Chhath Puja (Surya Shashthi)
The ancient Vedic festival of solar adoration, honoring Lord Surya and Chhathi Maiya.
तिथी व समय: Kartik Shukla Shashthi, six days after Diwali, falling in October or November.
महत्व एवं कथा (Significance)
Chhath Puja is an ancient Vedic festival dedicated to Lord Surya (the Sun God) and Chhathi Maiya (Goddess Shashti / Usha). It is observed to offer gratitude to the Sun for sustaining life on Earth and to seek the blessings of health, vitality, and longevity.
Rooted in both the Ramayana and Mahabharata, it is celebrated with pure devotion without intermediaries or priests. Devotees stand in water bodies during dusk and dawn to offer Arghya to the setting and rising sun.
पूजा विधि व परंपराएँ (Rituals & Customs)
- Nahay Khay — ceremonial purification bath and sattvic vegetarian meal
- Kharna — day-long dry fast concluding with an offering of jaggery kheer at dusk
- Sandhya Arghya — offering oblations to the setting sun while standing waist-deep in water
- Usha Arghya — dawn offerings to the rising sun, followed by breaking the 36-hour Nirjala fast