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loving people gathered at the site of rehearsal, most of the people are farmers, daylabourers, blacksmiths, potters, fishermen and very poor people of the society
(Bandyopadhyay 2012).
Poets of Gajan songs have very little former education; they pour the wealth and
sweetness of their life long experience into their songs. Their love and sorrow finds
place in their songs and poets of Gajan are aware of their social commitments so
songs they write are reflection of their experience of their genius amidst their hard
struggle for a square meal for their family members. The songs contain happiness
and sorrow, good and evil, hope and despair, simplicity and turpitude, piety and
hypocrisy, sacrament and superstition, attachment and stoicism and such other contrasting feelings, emotions, passion and instinct but the main essence of gajan is
humour. The poor rural people have a thousand problems in their daily life and have
very little source of recreation so Gajan at the end of Bengali year in the month of
Chaitra offers them ample fun and recreation.
11.2 Origin of Gajan
The word “Gajan” origin from “Garjan” is comparing with the roar of lion, spine
chilling call of mythical God Shiva. Gajan is unique culture of rural Bengal which
is related to the different aspects of human life and social system (Sen 1960). A large
number of rural men who became Gajan “Sannyasi” for throughout the month have
different types of food, shelter, clothing and mainly being repressive part of social
system which allows more powerful understanding about ideas and attitude of male
and female in a different cultural matrix.
Symbolically Gajan is celebrated in the end of the Bengali year in the month of
Chaitra, so sometimes it’s called chaiti Gajan (Gajan celebrated in the last month of
Bengali year Chaitra), and the festival is called Charak which means wheel represents
completion of 1 year or rotation of earth (Sen 1994). Gajan is the worshipping of the
fertile womb of women and comparing it with fertile mother earth as the earth produces crops. During this festival, men are mostly dressed like women and try to imitate the pains of childbirth and also represent the fertility cycle of the woman in their
poetry and acting. Four phases of agriculture as piercing representing penetration,
seeding represents Charak puja, the harvesting means the sacrifice of the male victim
and nurturing means handling of power and in Gajan songs four phases of womanhood represents as intercourse, conception, childbirth and menopause (Febrizo 2010).
Worship of Dharma Thakur was an ancient trait of Hindu religion, and the festival of Gajan includes and unified people of all class and caste, but in the discourse
of time, these traits underwent profound change due to Brahman tradition so Dharma
Thakur was replaced by lord Shiva in present time. This festival gives social upliftment to the rural people of lower caste, as these humble downtrodden people
acquired Shiva hood for this period when they become “Sannyasi” and people of
upper caste had to get up and touch the feet of these marginal communities. In
ancient time in rural Bengal, these lower caste people are not even allowed to step
M. Ghosh and L. Satpati
loving people gathered at the site of rehearsal, most of the people are farmers, daylabourers, blacksmiths, potters, fishermen and very poor people of the society
(Bandyopadhyay 2012).
Poets of Gajan songs have very little former education; they pour the wealth and
sweetness of their life long experience into their songs. Their love and sorrow finds
place in their songs and poets of Gajan are aware of their social commitments so
songs they write are reflection of their experience of their genius amidst their hard
struggle for a square meal for their family members. The songs contain happiness
and sorrow, good and evil, hope and despair, simplicity and turpitude, piety and
hypocrisy, sacrament and superstition, attachment and stoicism and such other contrasting feelings, emotions, passion and instinct but the main essence of gajan is
humour. The poor rural people have a thousand problems in their daily life and have
very little source of recreation so Gajan at the end of Bengali year in the month of
Chaitra offers them ample fun and recreation.
11.2 Origin of Gajan
The word “Gajan” origin from “Garjan” is comparing with the roar of lion, spine
chilling call of mythical God Shiva. Gajan is unique culture of rural Bengal which
is related to the different aspects of human life and social system (Sen 1960). A large
number of rural men who became Gajan “Sannyasi” for throughout the month have
different types of food, shelter, clothing and mainly being repressive part of social
system which allows more powerful understanding about ideas and attitude of male
and female in a different cultural matrix.
Symbolically Gajan is celebrated in the end of the Bengali year in the month of
Chaitra, so sometimes it’s called chaiti Gajan (Gajan celebrated in the last month of
Bengali year Chaitra), and the festival is called Charak which means wheel represents
completion of 1 year or rotation of earth (Sen 1994). Gajan is the worshipping of the
fertile womb of women and comparing it with fertile mother earth as the earth produces crops. During this festival, men are mostly dressed like women and try to imitate the pains of childbirth and also represent the fertility cycle of the woman in their
poetry and acting. Four phases of agriculture as piercing representing penetration,
seeding represents Charak puja, the harvesting means the sacrifice of the male victim
and nurturing means handling of power and in Gajan songs four phases of womanhood represents as intercourse, conception, childbirth and menopause (Febrizo 2010).
Worship of Dharma Thakur was an ancient trait of Hindu religion, and the festival of Gajan includes and unified people of all class and caste, but in the discourse
of time, these traits underwent profound change due to Brahman tradition so Dharma
Thakur was replaced by lord Shiva in present time. This festival gives social upliftment to the rural people of lower caste, as these humble downtrodden people
acquired Shiva hood for this period when they become “Sannyasi” and people of
upper caste had to get up and touch the feet of these marginal communities. In
ancient time in rural Bengal, these lower caste people are not even allowed to step
M. Ghosh and L. Satpati