CHHATH PARVA

"Hail To The Sun God"

Another major festival, celebrated after six days of Diwali is Chhath Puja. It is much more prevalent in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Nepal(the only state across the border to perform this ritual). It is a Vedic festival of Hindus dedicated to the worship of Sun God & Goddess Shashti, to pay homage for granting their wishes. There is no idol as such but in recent days people are making idols of Sun God to worship them. It is a rigorous festival throughout four days including day and night, where both the first ray and the last ray of the sun are adored. These four days include various rituals like bathing in the Ganges, fasting, standing in the water for a longer period along with Vrat(abstaining from drinking water), and offering Arghya to the diety.

This Arghya is placed in a bamboo basket, which includes things like(lemons, coconut, sugarcane, thekua, sandalwood, honey, sweet potato, etc) and is mainly offered by the women of the house, by standing knee-deep in the water facing the sun when it rises (around 4:30-5 am). Nowadays even men of the house take part in the ritual. After the offering is done, women usually bathe in the river and other women of the house put orange vermillion on their Sinthi. Once that is done, a thekua along with a garland and a small mud lamp is floated on the river marking the end of the Puja.

The main significance of this ritual is the belief of the humans in Sun God and his sister Shasti Goddess, as according to them, they protect the livelihood and the offsprings from various problems. Each day of the festival has its relevance on the ritual, starting from the day of Nahaye khaye(first day) in which the house is cleaned and an offering made to the god is eaten after puja. On Kharna(second day), no one is allowed to drink water along with fast the whole day, but in the evening they are allowed to eat jaggery kheer, fruits, or bread. Sandhya Arghya(or the third day) the offering is made to the drowning sun and the fast is called off. Similarly, on Usha Arghya(fourth and final day), the offering is made to the rising sun and after the puja, the Prasad is shared among all.

Throwing some light on such an immense festival…

Chhath Parva is called by different names by various peoples, but by whatever it is referred to, it is one of the huge festivals after Durga Puja. After this, there is no other festival that is celebrated by Hindus, and festivities for the year come to an end. So it not only marks the end of the year but an end to all the euphorias. I am glad to be part of the festival this year and could capture some moments of it and from my personal view, if I tell, rather than taking photos, I go to my friend's place to enjoy the Prasad(Thekua) after the puja.