City ghats spruced up as 4-day Chaiti Chhath begins today

Patna: The four-day Chaiti Chhath festival will begin with “nahay-khay” on Saturday and conclude with the offering of the morning “arghya” on March 28. Kharna will fall on March 26 and the evening “arghya” will be offered on March 27.The increasing number of devotees every year indicates how this traditional festival for worshiping the Sun god is getting popular among the masses. Kartik Chhath will be celebrated after six months.Chhath, be it Chaiti or Kartik, is the most popular festival of Bihar and people from both urban and rural areas celebrate it with utmost devotion.“The most important feature of Chhath is that despite it being a festival of Sun worship, no priest is required for conducting any ritual and anyone can offer arghya,” said Acharya Bhoop Narayan Pathak, a priest.He said Chhath reminds the importance of every class of the society for preparing and providing puja materials like “daura” and “soop”, both bamboo products, seasonal fruits, kaddu (pumpkin), flowers, jaggery, thekua (traditional prasad), coconut, dry wood of mango tree for fuel, earthen chulha, milk and Gangajal. It is also an occasion when devotees pray to the Almighty to rid them of various physical, mental and financial problems. People also pin their faith on the power of the god Sun and seek his blessing for fulfilment of their cherished desires.Traditionally, devotees used to reach nearby rivers, ponds or other water bodies, take a dip and offer arghya. However, with the passage of time, they also began observing all rituals at home and offer arghya either on rooftops or in open areas.