Chhath Puja Festival

The festival of Chhath Puja is widely known to worship the Sun God, and extol his virtues. It’s an ancient Hindu celebration that traces its origins to prehistoric Vedic times. along side the sun, his sister, Chhathi Maiya, is additionally worshipped for sustaining life on earth.

Chhath Puja is held over the course of 4 days, and is marked by various rituals, including fasting, standing in water for long periods of your time , and making offerings to the Sun. ‘Chhath’ is a combination of two different Hindi words- ‘Chah’, denoting six stages and ‘Hath’ signifying the science of austerity. Hence, Chhath is a festival during which the devotees obtain solar power in six different stages.

Chhath is observed six days after the well known Hindu celebration ‘Diwali’. It’s one among the foremost popular festivals of Bihar. Moreover, It’s also celebrated with enormous zeal in Uttar Pradesh , Jharkhand and West Bengal .

Celebration of Chhath Puja

Chhath is ritualized by adoring and washing followed by a period of forbearance and separation of the fan 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 within the river, preferably Ganges and carries home the water . the ladies keep fast (Vrata) and take meal just one occasion on today .

Lohanda and Kharna : It’s the second day of Chhath Puja celebration. Women fast for an entire day and end it within the evening after sundown. They stand back from food and water for 36 hours after eating kheer (a sweet made from rice and milk) as a prasad on second day.

Sandhya Arghya : On today , prasad is ready and therefore the whole family accompanies women to the bank of any large water body within the evening. Here, the offerings are made to the setting sun. The celebration at this point is not any but a carnival. Folk songs also are sung to feature to the rejoicing.

Usha Arghya or Morning Offerings : On the Judgment Day of Puja, the devotees with familygo to the river before the crack of dawn. Here the rising sun is worshipped and therefore the offerings are made thereto . Women break the fast then festival involves its end. then , the prasad is distributed to everybody.

The Folklores Behind the Auspicious Chhath Puja

As per the annals, the rulers of old North India welcomed Maga Purohits as they were profoundly capable in adoring sun. Since this loving, the Chhath Puja was begun. There’s another belief amongst Hindus that Chhath Puja was celebrated in Vedic period also, because the hymns worshipping Sun God are found in Rigveda.

Mahabharata also contains the regard to this festival. Draupadi is indicated offering the comparable ceremonies in Mahabharata. Consistent with it, on the recommendation of great saint Dhaumya, Pandavas and Draupadi performed Chhath Puja. Within the result, Draupadi was ready to crack the sudden problems and helped Pandavas in getting back their lost realm also.

Another famous legend tells that this Puja was initiated by Surya Putra Karna (Sun’s son Karna). He was the emperor of Anga Desha (now district of Bhagalpur in Bihar).