Jamshedpur: Chhath fervour grips devotees, Kharna observed

Jamshedpur, Oct 29: The four-day Chhath festival, one of the most popular and biggest in city, that began on Friday, has gripped festive fervour in the city. On Saturday, another ritual Kharna was observed, followed by main offerings of argya to the Sun god on Sunday.

Chhath, celebrated six days after Diwali, is dedicated to the sun god. During the festival, married women observe a fast for 36 hours and devotees offer wheat, milk, sugar cane, bananas and coconuts to the sun.

In Jamshedpur alone, hundreds of roadside vendors, mostly poor men and women, sold these items. “Bamboo baskets in different shapes, locally known as soop, tokri are being used by devotees,” Devi said. Another devotee Ranju Mishra, dressed in a new cotton sari, said: “We first took bath to clean ourselves before preparing food to mark the beginning of the Chhath festival.” She said the age-old “ritual of Nahay-Khay – preparing of traditional food — is a symbol of purity and strict discipline during the next phase of the festival”.

A devotee is a `varti` – the one who performs the Chhath prayers and follows other rituals. It is a festival 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, which were cleaned up and decorated by the devotees.

The administration along with dozens of voluntary organisations worked round-the-clock to clean the roads leading up to the banks of rivers and water bodies. District authorities have declared `ghats` in city unsafe and dangerous.

Over the years Chhath is being closely identified with Bihar – on the lines of Bihu in Assam, Pongal in Tamil Nadu and the Ganesh festival in Maharashtra. 

Baghbera Mahanagar Vikas Samity, (BMVS) has been actively pursuing the cause of the locals for the last 36 years however, from the last three years it has began serving the Chhat devotees by all means.   “Ideally, we purchase fruits and other logistics required for preparing the Chhat Soop (winnowing basket) and deliver it to the devotee families belonging to the economically weaker sections,” said an official of BMVS.

According to the outfit officials, several business families, largely those residing in the Jugsalai Municipal Area and Bistupur, have come forward to extend support to the organization in their pursuit to assist the economically poor Chhat devotees.

 “We receive support from individuals and institutions, who are relatively better economically, however we avoid receiving cash donations,” he said. “We largely request our donors to purchase puja materials on their own and join us in distributing the pack.

Meanwhile the district traffic police have banned the entry of heavy vehicles from 12 at mid night today to 9 am tomorrow.