LOK AASTHA KA MAHA PARV "CHHATH"

        CHHATH is an ancient Hindu festival of Biharese and Indian people and is the only Vedic Festival dedicated to the Hindu Sun God, Surya and Chhathi Maiya (ancient Vedic Goddess Usha). The Chhath Puja is performed in order to thank Surya for sustaining life on earth and to request the granting of certain wishes.The Sun, considered as the god of energy and of the life-force, is worshiped during the Chhath festival to promote well-being, prosperity and progress. In Hinduism, Sun worship is believed to help cure a variety of diseases, including leprosy, and helps ensure the longevity and prosperity of family members, friends, and elders.

The rituals of the festival are rigorous and are observed over a period of four days. They include holy bathing, fasting and abstaining from drinking water (Vratta), standing in water for long periods of time, and offering prashad (prayer offerings) and arghya to the setting and rising sun.

Although the festival is observed most elaborately in Mithila Region of Bihar and Terai Region of Jharkhand including Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern UP, it is also more prevalent in areas where migrants from those areas have a presence. It is celebrated in all Northern regions and major Northern urban centers in India bordering Nepal. The festival is celebrated in the regions including but not exclusive to the northeast region of India, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Gujarat Mumbai, Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica.

Chhath Puja also called Dala Puja. The word ‘Chhath’ has its origin in ‘sixth’ as it is celebrated on the 6th day or ‘Shasthi’ of the lunar fortnight of Kartik (October - November) in the Hindu calendar – six days after Diwali, the festival of lights.The exact date of the festival is decided by Central division of Janakpurdham in Mithila Region of Bihar which is applicable to Worldwide adherents.

Chhath Puja is celebrated twice a year for four days each. It is also celebrated in the summer (March–April), on Chaitra Shashthi, some days after Holi; this event is called Chaiti Chhath.The former is more popular because winter is the usual festive season in Bihar and also in North India. Chhath, being an arduous observance, requiring the worshipers to fast without water for around 36 hours continuously, is easier to undertake in the Indian winters but little harder in Nepalese Winter for Mathili Hindus due to cold climate in Terai and Mithila region of Bihar.

A Ritual Dedicated to Sun God

Chhath is mainly characterized by riverside rituals in which the Sun God or Surya is worshiped, giving it the name of ‘Suryasasthi.’ It underpins the ever so scientific belief that the Sun God fulfills every wish of earthlings and so it’s our duty to thank the sun with a special prayer for making our planet go round and bestowing living beings with the gift of life.

The ghats or riverbanks throng with devotees as they come to complete their ritual worship or ‘arghya’ of the sun – both at dawn and dusk. The morning ‘arghya’ is a prayer for a good harvest, peace and prosperity in the new year and the evening ‘arghya’ is an expression of thanks to the benevolence of the Sun God for all that he has bestowed during the year gone by.

Chhathi Maiya

The Goddess who is worshipped during the famous Chhath Puja is known as Chhathi Maiya. Chhathi Maiya is known as [goddess] in the Vedas. She is believed to be the beloved younger sister of Surya, the sun god. Some scholars believed that she is the only sister to sun god. Usha and Pratyusha are his wives and Aditi is his mother.

Usha is the term used to refer to dawn– The first light of day. But in the Rig Veda she has more symbolic meaning. Symbolically Usha is the dawn of divine consciousness in the individual aspirant. It is said - Usha and Pratyusha, wives of Sun are the main source of Sun. Both Usha and Pratyusha are worshiped along with Sun in chhath parva. Usha (literally-the first morning sun-ray) is worshipped on the last day and Pratyusha(the last sunray of day) is worshipped in the evening by offering water or milk to the rising and setting sun respectively. This is the only parva which signifies rising sun as well as setting sun both.

Rituals and traditions

Chhath is a festival of bathing and worshipping,that follows a period of abstinence and segregation of the worshiper from the main household for four days. During this period, the worshiper observes purity, and sleeps on the floor on a single blanket.This is the only holy festival which has no involvement of any pandit (priest).The devotees offer their prayers to the setting sun, and then the rising sun in celebrating its glory as the cycle of birth starts with death. It is seen as the most glorious form of Sun worship.

How Chhath is Celebrated

Chhath can well be regarded as the state festival of Bihar, where it goes on for four days. Outside of India, Chhath is mainly among celebrated by the Bhojpuri and Maithili speaking community apart from the Nepalese Hindus.

It assumes a joyous and colorful form as people dress up in their best clothes and gather by rivers and other water bodies to celebrate Chhath. Many devotees take a holy dip at dawn before preparing the ritual offerings or ‘prasad,’ which mainly comprising ‘Thekua,’ a hard and crude but tasty wheat-based cake usually cooked on traditional earthen ovens called ‘chulhas.’ The divine offerings are placed on circular trays woven out of bamboo strips called ‘dala’ or ‘soop.’ Women adorn new clothes, light lamps and sing devotional folk songs in honor of ‘Chhat Maiya’ or the holy river Ganga.

After sunset, devotees return home to celebrate ‘Kosi’ when earthen lamps or ‘diyas’ are lit in the courtyard of the house and kept beneath a bower of sugarcane sticks. Serious devotees maintain a strict anhydrous fast of three days.

The 4 Days of Chhath

Day 1: Nahai Khai- 

             

          The first day of Chhath parv is called ‘Nahai Khai,’ which means ‘bath and eat’ where devotees bathe in the river, preferably a holy one such as the Ganga and bring home the water to cook food offerings for the god dinanth(sun).They take only one meal known as kaddu-bhat which is cooked by using bronze or soil utensils and mango wood over the soil stove.

