The life of human beings on the earth is existing due to multiple natural resources available for us. People are belonging to different religions are living in different parts of the world. Each of them follows different culture and tradition. They worship different gods and in different ways. Chhath puja
These rituals and regulations are continuing since the ancient era leading to the celebration of various festivals. Chhath puja is one such festival celebrated in the northern region of India. It is celebrated in December every year with great joy and enthusiasm. A large crowd gets together to enjoy its glory and celebrate it together. Let us understand the logic behind the celebration of this festival with such excitement.
About the festival.
Chhath has considered the famous Hindu Vedic centenary celebrated from ancient times. It is observed mainly in the states Jharkhand, Bihar, and the eastern region of Uttar Pradesh along with some parts of Nepal. The reason behind rejoicing this festival is showing gratitude and credit to god Surya for granting us the gluts of lifespan on the blue planet. The mother goddess and sister of the God Sun, the Chhathi Maiya is worshipped. It is celebrated after 6 days of the Deepawali festival and the sixth day of Karthika (as per the Hindu calendar Vikram Samvat).
The celebration includes taking a holy bath along with fasting and desisting from intake of water. The worshippers stand in the water and offer prayers along with proposing Prasad. With this, the last ritual is followed by giving an Arghya to the setting and rising Sun.
The logic behind its celebration.
Since Sun is the basis of life for all the living creatures surviving on the earth. This festival is mainly dedicated to Lord Surya to show gratitude and respect for their blessings. Chhath Maiya along with the lord sun is worshipped as the main idol on this festival. As per the holy books, Mata Chhath shields her children from every danger and sorrow and provides them the blessing for long life. As per the Puranas, Mata Katyani (worshipped in Navratri) is also known as Shashthi Devi in the Hindu religion. She is the daughter of Lord Brahma and is called Chhath Maiya by the people of Bihar.
This puja is already been performed from time immemorial. The people of the ancient era along with the religious saints have been carrying out the rituals in a differentiated manner. To celebrate this occasion, the people and sages from the vedic period kept on fasting for several days following the special puja and concluding ceremony. They chanted mantras and did havans for shuddhi and read Rigveda as a whole to complete all the formalities for worshipping God for Chhath puja.
The glorious history.
As already mentioned, Chhath puja has been an important festival for Indian people. Apart from this, it is important to know about the glorious past associated with its celebration.
- Chhath puja is believed to have been performed by Karna, the great warrior of Mahabharata. Originally he was the son of Lord Surya with the king of a place named Ang-desh (presently the Bhagalpur in Bihar). However, he led his major life as the son of a bheel family. He is worshipped as a good man of that time and is considered as “Danvir Karana”.
- Further, this puja was also carried out by the Pandavas along with devi draupadi. They considered this festive as an important event to worship lord Surya to provide the strength to fight obstacles. They worshipped God to get blessed back with their lost kingdom and peaceful life ahead.
- Presently, the huge population of the Indian subcontinent is doing this Puja considering it the important festival or the “Maha-Parva”.
