Chhath Puja Archives - Lokmarg

Devotees Throng Ghats To Celebrate Chhath Puja Across Country

By LokMarg 30th October 2022

After a hiatus of two years due to COVID-19, thousands of devotees on Sunday flocked to ghats and makeshift ponds across the country to seek the blessings of the Sun God as part of Chhath Puja.

In Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur and Varanasi, a large number of women clad in sarees were seen standing knee-deep in water at ghats, worshipping the Sun God.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended Chhath Pooja celebrations at Gomti Ghat in Lucknow.

While in the national capital, a massive number of devotees thronged to ITO Ghat to offer prayers, and devotees took a holy dip in the water as part of the Chhath Puja at a pond in Vinod Nagar.

A huge crowd of devotees also gathered at the national capital’s Kalindi Kunj ghat to offer prayers on Chhath Puja.

The festive fervor gripped the ‘land of forest’ Jharkhand too, as devotees offered prayers at Hatania Talab in Ranchi.

Meanwhile, in Bihar, women were seen standing in the water, wearing long ‘sindoor’ with orange color on their faces, and offering fruits and sweets to the Sun God at JP Setu Ghat in Patna.

A huge crowd of devotees gathered to offer prayers at Juhu in Mumbai to mark Chhath Puja.

In West Bengal, devotees offered prayers to the setting sun at Takra Ghat in Kolkata. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offered prayers on the occasion of Chhath Puja at Kolkata’s Dahi Ghat.

The Chhath Puja is celebrated on the sixth day of the Kartik month of the Hindu calendar, which also happens to be the fourth day after Diwali.

Hyderabad also witnessed a large number of devotees celebrating the Chhath Puja at Tank Bund.

As per the Hindu tradition, devotees, especially in Bihar, Jharkhand, and UP, worship the Sun God to express gratitude and seek blessings.

Women devotees keep an arduous 36-hour-long fast ‘Nirjala Vrat’, and sing devotional and folk songs. ‘Arghya’ is offered to the Sun God while standing in knee-deep water at ghats or makeshift ponds. (ANI)

Chhath Puja An Example Of Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat: Modi

By LokMarg 30th October 2022

Extending Chhath Puja greetings in his monthly radio broadcast Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said Chhath Puja is a great example of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’.

In the 94th episode of his Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister said, “The festival of Chhath is also an example of Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat. Today, wherever the people of Bihar and Purvanchal are in any corner of the country, Chhath is being celebrated with great pomp”
He said Chhath is now getting organized on a large scale in different districts of Maharashtra along with Delhi, Mumbai and many parts of Gujarat.

“I do remember that earlier in Gujarat, Chhath Puja was not performed to this extent. But with the passage of time, the colours of Chhath Puja have started getting dissolved in almost the whole of Gujarat. I am also very happy to see this. Nowadays we see, how many grand pictures of Chhath Puja come from abroad too. That is, the rich heritage of India, our faith, is reinforcing its identity in every corner of the world,” he said.

“So today, along with worshipping the Sun, why not also discuss his boon? This blessing of Sun God is – solar energy,” PM Modi said.

He said solar energy is a subject in which the whole world is seeing its future. For India, the Sun God has not only been worshipped for centuries, but has also been the focus of our way of life.

Today, Prime Minister said India is combining its traditional experiences with modern science and has become one of the largest countries to generate electricity from solar energy.

How solar energy is changing the lives of the poor and middle class of the country is also a subject of study, he said.

Chhath Puja is an ancient Hindu Vedic festival that is performed to seek blessings from the Sun God for a healthy, happy, and prosperous life. It is believed that sunlight has cures for various diseases and conditions. Taking a dip in the holy river is also considered to have certain medicinal and spiritual benefits. The festival requires maintaining the utmost ritualistic purity.

Also referred to as Surya Shashti, Chhath, Mahaparv, Chhath Parv, Dala Puja, Pratihar and Dala Chhath, the four-day-long festival is dedicated to the deity Surya and Shashthi Devi.

As part of the ritual, women fast for the well-being of their sons and the happiness of their families. They also offer Arghya to Lord Surya and Chhathi Maiya. their sons’ well-being and their families’ happiness

The four-day festival started on October 28, which was a Friday, with the main day and the last day of the puja, being celebrated on October 31, which is falling on Monday.

On each day, people observe the Chhath and follow rigorous rituals. As per Drik Panchang, sunrise on Chhath Puja will be at 06:43 am, and sunset will happen at 06:03 pm. The Shashthi tithi begins at 05:49 am on October 30 and ends at 03:27 am on October 31. (ANI)

BJP’s Parvesh In Verbal Spat With DJB Over Chemical Spray In Yamuna

By LokMarg 28th October 2022

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Parvesh Verma on Friday was seen getting into a heated argument with a Delhi Jal Board official and called him “Besharam” (shameless) and “ghatiya aadmi” (cheap person) after the latter, the leader claimed, did not stop spraying chemicals in the Yamuna river ahead of Chhath Puja.

