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About Bhagta Parab

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About Bhagta Parab

Bhagta Parab is a spring festival of Jharkhand, kept in the month of Chaitra between spring and summer. It is best known as the worship of Budha Baba, a form of Lord Shiva, and it is loved most in the Tamar area south of Ranchi and nearby villages.

The devotees, called bhagtas, keep a fast for days, bathe in the village pond and walk to the shrine of Budha Baba with drums, songs and offerings of flowers. Their faith is that the year ahead will bring rain, health and a good crop.

The high point is the swing around a tall sal pole, often thirty to forty feet high, where devoted bhagtas circle in the air above the crowd as a sign of courage and faith. Fairs with sweets, toys and music gather around the pole, and in some places the evening ends with Chhau dance.

The festival is related to the Gajan and Charak festivals of Bengal at the end of Chaitra, and many villages hold their main day on Chaitra Sankranti, the last day of the year in the old calendar.

How people celebrate Bhagta Parab

  • Fasting by the bhagtas
  • Worship of Budha Baba
  • Swinging around the tall sal pole
  • Drums, songs and village fairs
  • Chhau dance in some villages

How to wish well

  • Each village picks its own days in Chaitra, so wish your friends when their village keeps it.
  • Faith, courage, rain and a good year make good themes for a wish.
  • It is a religious festival for many; keep the wish respectful and leave out jokes about the rituals.

Questions about Bhagta Parab

When is Bhagta Parab?

In Chaitra, between spring and summer. Many villages hold the main day on Chaitra Sankranti, around 13 or 14 April; the date shown here is that day.

Who is worshipped on Bhagta Parab?

Budha Baba, honoured as a form of Lord Shiva, along with the village deities.

Where is Bhagta Parab celebrated?

In Jharkhand, most of all in the Tamar region south of Ranchi, and in nearby parts of West Bengal and Odisha.

What happens on Bhagta Parab?

Devotees fast and pray, there are drums and songs, and brave bhagtas swing around a tall sal pole while a fair goes on below.

Is Bhagta Parab the same as Charak Puja?

They are related. Both are kept at the end of Chaitra in honour of Shiva, with fasting devotees and a tall pole, but Bhagta Parab has its own Jharkhand customs.

What do you say on Bhagta Parab?

Say "Happy Bhagta Parab" or, in Hindi, "भगता पर्व की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं".

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