It is a 4 Days festival…
On Tuesday, 05 November 2024, the four-day Chhath Puja, celebration starts across India and abroad.
It will continue till Friday with special rituals performed every day.
The festival is dedicated to the worship of the Sun god and Chhathi Maiya (Mother Shashti), believed to be the sister of the Sun.
The rituals and the fasting procedure of the festival are very strict.
Chhath Puja takes place on the sixth day of the Kartik month. The first day is called Nahay khay, followed by Kharna.
On the third (Sandhya arghya) and fourth day (Usha arghya), the devotees worship the setting and rising Sun by standing in a water.
On the first day people take a meal after a bath in a river, or a pond.
Water is brought from the rivers and is utilised to make a stove where the meals are prepared. The meal prepared is usually a pumpkin sabzi.
The second day of the festival involves fasting throughout the day, breaking it only after sunset.
The person observing the fast takes the meal of chappati and rice pudding after offering them to the god.
Afterwards, the family members and friends gather and eat same meal on a banana leaf together which fosters a feeling of togetherness.
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