CHHATH PUJA

CHHATH PUJA

All my good wishes to everybody on holy Chhath Puja ! Chhath is an ancient Hindu festival and 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,development and progress of human. 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 Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern UP and the Terai regions of Nepal in modern times, and is more prevalent in areas where migrants from those areas have a presence, It is celebrated in all regions and major urban centers in India. The festival is celebrated in the regions including but not exclusive to the northeast region of India, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Gujarat,Delhi,Mumbai, Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, and Jamaica.Chhath puja is performed on Kartika Shukla Shashthi, which is the sixth day of the month of Kartika in the Nepali calendar. This falls typically in the month of October or November in the Gregorian English Calendar. The exact date of the festival is decided by Central division of Janakpurdham in Nepal which is applicable all over the world.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 Nepal 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 Nepali Maithili People due to cold climate of Nepal.The word Chhath denotes the number six in Hindi, Maithili and local dialects and the festival is celebrated on the sixth day of the month Kārtika of the Hindu lunar calender. The word is a Prakrit derivation from the Sanskrit ṣaṣṭhi, meaning sixth