Chhath Puja is a very beautiful and important festival for us. It is dedicated to the Sun God and Chhathi Maiya, and it is very important. It is celebrated in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and the entire Indian community worldwide. But Chhath Puja is very special for us, the people of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, because it is our emotion. It is a very important festival for us. It is our life. During Chhath Puja, all the people of Bihar, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand go to their homes. This is the only time when we are all together, and during this Chhath Puja, people who live far away, our family members, come to us. They stay with us during Chhath Puja, and our relationship becomes very strong. So, we will talk about Chhath Puja.
Chhath Puja is a very old and Vedic festival which we believe in and this festival is celebrated with purity which reflects our gratitude towards the Sun God, when we are substantive, that gratitude is visible on the earth. We all worship the rising sun, but we also worship the setting sun. We give him so much respect. We thank him for bringing so much light in our lives and this promotes. Our values promote our discipline, devotion and cleanliness within us, cleanliness within us, devotion within us and discipline within us.
So this Chhath Puja is of 4 days. The first day is Nahai Kha in which the women or men who perform Chhath Puja worship Chhathi Maiya and keep a fast. They take bath very well in the river Ganga and eat pure vegetarian food, that is, without garlic and onion. That day is called Nyahaik. The second day is called Nahai Kha in which a full day fast is observed. The day from which Chhath Puja starts, the food included in it is Kheer, Roti.She makes rotis and offers them as bhog. The third day is called Sandhya Ak in which we offer prayers to the sunset and say thank you to them, we worship them and the fourth day which is the most important and last day is called Usha, meaning we worship the rising sun and after that the person who worships it, continues his fast day which is very important for us and Chhath Puja is our emotion. Everyone is very excited on this day. There is a need to wake up early to eat all these Prasad's like Thekua and on the last day when we get that prasad, it feels very good.
So, we do preparations for this, like we clean our entire house very well, and the river where we are going to perform the puja, we clean that river and the points very well. The Prasad that we make for this festival is finely ground, it contains fruits and sugar cane, coconut, rice laddu and many such fruits which are offered. The mother who worships this thing and the men also worship this thing. They do a fast of at least 36 hours, which means without water, and this brings a lot of strength and inspiration in us and we are able to complete this 36 hours fast very well.
The history behind this is Vedic history. In it, when Shri Ram was returning from exile, Sita said, "When I return, meaning after 14 years of exile, I will worship you." Meaning, Mother Ganga andI will worship the Sun God and when Mother Sita returned after 14 years of exile with Ram Shri Ramchandra. She returned with our Lord Ramas. Then they performed this Chhath Puja, that is, this 4 day puja and from then till today we celebrate Chhath Puja with great pomp and we salute Chhathi Maiya and our Sun God. We bow down and this festival is celebrated with great pomp. That song, that Chhath song. That dance. That folk dance. That preparation, firecrackers, all those things, wherever we worship, that is, the family whose porn site we worship, we understand it very well. They decorate it. That writing, that Bajiya of the Kachhi bus, is put. We decorate it very nicely.
They wear ethnic wear, and the sons of the family play a major role in this. This is what men do. They carry the 'Daura' (bread) on their heads, barefoot, from home to the place where we perform the puja. We perform the puja at the Madji River. They carry it there, and it's a very good omen that the one who carries the 'Daura' on their head receives many blessings. For us, Chhath Puja is a very important and emotional festival. Even though we, in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand, may not be able to go home for any other festival around the world, we all definitely go home during Chhath Puja, clean the entire house, serve the women who perform the puja, and carry the 'Daura' (bread). We wear good clothes and celebrate Chhath Puja with great respect, because it's our emotion. It's a very emotional connection, because on this day, our mother Sita returned to her kingdom and performed this ritual. It was started and since then it has been going on till today and will continue like this in future also.
On the last day, the day when Chhath Puja ends, we see the rising Sun with our eyes and that day is Chhath Puja for us. It means it ends with a lot of emotions. It ends with happiness and Chhath Puja is not just a festival. It is a feeling. There is a purity. There is a harmony. For us, for us Biharis, for us Jharkhand, for us Uttar Pradesh people and this is very close to our hearts.
