Chhath Festival Has Started To Take Bath Today Chhath, which is celebrated faithfully in Terai-Madhesh, has started properly. The Chhath festival, which is celebrated for four days from Kartik Shukla Chaturthi to Saptami, has officially started today with the ‘Nahay Khay’ ritual.
On the first day of Chhath, the method of bathing and eating cleanly is called ‘Nahay-Khay’. In this Chhath festival, which is mostly celebrated by women, with the beginning of Chhath festival, according to the belief that all the methods should be carefully observed, today there will be a ‘bathing and eating’ method. From now on, it has been accepted that women who fast do not eat fish, meat, garlic, onion and other prohibited items.
With the commencement of Chhath, the religiously important ponds and river complexes of Mithila are decorated. Preparations for Chhath, an important festival of the Terai people, which aims to increase human interest towards non-violence and to have sympathy for all living beings, have started with vigour. Common people are now busy matching the who and why of the materials required for the Chhath festival, a common culture celebrated with integrity and regularity.
There is a tradition of offering bananas, sugarcane, wheat, milk, earthen elephants, and blankets, according to the vow taken by the fasting person on Chhath, where Lord Surya Dev is worshipped. On the day of Shashti Tithi, which is considered the main day of the Chhath festival, it has been a tradition for the devotees to bathe and fast in the morning and perform Argha by standing in the water of the reservoir that covers the setting sun up to their waist in the evening. In Terai Madhesh, this method is known as Evening Argha or ‘Sajhuka Argha’.
Pandit Ramnaresh Jha says that the accumulation of sanctity has started from today for the fast. Avoid onion, garlic, fish and meat based on diet. Sit carefully, and eat. From today, you should start following purity completely.’
Chhath festival celebrated only in Terai Madhes, has now spread to most of the country’s cities. The number of Britons is increasing every year. Chhath is the only festival that gives Argha to the setting and rising sun.
