Chhath Puja Mahotsav Held With Fervour
Mukesh Sinha convenor informed, “During Covid times many societies and individuals had started making temporary Chhath Ghat in the society on terrace or open available areas. This year for convenience of all we made Chhath ghat at Sector 22, for elaborate Puja in traditional way. The evening Arghya was offered from 3pm onwards on 19th November and Morning Arghya from 4.30 am onwards on 20th November, 23.” Says Rajnish Mohan of Sector-3, “This festival is celebrated twice a year, one in summer and second during winters. The kartika Chhath is celebrated during the Kartika month according to the Hindu calendar. The festival is named Chhath as it is celebrated on the sixth day of the month of kartika.” This festival lasts for four days and is dedicated to worship Lord Sun for seeking his blessing and praying for keeping the family healthy and wealthy. This auspicious day is observed by offering to Lord Sun and taking dips into the holy water.
This day celebrates the benevolent act of lord sun and his wife for granting this beautiful life on earth. Apart from religious significance, there are a lot of scientific facts attached to these rituals. The devotees generally pray at the riverbank during sunrise or sunset and it is scientifically backed up with the fact that, the solar energy has the lowest level of the Ultraviolet radiations during these two timings and it is really beneficial for the body. This traditional festival showers upon positivity and helps in detoxifying mind, soul and body. It helps to remove all the negative energies in the body by adoring the powerful sun. As the festival is in reverence to sun god it’s celebrated with friends and relatives near a water body without any class distinction making it a community festival. The preparation for celebrating Chhath puja starts two day before, the first day is known as “nahaye khaye” meaning house cleaning, bath and eat, the next day is known as “Kharna” where the more devout observe a day long fast without even taking a drop of water, well this fast is mostly observed by the womenfolk for the betterment of their families. On the day of Chhath Puja ladies go to offer aragh to Sun God. Standing waist deep in water- to setting sun god, offerings of fruit and sweets are made to the god and the next morning in the wee hours people return back to offer prayers to the rising sun. The chhath ghat in Sector-22 looked colourful on two days with fresh fruits and thekua offerings. The folk songs paying obeisance to Chhathi Maiya played in the background. Though the women were fasting, their enthusiasm was at a high. They sang bhajans while their family members got busy arranging the bamboo winnows filled with the offerings--including Thekua, banana, coconut, sugarcane and other fruits.
Says Jyoti Verma, “It feels like we are in our hometown. The arrangements done here at Sector-22 are really good. It is so clean here and I didn’t miss the Chhath of Bihar this year. I got all the regional flavour here.” Informs S S. Mann, who was present there, “The organising committee started holding the sacred Festival in the DDA Durga Puja ground, adjacent to the DDA market Sector 22, from this year as a unique initiative to facilitate the residents in the vicinity. A huge pond filled with clean water and flowers were made available for Chhath devotees offering Aradhya to lord Surya (Sun God). Traditionally Chhath-Vratees offer Ardhya to the setting Sun and rising Sun in the next morning standing in the waist deep water in nearby ponds, rivers for the welfare of their families and the public at large. Prasada is distributed among the members of family and friends.” On the occasion few organisations were invited at Chhath ghat to participate in Puja. They were felicitated by Chhath Puja Samiti.
Here’s what the guests said after being felicitated.
“I am happy to be present here. The Chhath Puja, being organized here, will help people from Dwarka and nearby areas to come easily and perform puja here. I appreciate this good step and initiative taken by the management and expect a lot of devotees to be present here.”
I M Khanna, Age Well Association
“I feel elated to be here for Chhath puja, being organized here in sector-22 for the first time. Such social and religious gatherings help people to interact with each other. These become a forum for understanding issues of Dwarka and getting them resolved through authorities to make Dwarka a better place to live.”
Sanjay Agarwal, Agarwal Samaj
“I thank the organisers of the Chhath Puja to have invited Agarwal Samaj for this auspicious puja occasion. My best wishes to our Purvanchali brethren for the puja. I congratulate Mukesh Sinha for organizing the puja and expect more and more devotees next year.”
Yogesh Gupta, Agarwal Samaj
“Being present here takes me back to my past, when I was posted in Patna for 4 years during my service. The Chhath Puja is the biggest festival of Bihar and we also used to perform puja. We from Rotary Club Govinda is thankful to Mukesh Sinha for having invited us for this function. I thank him for organizing the festival in a grand way.”
S P Singh, Rotary Club of Delhi Govinda
“I pay my obeisance to Chhathi Maiya, and thank the organisers for performing Chhath puja here for the devotees. I feel blessed to have come here and got to know more about this festival. We, from Agarwal Samaj, feel indebted to the organisers to have invited us here for the puja.”
Davender Paul, Secretary, Dwarka Gurudwara
“This is the first time that Chhath Puja has been organized by Mukesh Sinha and his team here. I must commend Mukesh Sinha for taking such fabulous initiatives, which help all of us to get united as a society.”
A. S. Chhatwal, Dwarka Forum
“This is the first time that Chhath Puja has been organized by Mukesh Sinha and his team here. I must commend Mukesh Sinha for taking such fabulous initiatives, which help all of us to get united as a society.”
Mani Bhushan Sinha, President, Dwarka Chitragupt Samaj
“I consider myself fortunate to be part of this Chhath Puja. Mukesh Sinha has created a good platform for the devotees to perform puja here, and I commend him for this. I urge him to take this initiative to ten times higher from this year’s.”
S K Das, Deepanwita Cultural Association
“I heartiest congratulations to Mukesh Sinha for establishing Dwarka Chitragupt Samaj in Dwarka. He started organizing Chhath puja in Dwarka 20 years back. My best wishes to him and would like to see this event on a further grand scale next year.”
Rajnish Mohan, Ex-President, Dwarka Chitragupt Samaj
The Organising Committee has invited SDKS along with other social groups of Dwarka to witness the celebration there and were felicitated with memento. SDKS President with his team members was present on the occasion. It was an excellent opportunity to meet most of the activists who consistently strive to solve the issues and take Dwarka forward to be one of the best localities in West Delhi. We also look forward to watching such programs in future to establish a bond with the communities for the harmonious growth of Dwarka where all communities come together to celebrate the events.
S. S. Maan, President, SDKS
“I feel blessed and happy to be present here on this pious occasion. I have always found Mukesh Sinha to be a perfectionist, and this year's puja event is a testimony of that. I wish him all the best, and wish that this puja will be taken to a higher level in the coming years.”
P K Chopra, Former Advisor, Federation of CGHS Dwarka Ltd.
“I thank Mukesh Sinha for inviting me here and feel honoured. It has been a good occasion, and I came to know much more about Chhath puja. My greeting to everyone and especially our Purvanchali brethren.”
Ms. Shashi Jain, Senior Hub Dwarka
“Mukesh Sinha is a very creative person, and always takes initiative in organizing something new and different. We people from Purvanchal thank him for organizing the puja and thank and congratulate him. Chhath Puja occasion is one where we all meet and seek blessings of Maiya.”
Deepak Verma, Animal Lover
“I am happy to learn that the Chhath Puja has been restarted in Dwarka by Mukesh Sinha, Manikant Sisodia, Santosh Kumar and team. We expect it to be at a higher scale from the coming year onwards. Let Chhath Maiya shower her blessing on all of us.”
Umesh Singh, Former ACP, Delhi Police
No comments