CHHATH PUJA AT YAMUNA

This weekend is Chhat Puja one of the most important religious days for Hindi


TIMES NEWS NETWORK



New Delhi: Chhath was celebrated with much fervour in the city. The banks of the Yamuna, colourfully decorated with flowers and lights, were reverberating with devotional Bhojpuri folk songs on Saturday. Thousands of devotees, including those observing fast, thronged the ghats to offer prayers to the setting sun.
After fasting the entire day, people offered Chhath Sandhya Arghya to the setting sun by standing in knee-deep water. As the evening sky changed colours, the lamps offered in the river by thousands of hands made for a truly delightful sight. The festival will culminate at dawn on Sunday after devotees offer Arghya to the rising sun. One of the devotees, Laxmi Devi, said, ‘‘The eldest lady of the house usually keeps the fast, but my mother-in-law has stopped keeping it. This is the first time I’ve observed the fast. However difficult, we always keep the fast.’’



Some ardent male devotees who’ve kept the fast for their wishes to come true crawl the entire route from their home to the river bank out of devotion. There were many youngsters who had also kept the fast. Twenty-year-old Deven Prasad said, ‘‘I have kept the fast hoping for a better health for my mother who is suffering from cancer. We have a lot of faith in Chhath Mayi.’’
Carrying cane baskets containing coconut, sugarcane, and seasonal fruits on their heads, men accompanied their wives to the ghats.