CIN /FESTIVAL OF CHHATH, FULL OF COLOUR, SPRIT AND LIFE

Sunil kumar, DIG -CRPF /Chhath puja has it origins in the Vedic age and it is often seen to have a connection with the famous Gayatri Mantra and the Yajna (Sacrifice) associated with it. Gayatri Mantra, which finds first mention in the Rig Vega is dedicated to the Savita God i.e. Sun God. Sun is considered as the God of power, radiance and life. But performing this Pooja people thank the sun God for the gift that he has bestowed upon them.  Chhath means six, Chhath is named so because it is celebrated mainly on the Sixth and Seventh-day of the Hindu month of Kartik. But the whole of Chhath Puja lasts for four days. Like and other Indian festival, it is full of colour, sprit and life.  Chhath being mainly a festival of Bihar, wherever people from Bihar have migrated, they have taken with them the tradition of Chhath. This is a ritual bathing festival that follows a period of abstinence and ritual segregation of the worship observes ritual purity and sleeps on the floor on a single blanket. The main workshpers, Parvaitin are usually women. However, a large number of men also are the main worhsiper. The parvaitin pray for the well-being of their family for prosperity and offspring. The usually can perform Chhath only if it is passed on to them from their older generation. However, once they decide to do it, it becomes their duty to perform it every year, the festival being skipped only if there happens to be a death in the family that year. On the eve of Chhath, house are scrupulously cleaned and so are the surroundings. On the first day of the festival, the workshipers cooks a traditional vegetarian meal and offers it to the sun God. This day is called “Naha-Kha” that si simply. Bathe and eat. The worshiper allows herself/him- self only one meal on this day from the preparation. On the second-day, a special ritual, called “kharna” is per formed in the evening after sun sets. On this day also, the worshiper eats his/her only meal from the offerings i.e. called Prasad in hindi, is made to. the sun God is this ritual. Friends and family are invited to the household on this day to share the Prasad of the ritual. From this day onwar4ds for the next 36 hours, the worshiper goes on a fast without water. The evening of the next day, the entire household accompanied the work- shiper to a ritual bathing and worship of the Sun God. Usually on the bank of a river or a common water body. The occasion is almost a carnival. Besides the main worshiper, 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 degree of sanctity. from mothers and mothers-in-law The three main linguistic regions of to daughter and daughters-in-law are sung on this occasion. The same bathing ritual is repeated on the following day at the crack of dawn on a river bank is a beautiful, elating spiritual experience connecting the modern Indian to his ancient culture roots. Chhath is very joyous and colourful festival. All the people dress up in teri-best clothes. Devotional songs are sung at both at home and on the river bank. Millions of people gather on the banks of the river Ganga in Patna in Bihar to celebrate Chhath. The streets are kept spotlessly clean by volunteers, who also decorate all the streets leading to the river. The Prasad includes sweets and fruit kept in small baskets made of bamboo. The food is strictly vegetarian and it is k- colked without salt, onion or garlic. ip Emphasis is put on maintaining the of purity of the food. The folk songs sung on the eve of Chhath mirror the culture, social structure, mythology and harmony of Bihar, Jharkhand and ts Uttar Pradesh. Now a days, modern ad Chhath songs, largely Bollywood filmy remixes have caught on, out the old tradition still goes strong with a great on degree of sanctity.The three main linguistic regions of Bihar, the Maithly, the Magadhi and the Bhojpuri and all the various 1- dialects associated with these have different fold songs but all dedicated to Chhath, they have an underlying unity. The minor nuances of the Chhath rituals such as in the Kahrana ritual vary from region and also cross families, -but still there is a fundamental similarity Chhath Pooja is currently performed in all parts of India and the world wherever Indian live.