To deal with the problem of foam formation on the surface of the Yamuna River near Delhi, the DJB officials are resorting to spraying the river water surface with chemicals.
Verma visited the site to inspect the preparations for the puja and was seen indulging in a heated argument with the official in a video.

Speaking to ANI, the BJP MP asked who will be responsible if people who will take a dip into the river (during Chhath Puja) fall sick or die.

“On visiting Chhath ghat near Yamuna today, we found containers with poisonous chemicals there. This chemical will be put into the river. Tomorrow the people will take a dip into the water here. I said to him that you are putting so many chemicals into the water. If anyone of them died or fell sick or developed a skin disease, who will be responsible? They said that they do not know anything, they have been ordered by the Delhi government and have to do it,” he said.

Verma said that asked the official to show the order of the Delhi government which guaranteed that the chemicals will be of no harm to the devotees, however, he denied having any such order.

“I repeatedly asked him not to put chemicals into the Yamuna river. I told him to show me the order which states that the chemicals will not be harmful, but they did not show me anything,” he said.

The MP said that if had to speak in this manner for the benefit of the people of Delhi, he will do it.

“How can I not be angered if officials don’t listen to me in this matter? If I have to talk in this manner for the benefit of the people of Delhi, then I have no problem, it’s right,” he said.

Ahead of the Chhath Puja, which is usually celebrated on the river banks in northern India, the DJB officials sprayed chemicals on the surface near Kalindi Kunj, with the aim of removing the toxic foam owing to a high level of pollutants in the water.

This year’s auspicious occasion began on October 28 with the traditional Nahay Khay ceremony, which was held on the first day of the four-day festival. Nahay Khay signifies the beginning of the four-day Chhath festival. Six days after Diwali, the auspicious festival begins.

Taking a ritualistic bath in holy water is considered an essential part of the rituals centered around Chhath puja. During this festive season, devotees residing in Delhi, Noida, and Ghaziabad head towards the Yamuna river to take a dip in its waters and seek blessings from the Sun God for a healthy, happy, and prosperous life.

The core ritual around the festival involves devotees observing a fast and worshipping Chhathi Maiya to express gratitude to the Sun God for sustaining life on Earth. Chhath is considered to be the only Vedic festival dedicated to Surya (the Sun God).

This ancient Hindu Vedic festival is mainly celebrated in Bihar, Jharkhand, and eastern Uttar Pradesh in India and Nepal. (ANI)

‘Yamuna Ghats Are Unworthy Of Holding Sacred Chhath Puja’

By LokMarg 10th November 2021

Poonam Singh, 47, a Yoga teacher and activist in Delhi, says toxic water and filthy ghats heaped misery on Chhath devotees like her for years

Chhath is considered a Mahaparv or the festival of festivals. However, the amount of pollution we have had to navigate over the years to be able to perform this holy ritual is unimaginable. I stay in east Delhi and I have been holding the Chhath puja for 24 years (since 1997) mostly at Yamuna Pushta area. And not once did I find the Yamuna ghat without toxic waste, filth and muck – absolutely unworthy for holding a religious ritual.

In 2018, I got a chance to perform Chhath at Hrishikesh and I marvelled at the experience. A clean river in its glorious flow can lift your spirits. It makes you calmer as you are not worrying about the toxicity of the water or stepping upon dirt and filth. Last year when Covid happened, many devotees (including me) tried to improvise and recreate small water bodies on our terraces. However, even though the water was clean, the community feeling was missing. People couldn’t meet each other, or guide and help each other in this festival. This year also I am performing the Chhath on our terrace, simply because the condition of the Yamuna is unbecoming of hosting a sacred ceremony.

**Singh (seated right) with her family and friends performing Chhath puja at her terrace**

I still remember how it used to feel when we had to go through the mud and slush in order to reach the ghat. Since 2016, apart from the dirty water, the air pollution added to the misery; it became unbearable to stand in the water for long stretches of time and inhaling the pungent air. We all could smell the toxic fumes coming from the river.

Plus, there would be too many people jostling for space. My eyes used to burn and water a lot, and I had severe skin irritation the following days. In order to save our health, I used to take clean water from home for the evening and morning arghya (water offering).

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Only last year I became the president of the Delhi chapter of a Kanpur-based NGO called Paryavaran Suraksha Sansthan and hope that in the future we can take care of the issue of clean rivers and ghats. But it’s beyond the capacity of one NGO to tackle the issue. We need serious, collective efforts. Doing Chhath on the terrace is also no easy task given the pollution levels. So much effort is made to create pandals, install loudspeakers, give a holiday etc. but no efforts are made to give devotees their most basic need: clean water and air.

I somehow feel our lifestyle was earlier closer to nature. As the Chhath festival signifies, the season change was marked with immunity boosting foods and mentally preparing oneself for the bleak, cold winter months ahead. We need to go back to a more nature-friendly lifestyle. Serious dialogues are the need of the hour between government and civil society. Climate change is an issue of serious concern and we shouldn’t take it lightly.

As Told To Yog Maya Singh