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Dussera
Another occasion for the worship of the Ganga is the Dussera
festival in mid-summer. All along the banks of the Bhagirathi, people
take ceremonial baths in the river, offer worship to mother Ganga and
distribute alms to beggars, supposedly to earn a bonus of religious merit.
Siva, admitted to the Hindu pantheon as Mahadeva or god
of gods accounts for the festival of Sivarathri . On a new moon night
in February-March, thousands and thousands of pilgrims assemble at the
principle Siva temples. The temple at Tarakeshwar in Hooghly district
attracts lakhs of pilgrims and a fair with all its features spring up.
Siva, in the form of Neel (Nilakantha or blue throated ) is the object
of a month-long celebration of sections of the scheduled castes,
particularly the section of tribals who have settled in non-tribal areas
and those in 'unclean' occupations, which come to a climax on the last
day of the Bengali year when ecstatic devotees of Siva throw themselves
on specially prepared planks studded with sharp nails and hang suspended
on a cross bar tied atop a pole by the skin of their back, which has been
pierced through, by a skewer. This is the Charhak festival which invariably
draws thousands of spectators to the awe-inspiring scene of incredible
acts of self-mortification, a surviving remnant of degenerate Tantric
practices. People of upper castes especially women, observe complete fasts
on the day and offer worship to Siva. Fairs are invariably held on the
occasion in towns and villages, where toys and other handiwork of artisans
are put up for sale. The participants take out teams of clowns in farcical
dresses, chanting rugged doggerels in criticism of current fashions and
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