Hundreds of devotees are thronging the riverbanks at Rispana bridge, Tapkeshwar Mahadev Temple and Raipur area to perform the Chhath Puja rituals, the spirit of the last festivity for this year has gripped the areas of the city where the people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are living in large numbers.
However, some of them say that the water from where they offer prayers to Surya Deva as part of the rituals is not clean enough for the auspicious occasion.
“Water figures importantly in the rituals as offering obeisance to the Sun God twice in two days-one when the sun is setting and the other when it is rising-from amidst the water marks the zenith of the puja. But the water is turbid. And this is what we are facing every year. We have been collecting money from the people of our community over the past several years to clean the water and prepare the ghats. We are continuing with the practice despite the cost involved having surged a great deal. But the problem of the water remaining filthy during the puja is persisting,” said Dulari Devi aged around 32 who was found near the Rispana riverbank.
Suresh Meheto, another of the Bihari community now settled in the city, said they had been performing puja at Rispana with Tapkeshwar Temple being far away from their place. “We need to prepare the ghat and clean the water days before the puja starts. Tapkeshwar is too far for the purpose. Besides, the cost of setting up a stall for the puja is as high as `15,000,” he added.
Upinder Meheto and Pradeep, two labouers from Bihar settled in the Raipur area for the past 12 years, said the prices of the items required for the puja having gone up have landed them in problem.
“This is not the first time this has happened. Every year, things become the same and we have to pay more to complete the rituals. We long to go Tapkeshwar Mahadev Temple for the rituals. But the transport fare forbids us,” said Pradeep.