Hindu Festival Goers Use Flesh Hooks To Celebrate

Revellers at Charak Puja festival in Bangladesh devote themselves to deities using weapons, paint, donations and dancing.

The folk festival is celebrated to bring prosperity by people ridding themselves of the pains and stresses of the previous year.

As part of the sensational display, a selection of the faithful put metal hooks through the flesh on their backs tied to poles around 18 or 20 feet from the ground.

They then leap from the pole, careering down onto the ground below, which is covered in broken glass, nails, thorns, and knives - believing they will not be hurt for the grace of Hindu deity Shiva.

Other devotees whose bodies are hooked onto the stage can be witnessed running clockwise between three to seven times.

This is believed to be one way to reach salvation.

Photographer Akhlas Uddin said: “The excitement reaches its apex when the performers rise and without a single wound.

“The festival is very famous and happens every year in the Sylhet, Moulvibazar and many others area of Bangladesh.

“It’s especially popular in Bangladesh but is well-known among all believers of the Hindu religion.”

Hindus at the festival devote themselves to the aforementioned god and Shakti, the two spiritual forces embodying cosmic existence and liberation, and feminine energy.

Other revellers adorn their bodies with vibrant colours and designs, and children dance and adorn themselves in the guise of the two dieties, and the goddess Man Kali.

In the run-up to the festival, the organisers go from village to village to procure the necessary items, such as oil, sugar, salt, honey, money and body paint.

During the festival, a devotee roams through the town collecting Chanda (donations).