Chhath is a festival dedicated to the
Surya - Sun Goddess (not God), considered to be a means to thank the sun for
bestowing the bounties of life in earth and fulfilling particular wishes. Worship
of the sun has been practiced in different parts of India, and the world from
time immemorial.
Worship of sun has been described in
the Rig Veda, the oldest Hindu scriptures, and hymns praying to the sun in the
Vedas are found.
More than festivities, festival of Chhat
Puja in Delhi involves a sacrifice on the part of the devotee, which leads to
his purification. For Chath celebrations in New Delhi, several ghats (embankments)
are reserved at the river Yamuna in the city. The puja takes place at these
ghats only.
Performed both by men as well as by women,
the puja preparations start with the end of Diwali. Through the period, an austere
lifestyle is followed. First of all, the house is cleaned and the family members
of the person doing the puja take a holy dip.
Throughout the festival of Chhath, the
food prepared is saltless and totally vegetarian, without even onions and garlic.
Even the vessels used are mostly earthen and people sleep on the floor.
The person who performs the Chath puja
observes a fast from dawn to the dusk and ends by eating sweets. Thereafter,
another fast is observed that continues for thirty-six hours and ends on the
dawn of the final day.
On the final day, the puja starts at
the bank of a river some time before sunrise. People who perform the puja remain
in river water from late midnight till the time the first ray of sunlight touches
the earth. From that time onwards, devotees start flooding the river with offerings
to the Sun God. This is followed by the distribution of the prashad amongst
the devotees.
