Preparations for one of North India’s biggest festivals Chhath Puja have begun. The ancient vedic festival celebrated widely across Nepal, Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, dedicated to the the Sun god – Surya and Chhathi Maiya, the mother goddess.
Devotees thank Surya for bestowing bounties of life on earth and pray to the deity and his vedic consorts Usha and Pratyusha (Goddesses of Dawn and Dusk). The festival is celebrated grandly by Bihari and Nepalese diaspora to offer prayers to Chhati Maiya – the mother goddess.
The Sun is offered arghya (a special type of offering) in the evening on the first day and the morning of the second day. The rituals are observed over four days as some devotees aslo perform a prostration march heading for river banks.
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