnadevpur to attend the
Charak festival, date is 14th April, every year on this date is
Charak. We bid adieu to our wonderful
Host’s and their family members and troop off to Krishnadevpur,
Our previous day scouting
trip had prepared us for the lay of the village of Krishnadevpur and we knew
where to find the artists getting ready for the walk around the village. Mondir
Tola
Almost every character has a
story to tell and it is a interesting time listening to there stories and watching
them enact the mythological interpretations in there own way.
As evening set in we headed
to Krishnadevpur High school ground where the most authentic and 67 year old
Charak is celebrated. Started by Khokon
Sanyasi.
One Mr. Nepali Sardar a
fisherman
Guided us by profession who is a sanyasi, his
3 sons too have been part of the charak festival and have taken the Hook (it is
a ritual where they hang themselves from the skin to show there devotion to
Lord Shiva)
Charak is traditionally the
worship of the charak tree, which is a straight trunk of a tree with no
branches and going up to 40 feet in height.
The charak tree is believed to
be home of male and female form of Lord
shiva and a mask of “Ardhinareshwar” will be placed on this tree before it is
hosted up.
The trunk is worshipped and
planted into the ground and a cross pole made on bamboo is fixed on top, which
will hold the pierced and hooked devotees when they hang from the rope
suspended from the charak.
As we walked to the school
ground we came across a sanyasi who had on previous occasion taken the hook, we
saw the marks on his body that he claimed heals in 15 days tops with no
medication.
There is another group who
pierces their tongues and cheeks and various parts of their face with thin
metal spikes.
There is no blood and the
sanyasis do not seem to be in pain of any sort , it is seen as a thing of pride
that they could take part in the ritual. There is a school of thought which suggest it is the men experiencing the pain of childbirth (like a role reversal) for the men.
The only healing process they
indulge in is applying the juices of the mango fruit from the tree on their
wounds
Those who take the hook and
hang themselves from the charak, while being hung often have infants handed to
them, it is considered good for the infant to be in the air and on the charak
in the arms of the sanyasi who is in the air.
Once suspended the charak top
is rotated with the help of a ancillary rope that is tied to the top bamboo
pole, and it is a manual process of a or a couple of sanyasis taking the charak
for a spin while the suspended sanyasi is hanging by his skin literally
While the sanyasi is
suspended at times he has offerings to god that he tosses to the devotees and
to the public in general
Charak comes to an end with the passage of the
evening to night, and we head back to our homes along with the devotees, we
have just witnessed an supreme effort by humans to appease Lord Shiva will he
be kind to his devotees and happy with there penance to answer there
prayers? The coming year will tell.
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