Four-day Chaiti Chhath begins with ‘nahay-khay’

Patna: The four-day Chaiti Chhath began with ‘nahay-khay’ rituals on Sunday. The festival, celebrated with great fervour across eastern India, symbolises gratitude towards nature, the sun, and water. The ritual involves offering prayers to thesetting and rising sun for the prosperity and well-being of all.

The festival will conclude on March 25 with the morning ‘arghya’ to the sun God.

On Sunday, devotees, including women and children, thronged the ghats of the Ganga to take a holy dip in the river. They carried sacred vessels while singing traditional Chhath songs. They bathed in the holy waters, seeking spiritual cleansing and renewal, and also cleaned their vessels with the soil on the ghats.

A devotee, Sushma Raj, after taking a bath in the Ganga at Digha Ghat, said: “I came to the ghat by 7am with my entire family. I gave the children vessels filled with Gangajal to take home. The ‘prasad’ will be prepared using this water. The entire family stays together during Chhath. The house comes alive with festivity.”

During Chhath, worshippers adhere to strict purity in their food preparations, using Ganga water and pure ghee. After taking a bath, they prepare ‘maha-prasad’, comprising rice, dal, and bottle gourd vegetable.

Children were also seen enjoying the rituals at the Ganga ghats with their family members. “Chhath is a lot of fun for us. We visit the ghats during the evening and morning ‘arghya’ and get to eat ‘thekua’ after the puja. All the family members stay together during the festival,” said Raman Kumar, a Class VIII student who was visiting the Collectorate Ghat with his family. His mother is observing the Chhath puja.

Samir Mishra, a local priest at a temple on Nehru Path, said the wheat procured to prepare the ‘prasad’ is washed with Gangajal and dried. To ensure that no bird or insect touches this wheat, devotees, along with their family members, guard it while singing traditional folk songs.

“The consumption of bottle gourd, ‘arwa’ rice, chana dal, and amla syrup on the day of nahai-khai holds special significance. The mixing of raw sugarcane juice and jaggery in the ‘kharna prasad’ cures skin diseases and eye ailments. Moreover, the ‘prasad’ enhances radiance, good health, and intellectual capacity,” Mishra said.

It is believed that observing Chhath leads to the attainment of good health and alleviates the hardships faced in the lives of one’s children. Lord Surya is revered as a ‘visible deity’—a tangible manifestation of the divine—whose energy sustains and governs the entire universe. Observing this sacred fast is believed to usher happiness, peace, and prosperity into the home.