Baruni Snan, Gangarampur | Godspeed BPC

Baruni Snan, Gangarampur | Godspeed BPC | Subhradeep Sarkar

"As the crimson red of the beginning painted the canvas of our journey

Euphoria began to sprout into a full-grown tree of memory"

Sorry for being poetic and lost in the woods with pillars crafted by my dreams and watching them come true. I'm Subhradeep. And getting a chance to capture events is really a dream come true for me.

It was the evening of March 18 when it all was planned. The hype of the BPC was too high to easily surpass a sleepless night. The following day BPC started its journey as the curtains of the bluish hue started to rise.

There is one festival that stands out in my mind, one that is not as well-known as some of the other major festivals, yet is a vibrant and colourful celebration of tradition and faith - the Baruni Snan festival in Gangarampur. One that I've heard from my grandmother as far as I can remember and now I have the privilege to capture the photons from the spiritual aura and paint the canvas of the sensor.

Gangarampur is a small town in the state of West Bengal, known for its rich cultural heritage and ancient temples. The Baruni Snan festival is a Hindu festival that is celebrated here with great fervour and devotion. It is held every year in the month of Chaitra (March-April), on the day of the full moon, and is a celebration of the goddess Baruni, who is believed to be the sister of Lord Varuna, the god of the sea.

The festival begins with a colourful procession of devotees, all dressed in their finest traditional attire, carrying banners and idols of the goddess Baruni. The air is filled with the sound of drums and cymbals, and the streets are decorated with flowers and colourful lights. The atmosphere is electric, with people singing and dancing to the beat of the music.

As event photographers, our job was to capture the essence of the festival, to freeze these moments in time so that they could be cherished forever. I caught the joy on the faces of the devotees, the devotion in their eyes, and the colours and textures of their clothing and decorations. The vibrancy and liveliness of the festival were genuinely breathtaking, and I felt privileged to be a part of it.

One of the highlights of the Baruni Snan festival is the ritual bath in the river. Devotees gather on the banks of the river, and one by one, they immerse themselves in the holy water, chanting prayers and hymns. It is believed that this ritual washes away their sins and purifies their souls.

As I clicked away with my camera, I could feel the energy and spirituality of the moment. The water shimmered in the sunlight, reflecting the bright colours of the clothing of the devotees. The sound of the flowing water mixed with the chanting of the devotees created a harmonious melody that was almost surreal.

The festival also includes a fair, where vendors sell a variety of traditional items, from handcrafted jewellery and clothing to delicious street food. The fairground is a riot of colours, with bright, colourful stalls and the aroma of spicy food filling the air. The hustle and bustle of the fair added to the excitement and vibrancy of the festival, and I captured this in my photographs.