Devotees perform Kharna rituals to mark 2nd day of Chhath puja

Lucknow: Marking the second day of Chhath festivities, devotees performed Kharna puja on Wednesday. Women observed a day-long fast without food and water and visited the banks of Gomti to take a dip in the river and perform ‘puja' of the Sun god.Indu Dubey (42), who visited Laxman Mela ground, said: "We lit lamps on the ‘vedi' and invited Goddess Chhathi to bless us."A couple, Ajit Singh (41) and Kanchan Singh (36), who also visited Gomti banks said, "We both kept fast and prayed for the health and prosperity of our family.""I kept fast during the day and cooked ‘kheer' and ‘poori' in the evening. After having meal in the night, the 36-hour long fast will start till sunrise on Friday. We will also offer ‘arghya' to the setting sun on Thursday. A special thing about this ‘puja' is that it is performed in front of the rising and the setting Sun instead of an idol," Preeti Mishra (34) said.All India Bhojpuri Samaj president Prabhunath Rai said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy CMs Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya will offer ‘arghya' (prayers) on Thursday at Laxman mela ground on Gomti banks where main function of ‘chhath' is being held.