Gaajan/Charak photos on Photojournale

I haven't been out on the streets with my camera for some days now. Sort of a sabbatical from photography; well if clicking the shutter is all that is about photography. However I worked on my photographs that I took during Bengali New Year celebration and published them on Photojournale:

"Rituals to celebrate Bengali New Year are many. Rural agrarian Bengal used to welcome the new year with the festival of Gaajan/Charak. It is a month long celebration that spans through the last month of Bengali calendar, Chaitra."

More text and photos at Photojournale : Photo journal stories and photo documentary from around the world

I am also putting some efforts recently to roll my new blog with Wordpress: Babbles of a deranged mind. This is in most part a text-only blog and in no way related to my photo-projects. I wish to let loose my ideas and opinions about the world around me through words in this place. I would really like to see you all in my new blog and hope you will find it interesting as much as this one.

Thanks for viewing!!

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Best wishes on World Dance Day

Dance is an integral part of Human existence. Before people learnt to use verbal languages for communication they used systematic movement of body parts as a form of sign language. Even for a successful hunting expedition it was mandatory to perform the ritualistic magic of hunting dance. Today dance is an important component of rehabilitation efforts and therapies organized for the amelioration of emotionally, psychologically or socially challenged people.

To draw the attention of general people towards the contribution of dance to human history and society and to build up awareness about different forms of dances, International Dance Council CID, UNESCO has specified 29th April of every year to celebrate World Dance Day, in the year 1982. All organizations and individuals associated with dance and dancing are requested to organize activities to reach a broader audience than usual.

I have some photographs of dancing from different festivals, ceremonies and rituals that I was fortunate to witness and thought to share them with you on this occasion. So I created the slideshow attached below. I believe the photographs are evidence of pervasiveness of dancing in our society.

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Summer is approaching...

This is the last month of Bengali calendar, Chaitra. We are at the threshold of the summer season. Well the truth is we are already into it. Report shows persistent temperature rise in the country, and as a result we are having short lived winter, prolong and tiring summer and untimely rain and storms. Not long back there used to be occasional thunder storm and cyclone during this time bringing relief from heat and humidity; even I have seen it in my childhood days. We call this climatic phenomenon Kaalboishakhi. But from the past few years it has become a rare event. So now we are enduring a long and sticky summer season.

Like changes in climatic condition there are changes in cultural horizon also. Chaitra is the witness to a month long observation of some rituals, that in many cases spills over to the first month of the new year Baishakh. We call it Gaajan and mostly the people from lower rung of the society are the participants. This is a folk religious celebration where an aboriginal god is the central deity whose priest is also a member of the participating community though now a days the festival has been related to the Hindu god Shiva and a Brahmin is seen to take up the role of the priest. Likewise the festival has lost its splendor and ferocity of celebration in Kolkata and its suburbs. The original spirit can now only be found within some interior pockets of rural Bengal.

Social scientists and cultural historians have shown the celebration to be a fertility ritual for an agricultural community where people pray for good rain and fertility of their land in the wake of a dry summer season. It has been shown to be a celebration of marriage between the Sun God and the Earth. The Hindi speaking people from Bihar also worship the Sun God during Chaitra which they call "Chaiti Chhat". The purpose seems to be the same, that is to pray for fertility and good harvest.

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Community get-together

"Mela" is a Bengali word whose nearest English expression should be "a get-together". It is an occasion when members of a community, may be people of a religious sect or people from neighbouring villages, come out to meet each other in an open space to exchange pleasantries, to discuss social issues, to take part in trade or just for general merry making and celebrating a special occasion. A "mela" is generally organized to commemorate an event important to the community or as part of some religious celebration. Thus a "mela" plays an important role in community life by helping to maintain unity and fellow-feeling among the members.

Recently I had the opportunity to be present at two "mela" celebrations in the villages of Bengal. One is called "Pir Gorachand Er Mela", that is a mela celebration dedicated to "Pir Gorachand" who is an Islamic saint and another one is "Matua Dharma Mahamela" which is the grandest religious festival of the people of "Matua" sect. Both were organized to celebrate important religious occasions to the respective communities of people.

"Pir Gorachand Er Mela" is the biggest mela celebration at Harua, a village in North 24 Parganas. The three days long celebration commemorates death anniversary of a Muslim saint "Pir Gorachand" and it starts on 11th day of the month Falgun of Bengali Calendar. Both Hindus and Muslims of the village and neighbouring regions participate in this mela to pay homage to the saint. However, according to the historians "Pir Gorachand" is more a mythical character, as no historical evidence can be found about his activities in the region. The stories that run in his name speak about the conflicts and struggles that Islam has to endure during its initial period in India and how people at lower rung of the society embraced Islam to escape torturous hands of uppler class rulers. This year when I got news of the mela celebration the actual three days celebration was already over. But the stalls set up for the mela would be there for the next ten days and I found people still throbbing with enthusiasm to flock to the mela ground.

