New Delhi: Chhath is one of the biggest festivals of Bihar and is joyously celebrated in other states like Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. The festival involves worshiping and thanking the Hindu God of Sun over a period of four days during which most devotees keep fast. Traditionally, the festival is observed twice a year – once during the summer season and the second during winters.
Kartik Chhath is performed in the month of October-November and Chaiti Chhath falls in the early months of summer. The festival is celebrated as a thanksgiving to the Hindu God of Sun.
Celebrated six days after Diwali, Chhath is dedicated to the sun god. During the festival, married women observe fast for 36 hours, and devotees offer wheat, milk, sugarcane, bananas and coconuts to the sun god, who is considered the god of energy and life-force.
The festival, once limited to Bihar, is fast becoming popular across India due to the large scale migration of workers from the state. The festival was widely celebrated in metros like Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad and states like Assam, Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and even Tamil Nadu.
On the first day, women take a holy dip in a water body. This is called Nahay khay. Kharna is observed on the second day. On this day, women observe fast and offer prayers to the Sun God. In the evening, kheer and other preparations are distributed among the family members.
On the third day, women prepare prashad and in the evening perform the Sandhya Arghya and the festival concludes with the Usha Arghya on the fourth day after prayers to Goddess Usha are offered. Both the setting and the rising Sun are worshipped to mark the cycle of death and birth. Like other Hindu festivals, Chhath too is symbolic in nature.
Bureau Report
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