Chhath Puja

About Significance of Chhath Puja

Chhath Puja is done to pay gratitude to the Lord Sun for giving and sustaining life on the earth. Lord Sun is the only God, who is worshipped and is visible to everyone on the earth, so special significance has been attached to his worshipping. The light and the warmth of the Sun gives life to all animals and plants. Without the light and the warmth of the Sun, no life can sustain anywhere. So to pay the respect to the Sun, his strength, light and the warmth, this festival is celebrated. Surya Dev is worshipped with his consorts in this four-day long ritual. Usha and Pratyusha are the two consorts of Surya Dev. With the first ray of dawn, Usha Devi is worshipped and prayers are offered to Devi Pratyusha with the last ray of the day.

Shashti Devi is known to be the Manas daughter of Brahma Ji and is considered to be the provider of the offsprings and their protective deity. She is believed to bless children with good health and longevity.

Rituals of Chhath Puja

Nahay Khay (First Day)

The first day of the festival includes cleaning the grains and cleaning the houses. This also includes eating only vegetarian food to save the mind from vengeful tendencies and to keep the thoughts pious and peaceful. Food is cooked on mud stove in utensils made of mud or bronze and only mango wood is used in cooking. After eating this food in mid-noon, the fast or the vrat begins till the next evening.

Khurana (Second Day)

Kharna means fasting for the whole day and is the second day of the four days long festivity. The Vrati is not allowed even to drink a drop of water and is allowed to eat gur ki kheer or kheer made of jaggery in the evening after the sunset and after worshipping Lord Surya. Fasting is almost thirty- six hours long.

Sandhya Arghya (Third Day)

In the evening of the third day of this festival, people gather at the banks of the holy water bodies and arghya is offered to the setting Sun, this is the main ritual which is performed on the Kartik Shukla Shashti. Fruits and other offerings are decorated in a basket and the arghya is offered to the sun with the family. People offer arghya with milk and water. After arghya Shashti Maiya is worshipped with soup filled with water and songs are sung in the praise of Shashti Maiya and Vrat Katha is read and heard.

Usha Arghya (Fourth Day)

People gather around the banks of the holy water bodies to give arghya to the rising sun in the morning. After paying their respect to the Lord Sun and his consort Usha, in form of arghya. People worship Chatti Maiya and pray for the good health and longevity of their children and end their fasting by having raw milk and prasad. This is called Paran or completing the fast.

In this way, this four-day-long festivity comes to an end. Family bonds are strengthened as family stick together for four days, they eat together, pray together and stay with each other during all rituals.

Legends associated with Chhath Puja

Vedas have references of doing rituals almost similar to the Chhath puja. In Rigveda, hymns are offered to Lord Sun and worshipping of the younger wife of Surya Deva, Usha Mata as the Shashti Devi.

Mahabharat has references of Draupadi and Pandavas practising same rituals of Chhath Puja during their exile. Maharishi Dhoumya preached Yudhistra, the eldest Pandavas, to worship Lord Sun and seek his blessings. he pleased Lord Sun who in turn gave him a vessel which could give them food of four types and their miseries during exile came to an end.

Ramayana too has a reference of Shri Ram and Devi Sita observing fast after the completion of their exile.

According to popular legends, King Priyavrat and his queen Malini did not have any son. They decided to have yagna for being blessed with an heir. After the Maha Yagya the queen became pregnant and after nine months gave birth to a dead child. The King was so devastated that he decided to give his life away. Suddenly the manas Kanya of Brahma Ji Appeared and introduced herself as Shashti Mata, the and the incarnation of the sixth aspect of the universe. She told the royal couple to worship her to get a child. The King and the Queen agreed to worship her and soon they were blessed with a beautiful and healthy child. From that time people started worshipping Shashti Devi for progeny.

We at Askganesha give our best wishes to all Vratis on the occasion of Chhath Puja.

View Pictures of Chhath Puja