A group of Hindu devotees perform a scene from the myth of Hindu Goddess Kali, the Goddess of time, during the Charak festival, in Sylhet, Bangladesh. March 12, 2009. Charak Puja is held on the last days of the Bengali month Chaitra (April) called “Chatitra Sangkranti”. Farmers celebrate this festival with the devotees singing and dancing without any care. This Hindu religious festival is well-known for its rites of body piercing and swirling from a high pole. The root of this ritual lies in the belief in spirits and the cult of rebirth. Its rites suggest ancient ritual of human sacrifice.

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Photo credit: © Md. Akhlas Uddin / Alamy / Afripics
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