GANGTOK, 01 Nov: The Bihari community celebrated Chhath Puja today congregating at water bodies or gathering at neighbourhood temples where artificial pools were created to propitiate the Sun God.
Chhath [also called Dala Chhath] is an ancient Hindu festival dedicated to the Hindu Sun God, Surya, also known as Surya Shashti. 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 the god of energy and of the life-force, is worshipped 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 aragh to the setting and rising sun.
Chhath is a ritual bathing festival that follows a period of abstinence and ritual segregation of the worshipper from the main household for four days. During this period, the worshipper observes ritual 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.
The main worshippers, called Parvaitin [from Sanskrit parv, meaning 'occasion' or 'festival'], are usually women. However, a large number of men also observe this festival. The parvaitin pray for the well-being of their family, for prosperity and for offspring. Once a family starts performing Chhath Puja, it is their duty to perform it every year and to pass it on to the following generations. The festival is skipped only if there happens to be a death in the family that year.
The prasad offerings include sweets [Thekua] and fruit offered in small bamboo winnows. The food is strictly vegetarian and it is cooked without salt, onions or garlic. Emphasis is put on maintaining the purity of the food.
Chhath puja is performed on kartika Shukala Shashti, which is the sixth day of the month of Kartika in the Hindu Calendar. This falls typically in the month of October or November in the Gregorian Calendar.
The word chhath denotes the number 6 in Hindi and the festival is celebrated on the sixth day of the Hindu lunar month of Kartika. The word is a Prakrit derivation from the Sanskrit şaşţhi, meaning sixth.
Chhath [also called Dala Chhath] is an ancient Hindu festival dedicated to the Hindu Sun God, Surya, also known as Surya Shashti. 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 the god of energy and of the life-force, is worshipped 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 aragh to the setting and rising sun.
Chhath is a ritual bathing festival that follows a period of abstinence and ritual segregation of the worshipper from the main household for four days. During this period, the worshipper observes ritual 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.
The main worshippers, called Parvaitin [from Sanskrit parv, meaning 'occasion' or 'festival'], are usually women. However, a large number of men also observe this festival. The parvaitin pray for the well-being of their family, for prosperity and for offspring. Once a family starts performing Chhath Puja, it is their duty to perform it every year and to pass it on to the following generations. The festival is skipped only if there happens to be a death in the family that year.
The prasad offerings include sweets [Thekua] and fruit offered in small bamboo winnows. The food is strictly vegetarian and it is cooked without salt, onions or garlic. Emphasis is put on maintaining the purity of the food.
Chhath puja is performed on kartika Shukala Shashti, which is the sixth day of the month of Kartika in the Hindu Calendar. This falls typically in the month of October or November in the Gregorian Calendar.
The word chhath denotes the number 6 in Hindi and the festival is celebrated on the sixth day of the Hindu lunar month of Kartika. The word is a Prakrit derivation from the Sanskrit şaşţhi, meaning sixth.
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