Hundreds of devotees celebrating chhath puja flock to ghats

FROM A CORRESPONDENT

TAMULPUR, Nov 17: Hundreds  of devotees celebrating Chhath Puja flocked today to the ghats at grijuli of Tamulpur in Baksa district from early afternoon to offer prayers to the Sun God.

Crowds of devotees had gathered on the banks of the Oronga and Motoga river here  to offer prayers to the setting Sun.

Married women observing over fast stood in knee-deep water and prayed for the well-being and prosperity of their families.

Makeshift pandals, sandbanks, floodlights and barricades were put up across the ghats’ premises.  The age-old tradition, which pays obeisance to the sun god, is observed mainly by people from Bihar and eastern UP.  Assam has a sizeable population of people hailing from the two states. The puja starts with the ritual of ‘hai-Khai’, in which devotees prepare traditiol food after bathing. On second day before Chhath puja is Khar, in which devotees observe a day-long fast which ends after sunset. Devotees cook ‘kheer’ and share it with family and relatives. On the third day those observing Chhath puja stand in water and offer ‘arghya’ to the setting Sun amid chanting of mantras and hymns. And on the fil day of the puja, devotees and their friends and relatives assemble at the river bank before sunrise and offer ‘arghya’ to the rising Sun.

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