Chhath is considered one of the most sacred and ancient Hindu festivals for people coming from India’s ‘Purvanchal’ region, mainly Bihar, Jharkhand, and Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Chhath is a four day long festival, dedicated to the sun god surya Dev and goddess Shashthi Devi and is celebrated on the sixth day of the lunar month after Diwali. As the sun is the source of life and energy for Earth, devotees seek blessings from the sun God on this holy day for the well-being and prosperity of their families.
The four day ceremonies include holy bathing, fasting and water abstinence, standing in the water to offer prasad and araghya to the rising and setting sun which will attract lakhs of people. The festivities involve rituals wherein worshippers perform odes to the sun god, generally at riverbanks or a pond. The delhi government has decided to set up over 1,000 Chhath ghats across the city so that devotees don’t have to travel far from their homes. The government is also ensuring adequate lighting arrangements around ghats is in place and government has released Rs 40,000 per ward for this purpose.
Streetlights have also been added along the approach roads to Chhath Ghats. As part of the preparations, a special cleaning drive has been initiated in parks, and specific efforts have been made to maintain cleanliness around the ghats. Special arrangements have also been made in Uttar Pradesh’s noida and noida and Ghaziabad, where over 50 temporary ghats are being set up for the Chhath festival In noida, a ghat, measuring 150ft by 60ft, is being built at a stadium where over 2.5 lakh people are expected to gather. In Ghaziabad, banks of the Hindon river have also been cleaned, where nearly 5 lakh devotees expected to visit for festivities. delhi Excise Commissioner has issued an order declaring sunday (November 19) as a ‘Dry Day’ in the capital city, in light of the upcoming Chhath Puja celebration. However, the news came has a mild disappointment for many cricket fans, who were hoping to enjoy the India-Australia world cup final on sunday with booze.
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