FROM A CORRESPONDENT
DIPHU, April 17: Folk festival Charak Puja was celebrated here with a lot of enthusiasm and devotion recently. Charak Puja is held on the last day of the Chaitra month of the Hindu calendar which celebrates the marriage of the sun and the earth. The festival is devoted to the Shiva and Durga.
The puja has been held since the time immemorial and the tradition still continue. It involves the worship of Shiva and Durga . In the idol one sees a single head consisting of two faces which is called ‘ Charak’ The charak which comes from the word chakra or the wheel represents the movement of the sun.
The most amazing part of this puja is when sanyasi priest pierces sharp hook at the bodies of participating sanyasi almost without any cut or injury. The bloodless piercing of sharp metals in human body by the practitioner priest looks like a magic act. The hook held man then fly circular path by the ropes fastened to the charak tree on one end and to the hook on the other . Some gets their tongue pierced with multiple needles and move around the charak tree The charak puja starts with a month of a fasting where the devotees live strictly on a fruit diet . The devotees believe that the charak puja helps one reach salvation.