by Nimisha Kumar
Lotus Boulevard witnessed a beautiful celebration of Mahaparva Chhath Puja on 30th – 31th October 2022. With the initiatives of Purvanchal Group in LB and the help of AOA, we celebrate Chhath Puja in Lotus Boulevard.
Chatt Puja is a Hindu Vedic festival celebrated prominently in Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern UP and a few regions of Nepal. Prayers during Chhath puja are dedicated to the solar deity, Surya, to show gratitude and thankfulness for bestowing the bounties of life on earth and to request the granting of wishes. Chhathi Maiya, the mother goddess and Sun’s sister, is worshipped as the Goddess of the festival. It is celebrated six days after Diwali, falling in Karthika Maasa. It is celebrated over four days.
Chhath Puja arrangements were made at the LB club house terrace where the open swimming pool was cleaned and filled with water for the puja. Beautiful Mandaps were created alongside the pool. Mandap for Kosi Bharai are prepared by taking 5 sugarcanes that are tied together and beneath the shade of that mandap 12 to 24 earthen lamps are burnt and offerings are offered.
On Day 1 (Nahaye Khaye), after bathing, the house is cleaned and food after keeping it in front of God is eaten to protect the mind from vengeful tendencies. On day 2 (Kharna), after fasting for the entire day without drinking even a single drop of water, in the evening, we all ate Kheer made of jagger called Rasiaav.
Day 3 is for Sandhya Arghya. In the morning the entire family and friends got together to prepare “Thekua”. For most of the Bihari families, Thekua is just not a food but an emotion. It’s a beautiful feeling to prepare for evening arghya with the backdrop of Chhatt songs. In the evening, a bamboo basket (soop) is decorated with fruits, thekua and rice laddus, after which we all offer arghya to the setting sun with our families. At the time of arghya, water and milk is offered to the Sun God and the Chhathi Maiya is worshipped from a soop filled with prasad. We ladies put orange sindoor covering from nose to forehead.
On the last day, that is day 4 (Usha Arghya) of Chhath puja, before sunrise, we all gathered to offer an arghya to the rising sun. With this we pray for the protection of our children and the happiness of the entire family to Chhatti maiyya. After worship, fast is broken by eating Thekua as prasad. The main prasad offerings include Thekua and fruits (mainly sugarcane, sweet lime and banana).
These 4 days are very emotional for me as I fondly remember my GrandMother, who used to perform the Puja for years together before she left us for the heavenly abode.
Chhath Puja is not idolatry in nature. This festival is dedicated to worshipping a natural phenomenon which is the life force of our planet. Also, Chhath Puja is the only festival where the setting sun is also worshipped. This year we saw many residents across regions and religions, coming together and participating wholeheartedly in the celebrations, making it as bright and beautiful as a carnival. Purvanchal Group members prepared Prasad Boxes to be distributed to devotees and all the residents. Many thanks to Lotus Boulevard AOA and the Purvanchal organizing committee for bringing all the devotees together and making this festival a memorable one this year.
