Chhath puja is one of the well known and main festivals celebrated in the states of Bihar Jharkhand Eastern Uttar Pradesh and the country of Nepal it is one of the most important festivals which is devoted to godson Surya and his wife Usha.
Nepali and Hindi languages mean six which is why the festival is celebrated on the 6th day of the month of the Kartika this is also the reason why it is named as Chhath puja this year from 28 to 23 November.
Chhath Puja will be celebrated. Earlier the Jharkhand government has banned Chhath Puja in the water bodies and restricted firecrackers and special lightning but after several protest and processions related to the Chhath puja finally made the government take another decision and allowed to celebrate this Chhath puja on the water body with a Limited number of people and with covid precautions and social distancing. The Delhi government has also band community celebrations of Chhath Puja at public places like riverbanks temples hearts due to the rise in cases of covid-19.
Let’s talk bit about History? How did it all start?
It is said that during ancient times property and the Pandavas of Hastinapur used to celebrate Chhath in order to solve their problems and to win back then lost Kingdom again but the Legend say that was performed by Karna who is considered to be an offspring of Lord Surya and Kunti he ruled over the aged Desh which is modern-day Bhagalpur in Bihar during the age of Mahabharata.
So ,Chhath Puja seems to be from around the early Vedic period and apparently the sages of that era used to perform the Puja by exposing themselves a direct sunlight to gain energy from the rays of the Sun and did not consume any table Lord Ram in septic Chhath Puja it is believed that Lord Ram and his wife Sita had observed a fast and offered prayers to Sun God in the month of Kartik and the Shukla paksha once they returned from Ayodhya after 14 years of exile.
During this festival, people thank the lord Surya the god of light life force and energy for sustaining life on earth. This is the only festival that is dedicated to Lord Surya who is supposed to be the source of All Powers on this day. The Lord of Light promotes well-being development and prosperity of human beings the express their gratitude towards Lord should be performing important rituals over a span of four days and devotees who observed fast during the festival are called vrati.
So, basically, the rituals of the festival include fasting Holy bath in worshipping the sun and offering Prasad yoga to the rising and setting sun devotees keep dipping in the holy river and carry home the holy water to prepare the frame on the second day of Chhath Puja the devotees observe a day after long fast and break their fast in the evening after worshipping the sun.
Lastly the festival comes to an end with breaking of the fast by having Chhath Prasad.