Day 2: Kharna-

          On the second a complete day fast without water is observed by the devotees. They end their fast after doing the puja in the evening. Offerings or Prasad includes puris (deep-fried puffs of wheat flour) or Rasiao-kheer (rice delicacy with gud). Chapattis and bananas are distributed among family, friends and visitors at the end of the day.During the festival, married women observe a fast for 36 hours and devotees traditionally offer wheat, milk, sugarcane, bananas and coconuts to the sun.

.

Day 3: Sandhya Arghya or Evening Offering- 

           The third day is also observed with fast without consuming water. The entire day is spent in preparing puja offerings called 'thekuaa' which are made and fruits are kept in a tray made out of bamboo. The offerings include Thekua, coconut, banana and other seasonal fruits.The prasad should be cooked without salt, onions or garlic.The evening rituals are done at the banks of a river or pond or any clean water body. All the devotees assemble and the 'araghya' is offered to the setting Sun.This is followed by the ‘Kosi’ ritual in homes.

Day 4:Bihaniya Arghya or Morning offerings- 

         The fourth day of Chhath is considered the most auspicious when the final morning ritual or ‘Bihaniya Arghya’ is performed. The devotees along with their family and friends congregate on the bank of the river to offer ‘arghyas’ to the rising sun. Once the morning ritual is over, devotees break their fast by taking a bite of ginger with sugar & consuming the Chhath prashad. Sweets like Kheer, Thekua (cookies made with whole wheat flour) and fruits included in a small bamboo tokari are offered as Prasad. It is first offered to the sun at the river banks. This marks the end of the rituals as joyous celebrations ensue.

          

Legends Around Chhath Puja

It is said that in the times of the Mahabharata, Chhath Puja was performed by Draupdi, the wife of Pandava Kings. Once during the long exile from their kingdom, thousands of wandering hermits visited their hut. Being devout Hindus, the Pandavas were obliged to feed the monks. But as exiles, the Pandavas were not in a position to offer food to so many hungry hermits. Seeking a quick solution, Draupadi approached Saint Dhaumya, who advised her to worship Surya and observe the rituals of the Chhath for prosperity and abundance.

Its yogic/scientific history dates back to the Vedic times. The rishis of yore used this method to remain without any external intake of food as they were able to obtain energy directly from the sun's rays. This was done through the Chhath method.

Another history behind celebrating the Chhath puja is the story of Lord Rama. It is considered that Lord Rama of India and Sita of Bihar had kept fast and offer puja to the Lord Sun in the month of Kartika in Shukla Paksh during their coronation after returning to the Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. From that time, chhath puja became the significant and traditional festival in the Hindu religion and started celebrating every year at the same date in Sita's homeland Mithila and adjoining Indian states of Bihar but has not been popular in Rama's kingdom of Ayodhya.

There are six great stages of the Chhath puja which are:

The belief of fast and cleanliness of body on the festival identify the detoxification of the body and mind in order to set up the body and mind to accept the cosmic solar energy.

Standing in water with half of the body inside the water diminishes the escape of energy as well as facilitates the prana to elevate to the sushumna.

Then the entrance of cosmic solar energy takes place in the pineal, pituitary and hypothalamus glands (known as the Triveni complex) by the retina and optic nerves.

In the 4th stage Triveni complex gets activated.

After activation of the Triveni complex, spine gets polarized and body of devotee gets transformed into a cosmic powerhouse and gets the Kundalini Shakti.

At this stage the devotee is fully able to conduct, recycle and pass on the energy into entire universe.

Prayers Dedicated to the Sun God

A couple of popular prayers are chanted by devotees while worshiping the Sun God:

Om Hraam, Hreem, Hroum, Swaha, Suryaya Namah. (Beej Mantra)

Here’s another popular mantra, which is also uttered while performing the ‘Surya Namaskar’ yoga:

“Let’s chant the glories of Surya, whose beauty rivals that of a flower / I bow down to Him, the radiant son of Saint Kashyapa, the enemy of darkness and destroyer of every sin.”

Japa Kusuma-Sankarsham Kashyapeyam Maha-Dyutimtamo-Rim / Sarva-Papa-Ghnam Pranatoshmi Divakaram.

Today, Chhath Puja that is observed in many parts of the country and is a four day ritual of honoring the Sun God for granting bountifully, all the means of well being as well as fulfillment of certain wishes through prayers, praises, and abstinence from worldly pleasures. Popular belief also has it that worshipping the Sun God also cures diseases like leprosy and ensures longevity and prosperity of the family. It is with strict discipline, purity, and highest esteem that the ritual is performed. And once a family starts performing the Chhath Puja, it becomes their duty to pass on the tradition to the following generations. It's how the ancient ritual has arrived where it stands today in the highest regard among the devotees. 

Considered as the the most grandeur form of Sun worship, millions across the country partake in the fasting and worshipping. Prayers and Prasad (food offering), including sweets and fruits, are offered by the devotees to the Sun God. The ritual is generally performed on the banks of rivers, mainly on the banks the river Ganges that flows through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal. A huge gathering of devotees, which goes on for miles, can be seen o the banks of river Ganges. In other parts of India, any other river or a small water body like a pond is considered an ideal location to perform the ritual. It is in the month of October or November that Chhath Puja falls.