About Chhat Puja
Chhath Puja Festival
The festival of worshipping and offering impress to sun, Chhath Puja, is celebrated by Hindu to show gratefulness to sun for supporting life on earth.
'Chhath' is a combination of two different Hindi words- 'Chah', denoting six stages and 'Hath' signifying the science of severity of manner . Hence, Chhath is a festival in which the devotees obtain solar energy in six different stages.
To elaborate on another aspect of the festival, there are also hymns in Rigveda for paying homage to Sun. The Rishis of prehistoric era used to keep fast and take up energy directly from the sunrays.
Chhath is observed six days after the famous Hindu festival'Diwali'. It is one of the most popular festivals of Bihar. Moreover, it is also celebrated in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Celebration of Chhath Puja
Chhath is ritualized by worshipping and bathing followed by a phase of indulging anywhere and isolation of the devotee from the family for four days. During these four days, purity is observed by the devotee. The four days of worship in Chhath are:
Nahay Khay : The worshipper takes bath in the river, preferably Ganges and carries home the holy water. The women keep fast (Vrata) and take meal only once on this day.
Lohanda and Kharna : It is the second day of Chhath Puja celebration. Women fast for a complete day and end it in the evening after sundown. They stay away from food and water for 36 hours after eating kheer (a sweet made of rice and milk) as a prasad on second day.
Sandhya Arghya : On this day, prasad is prepared and the whole family accompanies women to the bank of any large water body in the evening. Here, the offerings are made to the setting sun. The celebration at this time is no less than a carnival. Folk songs are also sung to add to the rejoicing.
Usha Arghya or Morning Offerings : On the last day of Puja, the devotees with familygo to the river prior to the crack of dawn. Here the rising sun is worshipped and the offerings are made to it. Women break the fast and then festival comes to its end. After that, the prasad is distributed to everybody.