190
Victor Rosner
Anthropos 61. 1966
On enquiry I was told that this chadrak puja is an essential part of the
mandap par ah. The hhakta who walk through the hre must take part in the
jagran; they must submit to this swinging in mid air.
Through my interviews in Tupudana I came to know that this swinging
in mid air was formerly done by means of large iron hooks, 12 to 18 inches in
length. These hooks pierced the flesh about the loins. It was by means of such
hooks that the hhakta was suspended and swung over the crowd. Such practices
were forbidden by the law, being considered criminal.
The old men of Tupudana told me that they had seen such hooks in use
for the chadrak puja in their village. They did not think it right to have done
away with these hooks. Like the fire the hooks left no harmful effects on the
hhakta who were as immune to the piercing of their flesh by iron hooks as they
were to treading fire with their feet 15 .
The hhakta with such hooks hanging from their bodies would parade
around the village of Tupudana before taking their turn to be swung on high-
III. Conclusion
The next day, May 8 th , all the hhakta gather for the last time in the mandap
dam under the bael tree, there once again to have their hair shaved about
the temples; to offer their gifts of rice and flowers; to have the thread with
which they were invested broken by the Brahmin purohit. It is now that the
Brahmin is remunerated in money for services rendered to each hhakta. The
barber is likewise compensated for his services.
Those of the hhakta who have completed the conditions of their vow that
year offer a black he-goat in sacrifice, sprinkling the blood on the mandap>
sacred to Shiv-Govinda. The Brahmin purohit is given a dhoti or loin cloth by
the outgoing hhakta.
A black he-goat is sacrificed near the posts where the hhakta were swung
head downwards. The blood is offered to Shiv-Bhuteswara the “Lord of Ghosts
and Goblins”. The hhakta do not partake of the flesh of this goat. It is left to
the purohit to do what he likes with the flesh.
15 I was told that hooks of this sort are still used in parts of Singhbhum District
where fire-walking takes place. I handled the 18 inch long iron skewers that pierce th e
tongues of the mansa bhakta of Birmitrapur when they walk through the trench of glowing
charcoal. The men who had their tongues thus pierced showed no ill effects of the ir° n
skewers.