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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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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Muharram this year and other titbits...

The January was a particularly eventful month. There were lots of events to photograph and there were lots of good and bad in my own life. Well life can never be without events. But some of them I shall like to remember always. I met Michal and Ilona for the first time at Kolkata, and we spent lots of time shooting together, eating, chatting or simply passing away time together. Thank you Michal and Ilona!! I met Anamitra also for the first time on the day I left for Allahabad. And yes I went to Allahabad to shoot at Magh Mela and on my way back home stayed at Varanasi for two days.

This year I actually wanted to visit Sagar island during Sagar Mela. Previously it was planned that I, Jonathan, Michal and Ilona, all four will start for Sagar on 12 January. And I met Jonathan again after an year at Kolkata. But unfortunately the plan couldn't be realized and I couldn't go to Sagar. Later my luck took me to Allahabad instead.

8 January was Muharram this year. It was a grand festival among the Muslims of the city that spans through two days: 7 and 8 January this year. We went through the streets of Kolkata to capture the mood of the celebration. I made the slideshow below with the photographs that I took.


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The day of the deads

The last 2nd November was All Souls' Day. Catholic Christians pay homage to their passed away relatives on this day. They visit the crematory, decorate the grave with flowers and lit candles. They spend the evening in the memory of their near and dear ones who left them on the earth.

Theology of Purgatory is behind the observance of this ritual. It is believed that after the soul leaves the material body it awaits cleansing from its venial sins before God takes it into His Heaven. The faithfuls on the earth can help the soul in this state by prayers, almsdeeds and the sacrifice of the Mass. It is believed that, though praying for the dead is an ancient Christian tradition, the day and the ritual was made popular by the Abbot of Cluny, in 998AD, in his monasteries which gradually spread throughout the Catholic Church later days.

What is most striking to me is the fact that different communities with different religion also observe similar rituals in one way or the other. We Hindus, for example, have some special days throughout the year to pay homage to our deceased elders and the idea behind those rituals is to please those deceased souls and to bring them peace at Heaven. All these, it seems, somehow hint a common ancestry, a common origin, for all the religions and hence for all the human communities on the earth.


You can see more photographs of All Souls' Day in my web album.

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Deepavali - Festival of Light

Diwali or Deepavali is the festival of light celebrated by the Hindus, Jains and Sikhs. It is observed on the new moon day of the month Kartika. Many legends are associated with this festival. Hindus believe that on this day Lord Rama returned to his kindom after defeating demonic Ravana. Jains observe Diwali as the day of enlightenment, when Lord Mahavira attained nirvana. For Sikh's it is the day when Guru Hargobind ji was released from captivity at Gawalior Fort.


People decorate their houses, shops, temples, and their neighbourhoods with lamps and observe a ritual to drive away evil force from their house. Fire crackers are burnt as part of the celebration. In Bengal goddess Kali is worshipped at midnight on this day.
To see more photographs of Diwali please visit my 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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Mahalaya - The first day of "Devi paksha"

"Mahalaya" is the day from which countdown starts for the biggest festival of autumn season in Bengal. This is the new moon day that marks the end of "Pitri paksha", that is the period of the Gods, and the beginning of "Devi paksha", that is the period of the Goddesses. This is the day to pay homage to our ancestors to seek their blessings before we get into the celebration mood of the festival days.


People flock to the nearby banks of the river Ganga to observe the rituals of Mahalaya. Priests come early to execute the ritualistic procedures for themselves and to look for opportunities to earn a few extra money by guiding others who seek to be their "Yajmans" (the customers). Others set up temporary stalls on the bank of the river to sell items related to the ritual.

It is the festive season knocking at the door. So everyone is eager for that extra money which they can earn on this occasion. Even the children living in the streets nearby get into their business of fishing out the coins thrown at the river Ganga as offerings. They throw a stack of ring shaped magnets tied with a very long nylon thread into water to pull out the coins for them.The preparation for the four days long festival picks up huge momentum from this day.

To see all the photographs of Mahalaya please visit my Picasa album.
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