Hundreds of devotees offered the morning ‘arghya’ (prayer) to the rising Sun at various ghats in Dehradun, Haridwar and other districts of Uttarakhand on Thursday. The four-day long festival of Chhath that commenced with ‘nahai-khai’ on Monday concluded with the final obeisance paid to the Sun on Thursday.

Though persons who migrate from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh principally celebrate Chhath festival in the State the people from other communities too were seen participating in the festival with fervour and devotion.

Friday morning saw devotees and their family members thronged the ghats, carrying wooden baskets and took their usual place there before the ‘Parvaitins (persons fasting to offer ‘Arghya’ to the Sun God) descended in the waist-deep water and stood there to offer Arghya to the rising sun.

At various ghats (puja venues) in Dehradun like Rispana, Maldevta, Tapkeshwar and Gulaghati and some other places in Rishikesh, the festive mood prevailed with children bursting crackers and soothing Chhath songs being played on loudhailers.

With worship of the Sun God over, the women devotees exchanged greetings, applied ‘sindoor’(vermilion) to one another, blessed one another and distributed ‘prasadas’ that include ‘thekua’ and other items among the people present at the ghats before making their way out from the puja venue.

Devotees had on Wednesday evening performed the ‘Sandhya Arghya’ (evening offerings) to the setting Sun.

A devotee Sohan Singh said that the annual festival was dedicated to worshipping the Hindu Sun God. Chhat Puja is considered a true test of a would-be devotee’s piety, since the rituals often call for great physical and mental strength.

In fact, some worshippers, as a measure of their fortitude, travel to riverbanks by repeatedly prostrating themselves on the ground (as a means of saluting the Sun God).

Sitamarhi (Bihar) native Sumitra Devi who has been performing Chhath rituals for the past five years at Maldevta (Raipur) in Dehradun said that it is during this phase of Chhath Puja that the devotees offer prayers twice once when the sun was setting and again when it was rising. 

The occasion is almost a carnival. Besides the Pravaitins, there are friends and family members and numerous onlookers, all willing to help and receive the blessings of the worshippers.

Suresh, a devotee at Tapkeshwar, said that the rituals of the festival are rigorous and are observed over a period of four days. They include holy bathing, fasting and abstaining from drinking water (Vratta), standing in water for long periods of time and offering prashad (prayer offerings) and arghya to the setting and rising sun. The Chhath Puja is performed in order to thank Surya for sustaining life on earth and to pray for the fulfilment of certain wishes.