PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The four-day Chhath festival will begin on October 25 with the traditional Nahay-Khay ritual. The Bihari Mahasabha has started preparations for the festival in Dehradun. The Mahasabha has also requested the government to declare a holiday on Chhath. The organisation held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss arrangements including cleaning of Chhath ghats and traffic management. The Mahasabha president Lallan Singh said that the festival begins six days after Diwali and is dedicated to the worship of the Sun God and Goddess Shashthi. He said the Bihari Mahasabha has been organising Chhath Mahaparv in Dehradun for the past 20 years. The main celebrations will take place at Tapkeshwar Mahadev Temple, Premnagar, Chandrabani and Maldevta. Treasurer Ritesh Kumar said that Chhath festival is observed with devotion in states like Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh, and its observance has now spread beyond India. He added that women observe this strict fast for the well-being of their children, following rituals for four days and keeping a 36-hour waterless fast. The key rituals of Chhath include Nahay-Khay, Kharna, Arghya to the setting sun and Arghya to the rising sun.
