Lucknow, Amrit Vichar: Chhath Puja starts from the Chaturthi date of Shukla Paksha of Kartik month. It ends on Saptami Tithi. On this occasion, Chhath Mahaparva will be celebrated from 5th November to 8th November. The four-day long festival is dedicated to nature. In this, Suryadev and Chhath Maiya are worshipped. The devotees enter waist-deep water and offer Arghya to the Sun God.
At the beginning of Chhath festival, on the first day, fasting people start by taking bath in rivers and eating rice, pumpkin and mustard greens. On the second day, 6th November, Kharna or Lohanda will be performed, in which in the evening the devotees make jaggery kheer and offer it to Chhath Maiyya. The entire family accepts it as Prasad. On the third day, Arghya is offered to the setting sun. And on the fourth day, on Saptami Tithi, Chhath festival will be concluded by offering Arghya to the rising sun. Thekua, Malpua, rice laddus, fruits and coconut are used as Prasad during Chhath Puja.
Reason for offering water to the setting sun
Astrologer SS Nagpal of Swastik Astrology Center told that there is a tradition of offering Arghya to the setting sun on the third day of Chhath Puja. Offering Arghya to the setting sun has special significance, as this time symbolically indicates the end of life’s struggles and difficulties and the beginning of a new life. By worshiping the setting sun, one gains the power to remove the darkness in life and welcome the next morning with new energy.
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