Hundreds of people converged on the banks of River Yamuna on Wednesday to pray to the rising sun, braving the winter morning chill, as the four-day Chhath festival came to an end.
People from Bihar and eastern UP, the two States that observe the age-old tradition of worshipping the Sun God, thronged the riverbanks from Kalindi Kunj Ghat in south Delhi to Wazirabad and Kudesia Ghats in north on Tuesday evening and in the wee hours on Wednesday in colourful processions.
A Nalanda district native Subodh Gupta, who now lives in Panchsheel Vihar in south Delhi, said, “We went to Kalindi Kunj Ghat on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning to observe the rituals. We were about 50 people, and though we have been out of Bihar for 12 years now, we try to not forget our traditions that bind us to our roots back home.”
In north and east Delhi too, people congregated at the nearest ghats or water bodies and worshipped the rising sun. At some places, temporary shallow pits were dug out and filled with water, especially in parks for convenience of people.
Mukesh Kumar, a native of Harnout in Nalanda, who also came to Kalindi Kunj Ghat said, “If we had our wish, we would want to go back to Bihar and celebrate it there, but we work here now, and everyone in our family is here, so it is difficult travelling.... But, for us this festival means so much. Yamuna, like Ganga, is also our mother, so we go to her.”
The four-day celebrations mark the tradition of worshipping the Sun God and its radiant energy, references to which are found in sacred Hindu texts and centuries-old paintings and other artwork.
The festival attracts crowds from all parts of the national Capital region. Municipal bodies had made all arrangements from sanitation to beautification and spruced up the ghats for the
occasion.
The Delhi Government and Delhi Police too worked in tandem to ensure peaceful and incident-free festivities.