Chhath puja – UdaipurBlog

Permission Granted! Check Out The Places & Guidelines To Celebrate Chhath Puja In Udaipur This Year

A sense of divinity, a sense of prosperity runs through the veins in this 4-day festival of Chhath Puja. Chhath is one of the most important and religious Hindu festivals dedicated to Lord Surya and Chhathi Maiya. This year the festival of keeping ‘Nirjala’ fast (a fast without consuming water) for more than 36 hours is commemorating on November 8, 2021 and will end on November 11, 2021.

The festival requires for devotees to perform their rituals by standing with their feet dipped in a water body. Due to the spread of Covid-19, the devotees symbolically did their Chhath Puja as gatherings were prohibited. But to everyone’s surprise, the guidelines have been lifted this year and permission granted, but with the hinge of restrictions.

Let us know more about the guidelines and places to celebrate Chhath Puja in Udaipur, this year. Before that here’s all you want to know about Chhath Puja.

ALL ABOUT CHHATH PUJA

There are many stories behind as to why Chhath is celebrated but one of them says that according to Hindu mythology, it is believed that Lord Ram offered prayers to the Sun when he returned to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile.
Chhath Puja is celebrated on the sixth day of the month of Kartik, mainly by people who hail from Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh.
It is one of the most auspicious and biggest festivals dedicated to Lord Surya and, during the span of four days, devotees keep a fast that lasts from sunrise to sunset and comprises of more than 36 hours of Nirjala Fast.
The timings of Suryodaya (sunrise) and Suryast (Sunset) are highly significant during Chhath Puja and the celebrations begin with ‘Nahay Khay‘ also known as ‘Barona‘, followed by ‘Kharna‘ also known as ‘Sanjhwat‘, ‘Sandhya Arghya‘ and ‘Usha Arghya‘.
During this festival of 4 days, the devotees are allowed to consume only Satvik food (without onion and garlic) and prepare the meals with the utmost hygiene and eat only after taking a bath.
This year, the festivities of Chhath Puja begin on November 8 with Nahay Khay and will end on November 11 with Usha Arghya.

Four Days of Chhath Puja

On the first day of Nahay Khay, devotees take a bath in the holy Ganga water and clean their house and surroundings. Rice, chana dal (split Bengal gram) and bottle gourd are a must on the menu of the devotees on Nahay Khay.
The second day is Kharna and on this day devotees fast for the whole day and make a special prasad called Rasaio-Kheer (with jaggery and rice) accompanied with chapatis and eat it before the sunset. Devotees eat the prasad and start their nirjala fast the till Usha Arghya.
On the third day of Sandhya Arghya, folk songs are sung at the banks of water bodies and ghats. The worshippers prepare a special sweet dish ‘Thekua or Tikri‘ with jaggery, ghee and flour, which is offered as a prasad to Chhathi Maiya. At the ghat, the devotees take sugarcane along with a basket of fruits and bamboo soops for the evening Arghya. In the evening, at the time of sunset, they offer Arghya to Lord Surya with the family members in a nearby water body or at a ghat, which is also known as Sandhya Arghya or Pehli Arghya.

Usha Arghya is the last and fourth day of the four-day-long Chhath festival and is also known as Paran Din. On the final day, devotees offer prayers to the Sun and perform all the religious rituals and customs during the dawn of the day. They stand in the water bodies till the sun rises but some of the devotees sit near the banks until the sun rises. Devotees break their nirjala fast after offering Arghya to the rising sun.

GUIDELINES AND PLACES TO CELEBRATE CHHATH PUJA IN UDAIPUR

Due to the spread of coronavirus, last year the devotees were not able to gather and perform the rituals near ghats and water bodies. But this year the government has lifted the restrictions and now religious events can be held in both closed and open spaces with covid appropriate behavior of applying mask, sanitizers and social distancing. This has been a good piece of news as, unlike any other year, last year the devotees had to symbolically complete their festive rituals.

Whereas the committee members of the group organizing Chhath Puja events have said that this year, keeping in mind the probable spread on corona, there will not be a grand event but the areas, especially the Dewali end at Fatehsagar has been cleaned by the committee for devotees to come and do their festivities, comfortably.

