Thaindian News

Patna, Nov 1 (IANS) Hundreds of thousands of people, mainly women, marked the festival of Chhath Tuesday across Bihar by fasting, praying and making offerings to the setting sun.

The four-day Chhath began Sunday when devotees took a dip in rivers, a tradition known as ‘nahai khai’. It is followed by the ritual of ‘kharna’ Monday when sweet dishes are prepared before fasting.

Married women observe fast for 36 hours during the festival. Devotees traditionally offer wheat, milk, sugarcane, bananas and coconuts to the Sun god.

In many parts of the state, the festival is celebrated with religious fervour and zeal.

In Patna and other towns, all roads led to the riverbanks which were decorated and cleaned for the devotees to perform ‘arghya’ or oblations to the sun.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his cabinet colleagues preferred to spend the day celebrating the Chhath with their families.

For the first time, former chief ministers Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi celebrated Chhath in New Delhi.

In Patna, nearly 50 ghats or riverside bathing platforms on the banks of the Ganges have been given last-minute facelift by the administration and volunteers.

The authorities had declared 23 ‘ghats’ in Patna unsafe and dangerous.

Chhath is associated with faith, purity and devotion to the Sun god. Colourful idols of the Sun god riding his chariot with seven horses, a new attraction this year, were sold on riverbanks.

The administration and dozens of voluntary organisations worked round-the-clock to clean the roads leading up to the banks of rivers and water bodies.

The festival will conclude Wednesday with devotees worshipping the rising sun. Chhath is celebrated six days after Diwali.