Villagers stand on tracks, stop local train in Bengal for Vishwakarma Puja rituals

A video showing villagers in West Bengal halting a Sealdah-bound local train to perform Vishwakarma Puja rituals has gone viral.

In Short

• Men performed Vishwakarma Puja on live railway tracks in Bengal
• They decorated the train with banana leaves and a red gamchha
• Loco pilot appeared unhappy with the unexpected halt and ceremony

In a bizarre Vishwakarma Puja celebration, villagers in West Bengal stopped a moving local train, climbed on it and began performing rituals around the locomotive with drums, sweets and traditional decorations.

A video of the incident was shared on Instagram by Sweety Paik, who also participated in the puja. The video showed several men standing in the middle of the railway track, holding a red gamchha and two banana leaves with their stems, both commonly used during religious rituals.

As the train approached, the men remained on the tracks instead of moving away. The train eventually came to a halt, revealing that it is a local service travelling towards Sealdah in Kolkata.

Once the train stopped, the men climbed onto the front of the locomotive to begin the Vishwakarma Puja. They tied banana leaves to the front of the train and decorated the locomotive with the red gamchha. The ritual then continued with traditional offerings, drums and sweets.

Several people were seen gathered around the train as drummers performed during the ceremony. The loco pilot, meanwhile, appeared visibly unhappy about the situation as the celebrations took place around the locomotive.

The video shows the participants continuing with the rituals despite the obvious risks involved in stopping a moving train and standing on the tracks.

Watch the video here:

The footage was widely shared on Instagram and Facebook, where viewers reacted with surprise to the bizarre manner in which the puja was conducted. Several people also pointed out the risks of standing on an active railway track and stopping a train for a religious ceremony.

Vishwakarma Puja is widely celebrated across West Bengal, particularly among people associated with machinery, tools, factories and other forms of skilled work. Vehicles and machines are often cleaned and decorated as part of the celebrations, with people offering prayers for safety and prosperity.

Stopping a local train on an active railway route, however, was certainly an odd way to mark the occasion.

- Ends