Mumbai: Thousands of devotees are all set to gather on Mumbai's beaches and near the water bodies at sunset today (November 7) and during sunrise on Friday to perform the main rituals of the four-day Chhath puja, the biggest festival in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
About The Festival
The auspicious period began on Tuesday on Chaturthi or the fourth day of the Shukla paksha (bright moon) phase of the Kartik month. Today is 'Chhath’ or 'shashti’, the sixth day of the month. The festival will end on 'Saptami’ or the seventh day of the month. These four days are spent in 12-hour fasts and prayers. Devotees worship the sun and ‘Shashti or 'Chhatti Maiya', an incarnation of Devi and the goddess for children, during the festival. Hence, the festival is also called the Surya Shashti Vrat, and is linked to the Hindu epics — Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
It is believed that Draupadi observed fasting on these days to pray for the success of Pandavas, who were exiled from their kingdom by their cousins. Sita was blessed with twins after prayers during this period. U K Singh, secretary of the Bihar Association, said the festival is also a thanksgiving to nature. “People stand knee-deep in water to offer water to the sun as an acknowledgment of the life and light that God offers,” he said.
For this reason, any place with a water body becomes a site for rituals. If there is no natural water body, prayers are offered near artificial tanks and specially created ponds. Manoj Singh Rajput, a spokesperson for the Bihar-government-supported Bihar Foundation, said the festival to worship the sun is as old as human civilisation.
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“There are no pandits and no mantras. It is sun worship and the communication is directly between you and God,” he said. “Chhath Puja is Bihar’s biggest annual celebration, even bigger than Diwali,” said Singh, adding that the festival has grown in popularity in the last few decades in Mumbai, given the rise in the populace tracing roots to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
About The Programs Being Organised
Bihar Foundation is holding Chhath Puja at 29 places in the city. Bihar Front, an organisation led by ex-MP Sanjay Nirupam, will hold a gathering at Juhu Beach today. Cultural programmes with music and devotional songs will be held in Juhu, Malad, and Bhiwandi. The biggest gathering in Mumbai will be at Girgaum Chowpatty, but worshippers will also gather at Madh Island, Juhu, Dadar Chowpatty, Nalasopara, Bhayandar Creek, Aksa Beach, Malad, Sion talao, Hiranandani lake, Palm Beach Road, Vashi, and over a 100 other spots in the city.
