Rakher Upobash
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Rakher Upobash (Bengali: রাখের উপবাস) is an annual Bengali Hindu observance in Bangladesh. The ritual combines day-long fasting with evening prayers and the lighting of rows of small earthen oil lamps. The practice is especially prominent at the Shri Shri Lokenath Brahmachari Ashram in Barodi, Narayanganj, where large gatherings form during the Kartik evenings.[1]
The observance developed around devotional practices connected to the 18th-century saint Lokenath Brahmachari, whose followers emphasised prayer, self-restraint and acts of light-offering during the month of Kartik. Over time, Barodi became a focal point for these activities as devotees gathered at the ashram associated with the saint's teachings.[1]
Local communities also adapted lamp-lighting customs traditionally observed in Kartik, and by the mid-20th century the ceremony had become a regular annual event in various districts. Reports and photographs published in Bangladeshi media in later decades show that crowds, lamp patterns and fasting practices had become established features of Rakher Upobash across several regions.[2][3]
Observance
Rituals
At sunset, devotees gather in courtyards or temple grounds to light hundreds of small oil lamps placed in orderly rows. Incense is burned, and participants sit together facing the lamps while chanting or meditating. In many regions the observance is linked with reverence for Lokenath Brahmachari, and his followers maintain an especially strong presence at Barodi.[1]