Chhath Puja,The Grand Festival of Purity : Rajesh Singh

RAIPUR, Oct 16, 2022: Four-day Chhath festival, also known as Surya Shasthi, will commence with “Nhay Khay” ritual across the country on October 28. Addressing a press conference at Babylon Tower in Raipur city on Sunday, Chief of the Chhath Puja Organising Committee Rajesh Kumar Singh said that the four-day Chhath festival would be celebrated with great zeal and traditional fervour from October 28 to 31.

People in large number will gather at Mahadev Ghat, along Kharun River to celebrate Chhath festival this year. People, who migrated from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh to Chhattisgarh, celebrate Chhath Puja in Raipur, Bilaspur, Bhilai, Jagdalpur, Korba and other parts of the state.

He further said that that the Chhath festival is dedicated to the Sun God and his sister Chhathi Maiya in order to thank them for bestowing the bounties of life on earth and to request the granting of certain wishes. The rituals of the Chhath are rigorous and are observed over a period of four days.

The rituals of the festival include holy bathing, fasting and abstaining from drinking water, standing in water for long periods of time, and offering prasad and arghya to the setting and rising Sun. Some devotees also perform a prostration march as they head for the river banks.

Chhath Puja is celebrated in Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Mumbai and other parts of the country. Grand festival of Chhath is as a means of purification of body, mind and soul, Singh described.

He informed that in Raipur city, the Chhath festival will be celebrated at over 50 places including Mahadev Ghat. Nhay-Khay will be held on October 28. Kharna ritual will be performed on October 29.  ‘Sandhya Arghya’ will be offered on October 30. Usha Arghya will be offered on October 31. A cultural programme will be held at Mahadev Ghat on October 30. 

Chhattisgarhi folk artist Dilip Shadangi, Sur Sangram winner and Bhojpuri artist Mohan Rathor, Bhojpuri singer Priyanka Pandey, artists of Sonali and Tarun Chopra Group will perform at Mahadev Ghat on October 30. The cultural programme is scheduled to begin at 2 pm on the day.

All kinds of facilities like parking, lighting and other facilities are being arranged for devotees at Mahadev Ghat. The members of the Samiti along with Raipur Municipal Corporation will clean Mahadev Ghat. 

Ravindra Singh, Sunil Singh, Shashi Singh, Satyendra Singh Gautam, Parmanand Singh, Ramkumar Singh, Kanhaiya Singh, Ramvilas Singh, Jayant Singh, Satya Prakash Singh, Brijesh Singh, Singh,  Santosh Singh,  Anil Singh, Shiv Shankar Singh, Jaiprakash Singh, Mukul Shrivastava, Saroj Singh, Sanjay Singh and other members were present at the press conference.