Chhath puja 2023: Chhath Puja is a 4-day fast observed in the Hindu calendar month Kartik, starting on Shukla Chaturthi and ending on Shukla Saptami, with the most important day being the night of Shashthi Tithi of Shukla Paksha. On the English calendar it usually falls during the months of October or mid-November.
Chhath festival is celebrated to worship Surya Dev, the god of energy and is a means of giving thanks for blessing life on planet Earth. Every year devotees worship Surya enthusiastically for the success and well-being of family members and friends. According to beliefs in Hindu religion, performing the holy Chhath Puja also cures chronic diseases like leprosy. It is celebrated on the Shashthi Tithi of Kartik Shukla Paksha in the month of Kartik, which is called “Kharag Chhath”. This time Chhat Puja is starting from 17th November and will end on 20th November.
Chhath Puja Ingredients:
Chhath Puja requires some special ingredients which make this celebration complete. Here we are presenting a list of ingredients for Chhath Puja-
Two large bamboo baskets for keeping prasad.
Utensils made of bamboo or brass for offering water to the Sun
A glass, pot and plate set for offering milk and Ganga water.
coconut water
five-leafed sugarcane stems
Rice
twelve lamps or lamps
Lights, kumkum and incense sticks
vermilion
a banana leaf
Banana, apple, water chestnut, turmeric, radish and ginger plants, sweet potato and Suthani (yam species)
Betel
honey and sweets
Jaggery (Jaggery is used instead of sugar to make Prasad to Chhathi Maiya)
wheat and rice flour
Ganga water and milk
thekua
chhath puja method
Day 1: Nahay Khay (Chhath Puja begins)
On the first day, devotees take bath in a river or water source, before the first sunrise of the Usha period. After bathing, they return home and prepare a special meal for themselves, which includes rice, lentils and pumpkin. This food is offered to the Sun God and devotees fast throughout the day.
Day 2: Lohanda and Kharna (fast without water)
On the second day, devotees observe a waterless fast. In the evening, they prepare Prasad of Thekua (a sweet made of wheat flour and jaggery). Before sunset, they break their fast by eating this prasad.
Day 3: Sandhya Arghya (Evening Arghya to Sun God)
Devotees perform their evening Arghya at sunset. They stand in waist-deep water and offer arghya of fruits, thekua, sugarcane, and coconut to the Sun God. This is usually done on the banks of river banks, ponds, or other water sources.
Day 4: Usha Arghya (Morning Arghya to Sun God)
On the last day of Chhath Puja, devotees wake up early in the morning and go to the river bank at sunrise. They perform Arghya (puja with water) with sunrise, break the fast with fruits and thekua and conclude the Chhath Puja.
