The Charak Devotee

Our photographer Pranabesh Das took this interesting picture of the Charak Puja Festival in Bangladesh.  The event is unique in the context of Bengali festivals and dedicated to penance. Men and women who participate in the ritual have to fast for an entire month, every day from sunrise to sunset, and in between they live strictly of fruits. On the day of the festival (the Charak or Gajan), bamboo stages are made on bamboo poles, 10 to 15 feet high. Then the devotees climb onto the bamboo stage and hurl themselves forward. “The festival not only reflects blind faith but also the eagerness to accept penance on the road to achieve salvation!”