The next one was held at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas. It started on 21st March this year and ran for a week; but the main celebration was on last Tuesday when an estimated 25 Lacs of devotees visited the place. The mela is organised to celebrate birth anniversary of Thakur Harichand (1811 - 1877), the founder of the "Matua" sect, who is considered as an incarnation of Vishnu by his followers. "Matua" is a religious movement in Bengal, in the same spirit of the "Bhakti" movement of Sri Chaitanya. It strives to address the issue of outcastes within the realm of Hinduism and preaches not to discriminate among people on racial ground. The movement soon became popular among the people from the lower strata of the society and it is now one of the important facets of Dalit movement in India. The sect has a huge base of Dalit devotees all throughout India at present. This made the sect quite attractive to the political parties aiming to bank on the huge base of Dalit voters to wrest power.

A "mela" is a living history of a region and of the community as well. The two above mela celebrations made me able to have a closer look at the life and history of common people in my country. Here I shall like to request my readers to let me know about any other interesting mela celebrations, that you become aware of. You can consider posting comments to this article or can reach me in my mailbox at santanu[dot]chakrabarti[@]gmail[dot]com.
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Emotion in animals

Do animals have emotions, as human beings understand it? It is a debatable topic. Different people have different ideas and they put forth reasons supporting their views. I personally would like to believe that emotional feelings is also a feature of animal mind, at least it should be there in higher mammals. The scientific reason behind this being that emotions arise in limbic system which humans share with other mammals as well. Recent scientific experiments also suggest that in case of primates and canines only emotion can explain certain behavioral traits. However it is hard to resolve the ambiguity completely as we can neither obtain spoken answers, nor assume anthropomorphism.

Whether animals have emotions or not, they are used, in many cases now-a-days, as emotional supports for humans, therapeutically. Animals have, for long, been known to provide physical and emotional aid to disabled people. However, these days physicians are actually prescribing pets like dogs, cats, birds, etc. to help with a variety of ailments. It is believed that pet's ownership makes a person more active, increasing physical activity on a daily basis thus reducing stress, blood pressure, lowering cholesterol etc. as physical benefits. Moreover, pets' unconditional love and acceptance solve many societal issues for people living alone or who don't have any close relative with them.

Events like pet-shows act as a platform where pet owners, breeders and other businesses related to the pets get the chance to know each other. In Kolkata during December and January different kennel clubs arrange for dog shows and this years on 18th January I had the chance to be present in one such dog show organized by Calcutta Kennel Club. I am not a knowledgeable person about dogs and their different breeds. But I enjoyed being there, amidst so many different types of dogs. I enjoyed observing the expressions on their faces and took photographs of some of those expressive faces. One cannot miss to recognize the emotions painted on those faces.

I hope you will enjoy the photographs from the dog show in my Picasa album.
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Varanasi: City on the Trident of Shiva

It was well past midnight when I got down from the train, at last, at Varanasi station. The train was eight hours late just to bring us from Allahabad to Varanasi. General compartment of the train was packed with pilgrims and their baggages so no place to sit or move around, just on feet all through. It was a special day for bathing and a huge crowd flocked to Allahabad to take a dip. The boarders were just a fraction of the folk who decided to return home that night.

Where to go at this late hour? All the telephone numbers I had with me just kept ringing with no one to attend them. Luckily the second class waiting room appeared to be a nice place to spend the night sitting there. It had a cafeteria too and I filled up my stomach with a steaming "masala dosa" quickly. I decided to leave the station at 5 O'clock in the morning and expected the darkness to start fading by then.

When it was just a few minutes left for 5 in the morning, I looked through the windows of the rest room and in my eagerness to be at the ghats of Varanasi I took the bright light of the floods outside as the cracking of the dawn. But I was soon put to reality as I was out looking for a rickshaw to take me to Dashashwamedh ghat. And then began the journey which I can't forget for my life. It was pitch-black with thick fog and save the area of the railway station there was no street light. One could not see just a few paces away and I could not make out if I am passing through a jungle or a residential place. Only a few illuminated windows assured me that there were buildings on both sides of the street. The rickshaw-puller was driving quite fast. I could not feel the cold in excitement; did I take a wrong decision? No one could save us if somebody attacked us, no one could even know what had happened before it was pretty late in the morning.

