Hyderabad: City glows in Chhath Puja gloryas devotees worship solar god

Hyderabad: It was a magnificent fest of colours, as men, women and children gathered in their best attire in large numbers at Hussainsagar and other water bodies in the city to celebrate PehlaArghya (obeisance), the third and most important day of the Chhath puja.

Women were seen occupied in the front rows at the lake with their puja material on specially laid-out tables. As the sun began to set, many stepped into water to offer prayers to the Sun god.

Chhath is a four-day Hindu festival dedicated to worshipping the sun. It is observed six days after the Diwali, specifically on the sixth day of the ‘Kartika Masam’ (month) (October–November) of the Hindu calendar. Chhath Puja is an important religious festival for people of Bihar, Jharkhand and the eastern part of UP. People from those origins living in Hyderabad have been celebrating the festival with the same zeal for many years. ChhathiMaiya, the sixth form of Devi Prakriti and Lord Surya's sister, is worshipped as the goddess of the festival along with Surya.

“We are the only community that worships the setting sun on the occasion. The celebrations have been taking place in Hyderabad for the past many years. This year it has been observed at 22 ghats all over Hyderabad," said Manvendra Mishra, ex-president of Bihar Association, Hyderabad.

‘The rituals are observed over four days. On the third day we all gather near the lake, as we offer prayers to the sun when it was setting and also on the fourth day, the last day of the festival that will be observed on Monday, when we pray to the rising sun,” he added

“Every year we eagerly wait for Chhath Puja, after six days of Diwali. The celebrations begin and last for four days. As every year, we eagerly await the fest. The first day is called ‘NahayKhay’ during which meals, especially consisting of pumpkin, moong-chana dal and rice, are prepared.

On the second day, ‘Kharna day’, a special prasad is made of jaggery and rice and offered to the Sun god. From the second day, that is after the sunset to the fourth-day sunrise, no food and water is consumed by devotees, specially women,” said Ankita Mishra, who has been celebrating the festival in the city.

“This year we have celebrated the festival in a grand manner. For the past many years we have been organising the fest in Uppal ghat. We are celebrating with the same zeal and tradition as in Bihar. On the third day, after offering puja to Lord Surya, various cultural programmes have been organised the whole night.

The next day after worshiping the rising sun we head back home,” said Prabhas Kumar, general secretary of the association.