Bhubaneswar: As Chhat Puja celebrations culminate with ‘Usha Arghya’ on Thursday, devotees hoped and prayed for routine puja from next year along the river banks, as is the age-old practice of the worshipping the Sun god.
The festival that follows Diwali and Bhai Dooj starts on the sixth day of Kartik Maas, hence the name Chhat Puja where ‘Chhat’ means six. The puja is performed to deify and pray to the Sun.
Chhat is celebrated for four days in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. The puja is also performed in parts of Nepal where people pray to the Sun God.
In Odisha, people celebrated the festival amid strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocols imposed by the state government.
Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) had banned the congregation of devotees at river banks and ghats and other water bodies to take holy baths and perform Chhat puja as a precautionary measure to restrict the spread of coronavirus.
Adhering to the restrictions, devotees of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack observed the puja at their homes with their families and relatives. In Rourkela, people from Bihar and UP performed the puja on their terrace.
The significance of each day:
NAHAI KHAI OR NAHA KHAY
On the first day of Chhat Puja, all the devotees bathe in a water body, especially in River Ganga. Along with cleaning their own body, they also clean their house and surroundings.
After the bath, prasad is cooked using ingredients like moong-chana dal, pumpkin, and bottle gourd. The women, called ‘Vrattis,’ fast on this day and eat the prasad only once in the day. Other members of the family will eat only after the vratti has eaten the prasad.
LOHANDA AND KHARNA
The second day of the festival marks a full-day fast by the Vrattis. After the sunset, the Vrattis prepare a special prasad called Rasaio-Kheer, eaten to break the fast. On this day, devotees offer their prayers to Chhati Maiya. At midnight, another special dish called Thekua is prepared, which is used as a prasad while praying to Chhathi Maiya.
SANDHYA ARGHYA
Sandhya, in Hindi, means Evening. Therefore, Sandhya Arghya marks the third day of the festival and involves praying and resting at home. Folk songs are sung at the banks of the water bodies. During the sunset, devotees pray and then return home to enjoy Thekua, the prasad made of jaggery and flour.
On the night of the third day, a canopy made of five sugarcanes, representing five elements of Earth, is used as an integral part of the prayer. The ritual is known as ‘Kosi’ and is mainly followed by a family that has recently witnessed a birth or a wedding.
USHA ARGHYA
The last day of Chhath Puja involves offering prayers to the Sun, and all the religious rituals are performed during the dawn of the day. The devotees sit near the banks of the water until the sun rises.
As the day breaks, the morning ‘arghya’ is offered by going in the water. The Vrattis break the fast by eating prasad and taking blessings from elders of the family.