It was only after a twenty or twenty-five minutes ride that I first heard human voices, a group of devotees singing the praise of God Shiva. We passed them shortly after and I was assured that we were heading towards the right direction. After a few more minutes the rickshaw-puller brought me near a tea-shop, "We have reached the ghat, Sir".
"Where is it?"
"Just a few paces away from this place. You see the pilgrims are coming for bathing."

True he was; these pilgrims seemed to be the ones returning home from Allahabad, at least some of them. The tea-shop was also full with customers. I paid the rickshaw-puller and followed the pilgrims towards the Dashashwamedh ghat. During that dark hours the place appeared like a dreamland. There was no light except a neon lamp high above, but the light could not penetrate thick fog. The place was crowded with pilgrims and priests, shadowy human figures. Oil lamps were burning under the umbrellas and sometimes sudden burst of light from hand-held torches. People were moving hastily, may be to ward off cold. I was seated by the steps watching the activities and enjoying the place. The bells in the nearby temples started chiming by then.

I was waiting for the morning light. I had to arrange for a safe place to stay and keep my luggage, then I could come down to the ghat again to shoot in the fog...

And afterward it was all a usual story for a newcomer in Varanasi.

PS: To see more photographs on Varanasi please visit my web-album.

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Shuva Vijaya Dashami

In English the title may be stated as "The blessed tenth day of victory" (though I am not a great translator). This is the day when, it is believed that, Lord Rama got victory over Ravana thus marking the victory of good over evil. Last Thursday was the day for this year.

On this day the four days long Durga puja festival in Bengal also comes to its end. Durga puja is the biggest get together event for Bengalees around the globe. Now is the time to bid adieu to our friends and relatives to get back to our work again.

The idol is taken to the river Ganga (or any near by river) for immersion. Some rituals are observed before immersion, like the ritual of vermillion (sindoor/bindi), farewell ritual using a mirror, greeting the idol with sweets before leaving for immersion, etc. On the bank of the river members of the family (girls and boys alike) perform free-style dance before the idol to greet the Goddess before bidding farewell for the year. Huge number of pople flock to the bank of the river to watch the ceremony and the balloon vendors, the candy sellers and other hawking people take this opportunity to make a few bucks on this festive season. But these days they are not alone; big names also arrange ad-campaigns at these sites to spread brand awareness.


In Kolkata one may also watch enactment of the battle between Lord Rama and Ravana (Ramlila); this year it took place in the ground near "Shahid Minaar". The show was arranged by "Punjabee Bradree" in presence of some ministers of the state and other dignitaries. At the end of the show it is customary to burn effigies of Ravana and his brothers by throwing fire crackers at them. This year, though fire crackers were thrown at them, the effigies could not be set on fire as they had already been soaked in water by city administrators in fear of a possible accident.

To see more photographs please check my Picasa web album.
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Chinese Moon Festival in Kolkata

The Moon festival, also known as Mid-autumn festival, falls on the fifteenth (15th) day of the eighth (8th) lunar month of the Chinese calender. Mythological story of the fairy in the moon and a popular story, though historically unsupported, of overthrowing the Mongol rulers from China by the rebels are associated with this festival. On the whole it is a harvest festival when farmers celebrate the end of summer harvesting season and a get-together is organized with the family members and friends. Eating moon cakes and lighting decorated lanterns are some of the customs of this occasion.
In Kolkata the Indian Chinese community celebrated the festival, this year, on 14th September. A very close knit community of about four thousand members, they started the day with a special worship session at Sea Ip temple. Traditional rituals were observed with utmost sincerity. People offered some citrus fruits and mooncakes to the deities, and prayed for blessings. Some holy papers had been burnt by the devotees as part of the ritual. To satisfy the curiosity of the present writer the person maintaining the temple told that they were not simple papers, they represented money. However he didn't feel interested to explain the ritual to any detail. Mooncakes were sold in huge numbers in the nearby morning market.


The Indian Chinese Association organized a two days long programme to observe the festival at Sacred Heart School. On the first day, that is 13th September, a Fan Drawing competition was held. The children from the community were encouraged to run wild with their creativity to come up with beautiful decorating pictures for their fans. Frames made of bamboo were provided to them which they pasted with their drawings to turn them into nice hand fans. Seniors in the association chose the winners of the competition who were awarded in the function the next day.

The next day, that is 14th September, was the festival day and a colourful community get-together was organized. The Deputy Consul General Mr. Wen Zhencai was the honourable guest to this event. Children and youngsters from the community took part in the game shows and different musical performances to celebrate the occasion. The event was also a platform to awake curiosity in the mind of the youngsters about the culture of their forefathers and to strengthen community feeling among the Chinese living in Kolkata.PS: To see more photographs of the festival please visit my Picasa album.
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