Chhat Puja: A Festival That Connects Devotees With The Nature

From November 18 to 21, North India will be celebrating Chhat Puja. Celebrated for four days, this Chhat Puja is the most important festival of Bihar, Jharkhand and parts of Uttar Pradesh. However, slowly it is gaining popularity in other states like Delhi and Gujarat also. Chhat Puja is usually celebrated a week after Diwali. This is the only festival in Hindu religion that worships Sun God and his sister Goddess Sashti (popularly known as Chhati Maiya). Chhati Maiya etymologically means the sixth Goddess, as in, she is considered to be the sixth face of Goddess Durga (Katyayani).

How is it celebrated?

Chhat festival is celebrated for four days. Apart from worshipping Lord Surya and Chhati Maiya, this festival is also special as it worships the worship. Chhat puja is marked by two completely different rituals of visiting riverside, offering aragh to Lord Surya (pouring water and milk while praying)and taking a bath in the holy river. The rituals of the first day are known as Nahaye Khaye. On this day, the devotees visit the riverside, offer prayers to Lord Surya and then come back home to cook a holy meal for the family. This meal should have some essential ingredients- a bottle gourd and august flower.

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The second day is known as Kharana. Apart from visiting the riverside, on this day, devotees perform puja at home and prepare holy food for the family. This day marks the onset of their three-day fast (without food and water). The third day is when the devotees go to the riverside with their families to offer aragh, take a holy dip and worship the setting sun. And on the last day of the festival, the devotees and their family reach the riverside much before the sunrise to worship the rising sun. This day marks the end of the festival with the devotees finally breaking their three-day-long fast.

Chhat Puja is considered to be the toughest and most powerful festival as devotees have to observe three-day-long fast, walk bare-footed to the riverside and bathe in the river during the onset of the winter season in North India.

History Behind Chhat Puja

There are many legends about Chhat Puja Hindu mythology. One of the most significant is the story of King Priyavrat and Queen Malini. According to the legend, the couple didn’t have an offspring even though many years of their marriage had passed. So on the advice of a Godman, the king performed a puja to be blessed with a son. The puja was successful as the queen was pregnant within days. However, their son was born dead. This came as a shock to the couple, so much that the king decided to die by suicide. And then, Goddess Sashti appeared before him and asked him to do a puja for her. She said that any devotee who worships her on this day will be blessed with a son. And that is exactly what happened when the King performed the Chhat Puja.

Moreover, Chhat Puja has a reference in Mahabharata also in which Karna, the son of Lord Surya and Kunti, used to perform this puja in his kingdom, present-day Bhagalpur in Bihar. Pandavas and Draupadi performed Chhat Puja to win back their kingdom. And in Rmayana, Sita performed this puja, apparently to have Luv and Kush.

The Festival from Feminist lens

This festival is indeed special and different from many other festivals of Hindu tradition and personally one of my favourites. The festival is special for two major reasons, first that it brings people closer to nature. Sunbathing and taking a dip in the river, especially during the sunrise, gets religious significance in addition to the health benefits it already embodies. Secondly, this festival is not gender-specific. I think this is the only festival in which it is common for men to fast for three long days for the welfare of the family. It feels good to see both men and women together offering prayers to God.

However, this festival too has a patriarchal root. It is rather absurd that even though the festival is named behind Chhati Maiya, all the rituals are performed for her brother Lord Surya.

It is believed that devotees can please Chhati Maiya only by worshipping her brother. Does it root from the belief that a woman’s happiness lies in her male counterparts’ and families’ happiness? Moreover, it is also believed that Chhati Maiya is the Goddess who grants her devotees with a son. Definitely, this points out to the male-child preference in the Indian families, common at least in the era when Mahabharata was written. But today, when both sons and daughters are equally loved and supported, we certainly need to get rid of such old ideologies. It is time for us to change the beliefs behind the festival and celebrate it for its spirit of togetherness and equality.

Picture Credit: First Cry Parenting

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