Chhath Puja Step-by-step

 

“Skandapatni Suryasahodari Chhathi Maiya ki Jai”

Chhath Puja/Suryashashti Vrat is celebrated as a four-day festival

The step-by-step procedure is given as follows

Preparation:

  • One day before the festival, a dip in the Holy Ganga is taken
  • Some Gangajal is brought home for purification purpose
  • If one lives in a far away place, this process is performed at a nearby holy river

First Day :

  • The house & surroundings are thoroughly cleaned
  • This is followed by purification of family members and the house with Gangajal brought on the previous day
  • Fast is observed with only a one-time meal consumption
  • All articles in the house need to be purified

Second Day :

  • Fast is observed without consumption of any eatable/water till sunset
  • At sunset, after sun and moon worship, fast is broken following Prasad distribution
  • Traditional prasad - Chappati, Kheer, bananas

Third Day :

Chathth Puja - Art

  • The main day of Suryashashti Vrat
  • The setting sun is worshipped at river banks
  • Overnight camps are set on riverbanks to facilitate on time worship of rising sun the next day

Fourth Day :

  • The rising sun and Shashti Devi are worshipped with coconuts, fruits and Thekua

  • Thekua is a traditional Bihari sweet sans which Suryashashti Vrat is considered incomplete
  • After worship, fast is broken and Chhath Puja ends

Some people also worship Shashti Devi in pandals and at home apart from the above rituals

( P.S.: I have stopped the series and published this as a single post)

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