Loknath Baba Jayanti Wallpapers

While Chhath Puja is already in the database, its significance as the defining festival of Bihar, Jharkhand, and eastern Uttar Pradesh warrants expanded coverage. Chhath is a four-day Vedic festival dedicated to the Sun God (Surya) and Chhathi Maiya (the Sun consort). It is unique because it involves no priest — devotees (primarily women) directly worship the sun while standing waist-deep in water during both sunrise and sunset. The four days include Nahay Khay (ritual bathing and eating), Kharna (36-hour fast broken with kheer), Sandhya Arghya (evening offerings at sunset at the river ghat), and Usha Arghya (morning offerings at sunrise). The festival requires extreme discipline — the main devotee (vrati) stands in cold water for hours offering arghya with elaborate arrangements of fruits, thekua (sweet fried dough), and sugarcane on bamboo trays (soop). Rivers and ponds in Patna (particularly Ganga ghat at Gandhi Maidan), Ranchi, Varanasi, and Delhi witness massive gatherings. The festival has spread with Bihari diaspora across India and globally.