Places in Udaipur to perform Chhath Puja festivities:

Dewali end at Fatehsagar
Rani Road
Goverdhan Sagar
Dudhtalai

(Note: These are the major places where Chhath Puja rituals were performed before the year 2020)

May lord Sun and Chhathi Maiya bring peace, prosperity and enlightenment in your life and may you get to fulfill your dreams and desires.

Happy Chhath Puja!

Meaning of Surya Mantra:-Through out the dusky firmament advancing, laying to rest the immortal and the mortal, Borne in his golden chariot he cometh, Savitar, God who looks on every creature.

Festive season is on, so this week is being celebrated by The devotees offer their prayers to the setting sun and then the rising sun in celebrating its glory as the cycle of birth starts with death. It is seen as the most glorious form of Sun worship. for worship of sun through.This is the only holy festival which has no involvement of any pandit (priest)..Chhath puja is an ancient Hindu festival dedicated to Surya, the chief solar deity, major festival of Bihar, Jharkhand .

This major festival is also celebrated in the northeast region of India, M.P, U.P, and parts of Chhattisgarh. Even in south region the migrants from the north celebrate Chhath puja beside the sea beach. Hymns praying to the sun can be found in the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism

Basically Chhath Puja is A Festival Which is Celebrated in Mainly Bihar. But Now a days Chhath Puja is celebrated in almost all part of the India.

Chhath puja is performed on Kartik Shukala Shashti, which is the sixth day of the month of Kartik in the Hindu Calendar, exactly 6 days after Deepawali. This falls typically in the month of October or November.

It is also celebrated in the summer (March- April), on Chaitra Shashti, some days after Holi; this event is called Chaiti Chhath. The former is more popular because winter is the usual festive season in North India, and Chhath, being an arduous observance, requiring the worshipers to fast without water for more than 24 hours, is tougher to undertake in the Indian winters. Chhath puja is four days festival

First day:-

Is called Nahakha (literally, bathe and eat): On the first day of Chhath Puja, the devotees take a dip, preferably in the holy river Ganga, and carry home the holy water of the river Ganga to prepare the offerings. The house and surroundings are scrupulously cleaned. The follower allows themselves only one meal on this day.

Second day:-

Kharna (the day before Chhath): On Panchami, the day before Chhath, the followers observe a fast for the whole day, which ends in the evening a little after sunset. Just after the worship of earth, the offerings of Rasiao-kheer (rice delicacy), puris (deep-fried puffs of wheat flour) and bananas, are distributed among family and friends. From this day onwards, for the next 36 hours, the follower goes on a fast without water.

Third day:-

Sandhya Arghya(evening offerings): The day is spent preparing the prasad (offerings) at home. On the eve of this day, the entire household accompanies the parvaitins to a riverbank, pond or a common large water body to make the offerings (Arghya) to the setting sun. It is during this phase of Chhath Puja that the devotees offer prayers to the setting sun.

The occasion is almost a carnival. Besides the followers, there are friends and
family, and numerous participants and onlookers, all willing to help and
receive the blessings of the worshiper. Ritual rendition of regional folk
songs, carried on through oral transmission from mothers and mothers-in-law to
daughters and daughters-in-law, are sung on this occasion.

Fourth day:-

Parna(the day after Chhath) Bihaniya Arghya (next morning offerings): On the final day of Chhath Puja, the devotees, along with family and friends, go to the riverbank before sunrise, in order to make the offerings (Arghya) to the rising sun. The festival ends with the breaking of the fast by the followers and friends visiting the houses of the devotees to receive the prashad. Witnessing Chhath being celebrated at the crack of the dawn on a river bank is a beautiful, elating spiritual experience connecting the modern Indian to his ancient cultural roots.

In our city udaipur chhath puja is being done at Dudhtalayi near pichola lake. Most of the devotees during this puja were basically from U.P and Bihar region which has settled in udaipur now, so they have given me information about this puja. As my personal, experience with chhath puja was totally different as last year during this festival i was there in Bihar and that celebration was really awesome what crazy people they are that was the only devotion i found towards worship the Sun God.

“The higher the sun arise, the less shadow doth he cast; even so the greater is the goodness, the less doth it covet praise; yet cannot avoid its rewards in honors.”

Post and Photos By Monika Jain and Abhishek Singh