Chhath festival celebrated in India with fervour |
Chhath Puja is being celebrated in different parts of India with traditional fervor and religious devotion today. Devotees offered prayers known as Sandhya-Arghya to the Sun this evening. Chhath Puja is an ancient Hindu festival dedicated to the Sun God and his wife Usha. It is observed for four days. Although the puja begins on the fourth day after Diwali, the festival is celebrated with much gusto on the sixth day. The word chhath translates to `sixth` in Nepali, Maithili, and Bhojpuri languages. Celebrated on the sixth day of the month of Karthik, the first day of the festival is known as Nahay Khay when devotees go to holy water bodies and take a dip and also observe fasts. The four-day celebrations will culminate ton November 21 morning with Pratah-Arghya to the rising Sun. During celebrations, people thank the Sun, the god of energy and life-force, for sustaining the life of Earth. President Ram Nath Kovind has greeted the people on the occasion of Chhath. The President said that on Chhath Puja, there has been a tradition of people worshipping Sun God and also offering reverence and gratitude to Mother Nature by veneration of rivers, ponds, and other sources of water. He asked people to resolve to preserve nature and the environment and celebrate the festival keeping in mind the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. The festival is known by different names like Pratihar, Dala Chhath, Chhathi, and Surya Shashthi in India.
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