Bengali year ending with Charak Utsav !
Bengali year ending is still celebrated through CHARAK UTSAV & MELA at Beadon Street in North Calcutta.This tradition has been going on for more than 200 years & people of Kolkata & many foreigners take great interest in witnessing Sanyasis swinging round & round the Charak Tree. After a month long fasting they offer prayer to Lord Mahadev. They go through a lot of hardship which includes jumping from a height of 15 to 20ft bamboo structures to sharp knives (Bonti )& other harmful materials. This happens at Chatu Babu's Bazar. On Poila Baishak they finally sit down for a sumptuous lunch at Chatu Babu's Thakurbari which marks the ending of their fasting month. It was probably in this Charak Mela where Swami Vivekananda held a running horse when it went berserk ! After all Swamiji lived nearby & could have attended this Chaitra Sankranti Mela !