Also known as: Chhath, Surya Shashthi, Dala Chhath, Chhathi Maiya Puja · Observed: Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Nepal Terai
Significance of Chhath Puja
Chhath Puja is one of the most austere and widely loved festivals of Bihar and the surrounding regions. It is devoted to Surya, the visible source of all life, and to Chhathi Maiya, identified with Shashthi Devi, the goddess who protects children. Devotees, most often women but also men, keep demanding fasts and stand in rivers and ponds to offer arghya to the Sun at sunset and at sunrise, thanking him for life and harvest and praying for the health and prosperity of their families.
Chhath is notable for its simplicity and purity. There are no images or priests required; worship is offered directly to nature, with home-made offerings in baskets of bamboo, and entire communities come together to clean the ghats and help the vratis, those who keep the fast.
Legends and Origins
Chhath is believed to be among the oldest forms of Sun worship in India. One tradition holds that after returning to Ayodhya, Rama and Sita kept a fast and worshipped the Sun on Kartika Shukla Shashthi. The Mahabharata tells of Karna, son of Surya, who stood in water each day offering prayers to the Sun, and of Draupadi and the Pandavas, who are said to have observed a similar vrata to regain their kingdom. Another account links Chhathi Maiya to the sixth form of Prakriti, worshipped for the protection of children.
The Four Days of Chhath
On the first day, Nahay Khay, the vrati bathes in a river and eats a single pure meal, usually rice, chana dal and bottle gourd cooked without onion or garlic. On the second day, Kharna, the vrati fasts all day and in the evening offers and eats kheer made with jaggery, along with roti, after which a fast without water begins. On the third day, Sandhya Arghya, the vrati and family go to the riverbank with baskets (daura and soop) filled with thekua, a wheat and jaggery sweet, sugarcane, coconut, banana, citrus and other seasonal fruits, and offer arghya to the setting Sun while standing in water. Folk songs of Chhath fill the night. On the fourth day, Usha Arghya, offerings are made to the rising Sun, after which the vrati breaks the fast of about thirty-six hours with prasad.
Chhath is now celebrated wherever people from Bihar and Purvanchal have settled, including Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, as well as Mauritius, Fiji and the Caribbean. A smaller Chaiti Chhath is also observed in the month of Chaitra.
How the Date Is Determined
The main day of Chhath, the evening offering, falls on Kartika Shukla Shashthi, the sixth tithi of the bright fortnight of Kartika, six days after Diwali. The festival begins with Nahay Khay on Chaturthi, continues with Kharna on Panchami, and ends with the dawn offering on Saptami. The day of the evening arghya is fixed by the Shashthi tithi prevailing at sunset.
Rituals and customs
- Nahay Khay: holy bath and a single sattvic meal
- Kharna: daylong fast ending with jaggery kheer
- A fast of about thirty-six hours without water
- Sandhya Arghya to the setting Sun from the riverbank
- Usha Arghya to the rising Sun and breaking the fast
- Thekua and seasonal fruits offered in bamboo baskets