This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Charak Puja" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.(October 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
(Learn how and when to remove this message)
Charak Puja
Charak Puja being performed at village Narna, Howrah, April 2014.
Also called
Nil Puja, Hajrha Puja
Observed by
Hindus
Type
Hindu
Significance
Done in order to supposedly gain prosperity and success from the Hindu Gods, Shiva and Durga.
Date
Midnight of Songkran ( 13–14 April )
Charak Puja or Pachamara Mela (also known as Chadak, Nil Puja or Hajrha Puja)[1] is a Hindu folk festival held in honor of the deity Shiva. The festival is observed in the Indian state of West Bengal and in Bangladesh on the last day of the month of Chaitra (Choitro in the Bengali calendar) at midnight.[2][3]
People believe that by satisfying Shiva, the festival will bring prosperity to them, eliminating the sorrow and sufferings of the previous year.
The preparation usually starts a month in advance. The people responsible for the arrangement of the festival go from village to village to procure the necessary components like paddy, oil, sugar, salt, honey, money and other items needed for the ritual. At midnight of Songkranti, the worshippers gather to worship Shiva and Ma Durga for success. Afterwards a puja, the prasad (Items blessed by the deity) are distributed.[4]
Rarely, it’s also known as "Hajrha Puja". Women fast before this festival and male devotees swing from a pole with hooks being attached to the pole with ropes thrust through their backs.[5]
^from Syncretism, Narratives. "Mid-Seventeenth-Century Mughal Bengal: A Study of Social Transformation and Narratives from Syncretism to Conflict." Himachal Pradesh University Journal: 45.
^Ghosh, Abhik; Sinha, Anil Kishore (October 2007). "A Second Charak Festival from Delhi". The Anthropologist. 9 (4): 289–294. doi:10.1080/09720073.2007.11891014. ISSN 0972-0073. S2CID 80082768.
^"Charak Puja 2022: Charak Puja Priested by Fallen Brahmins! Know the unknown story". bangla.aajtak. in. 14 April 2022. p. 1. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
^Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China and Australasia. Wm. H. Allen & Company. 1839.
^Oddie, Geoffrey A. (1995). Popular religion, elites, and reform : hook-swinging and its prohibition in colonial India, 1800-1894. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 81-7304-101-6. OCLC 33970904.
CharakPuja or Pachamara Mela (also known as Chadak, Nil Puja or Hajrha Puja) is a Hindu folk festival held in honor of the deity Shiva. The festival is...
Charak may refer to: Bandar Charak, a city in Iran Charak, Bushehr, a village in Iran Charaka, ancient Ayurveda figure CharakPuja, a folk festival of...
public meetings, rally and various programs related to this festival. Charakpuja (Pohela Boishakh) the Bengali new year, is one of the most important...
film The Road to El Dorado, Miguel takes part in the ritual. Joyabaj CharakPuja Wilkerson, S. Jeffrey K (1987). El Tajin: A Guide for Visitors. pp. 75–76...
Chandra Bose and Saraswati Puja. The spring festival of Holi is celebrated in the form of Dolyatra. The year ends with CharakPuja and Gajan. Kalighat Temple...
celebrated in the form of Dolyatra or Holi. The year ends with CharakPuja and Gajan. Durga Puja became the main religio-cultural celebration within the Bengal...
indigenous culture with the culture of others, like mixing it with that of CharakPuja. According to the SEACO, such mixing of indigenous cultures with non...
secular Bengal, such as folk-songs, Puthi recitation, Chaitra Sankranti or CharakPuja, embroidery, rural fairs, Bahas etc. Finally, Kazi sent Anu to a Madrasa...
Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal, India. Famous for its annual CharakPuja, this village has well-developed social facilities like schools, post...
built of laterite, but had subsequent additions of sandstone and brick. CharakPuja is celebrated in the Bengali month of Choitro with great enthusiasm....
deities in Maharashtra state of India. Bagad is a similar concept to CharakPuja, Gajan (festival) or Indian parallel of Mexican Danza de los Voladores...
Bengali calendar. Jatiya Pitha Utsab — National Pitha (Cake) Festival. Charak — 3-day-long festival in Pabna starting on the last day of the Bangla month...
established in 1927. The villagers used to have lot of festival. Charak festival or CharakPuja is used to take place in the last day of every Bengali year...
gram Mallarpur. Phulkhela (literally play with flowers) is held during CharakPuja at Malleswar. At this phulkhela, bhaktas walk on burning wood. Dharma...
University Press. pp. 395 note 76. ISBN 978-0-19-803071-3. Charak & Billawaria 1998, p. 45. Charak & Billawaria 1998, p. 90. Warikoo2009, p. 97-98. Mukhtar...
dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-25. Singh, K. S.; Pandita, K. N.; Charak, Sukh Dev Singh; Rizvi, Baqr Raza; India, Anthropological Survey of (2003)...
History of Kashmir 1994, p. 184. Stein, Kalhana's Rajatarangini 1989, p. 432. Charak, Sukh Dev Singh (1985). A Short History of Jammu Raj: From Earliest Times...
including Bhuyera, organised Sankranti Mela on Charak Sankranti at Dhonkora. Maliara Rajbari first started Durga Puja in Bhuyera in the 17th century and is still...
Retrieved 2023-03-17. K. N. Pandita; Kumar Suresh Singh; Sukh Dev Singh Charak; Baqr Raza Rizvi (2003), Jammu & Kashmir (Volume 25 of People of India:...
recorded to have been founded by one Bhagawan who was born in A.D. 1449. Charak, Sukh Dev Singh; Billawaria, Anita K. (1998). Pahāṛi Styles of Indian Murals...
not advance Shivpreet Pannu 9.956 14 Q Sallsabillah (INA) L −2.926 Shivani Charak Shivpreet Pannu Anisha Verma Women Relay 39.598 6 — Did not advance...
2010. "Fairs". National Informatics Centre. Retrieved 7 February 2010. Charak, Sukh Dev Singh (1979). Himachal Pradesh, Volume 2. Light & Life Publishers...