Indian devotees endure pain for Gajan festival

Indian devotees endure pain for Gajan festival

During Shiva Gajan, Hindu devotees believe that by enduring pain, Lord Shiva, the god of destruction, will grant them what they pray for.

A devotee is carried past spectators as he lies on a bed of nails, at a village in Agartala, the capital of India's north-eastern state of Tripura, on April 14.

Thousands take part in the month-long festival every year, which culminates in the worship of Shiva on the auspicious day of Chaitra Sankranti, the last day of the Bengali calendar.


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