Chhath Puja
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Four days of fasting and prayer to the Sun, offered at sunset and sunrise while standing in water.
Where: BiharWhen: Kartik Shukla Chaturthi to Saptami (six days after Deepavali); a smaller Chaitra Chhath in spring
How it is performed
- Day 1, Nahay-Khay: a holy bath and a single pure meal of rice, chana dal and lauki.
- Day 2, Kharna: a day-long fast broken in the evening with rasiya-kheer (rice in jaggery) and roti.
- Day 3, Sandhya Arghya: a 36-hour nirjala (waterless) fast begins. Devotees stand in a river or pond and offer arghya to the setting Sun with thekua, fruits and sugarcane in bamboo baskets (soop).
- Day 4, Usha Arghya: the offering to the rising Sun, after which the fast is broken.
Significance
Chhath thanks Surya and Chhathi Maiya for life and health. It is among the strictest Indian festivals and needs no priest: families, rivers and the Sun are its centre.