Folk singer Sharda Sinha has been praying to Surya Dev (Sun god) and his sister, Shashti Devi (Chhathi Maiyya), for as long as she can remember, and she fondly recollects the Chhath festivities in Bihar, at her maternal grandparents’ place in Muzaffarpur and later at her in-laws’ home in Patna.

“My mother-in-law fasted for her son. I have never fasted, but I have been a part of all the rituals since my childhood, and all this while, I have given arghya (offerings) to the deity through my songs,” the Patna-based singer, who has sung hundreds of songs in Maithili, Magahi and Bhojpuri, told Gaon Connection.

Chhath Puja is being observed with great devotion and love by hundreds of thousands of people in north India. The four-day long festival is celebrated to worship Sun, his sister Chhathi Maiya and Goddess Usha from the Vedic period who is believed to be the consort of Sun. The festival is widely celebrated in Bihar, Jharkhand, and along the Indo Nepal border border areas in Uttar Pradesh. Today, November 9, is the second day of the puja.

Also Read: In Photos: From Nahay Khay to arghaya — how people in Bihar and Jharkhand celebrate Chhath Puja

The preparations for Chhath start soon after Diwali in the month of Kartik. The puja is done on the fourth day after Diwali and concludes with arghya to the rising Sun on the seventh day.

“Chhath Puja is dedicated to the Sun god, his wife Usha, sister Chhathi Maiyya, nature, water and wind. There is no idol worship, and a devotee doesn’t need a priest to do the puja,” Kamakhya Narayan Singh, the Guwahati-born filmmaker from Mumbai, told Gaon Connection. He has been fasting on Chhath since 2016.

As it is with Indian festivals, this one too has great food nostalgia attached to it.

Recalling some of them, folk singer Sinha said, “I have great memories of cooking for the festival at my grandmother’s and my in-laws’ kitchens. Gangajal is used for cooking and food is prepared on a traditional clay chulha.” The dishes are sattvik (without onion, garlic and spices), and tasted divine, she added.

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For Amrendra Sharma, an actor from Pashchim Champaran in Bihar, Chhath brings back memories that make him laugh even now. “I remember my mother leaving me to guard the washed wheat laid on the cot to dry in the winter sun for Chhath so that I could keep away the birds,” Sharma narrated to Gaon Connection.

“I was sitting right there when a crow came from nowhere, and flew away with a few grains of wheat in its beak. The crow episode invited my mother’s wrath, and I was spanked because she had to repeat the washing-drying process all over again,” said the actor, who made his singing debut with a song on Chhath, last year.

Wheat is the staple in Chhath festivities, as it is used to make roti and thekua (sweet cookies), and so is jaggery.

“If you are observing the festival, you have to conform to the guidelines, otherwise you may displease the Gods! This was what was told to us by our elders,” filmmaker Singh laughed. “I love non-vegetarian food, but my abstinence period starts from the morning after Diwali,” he said.

In order to promote safe behaviour during the Chhath Puja in the pandemic, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently released Sharda Sinha’s song titled Aisan Bipatiya Ayel.

“Her songs add to the festive fervour and give company to the devotees during the 36-hour-long fasting, not just in India but also abroad,” Sharma, the actor from Bihar, said. “The festivities seem incomplete without her songs playing in the background. Earlier, they were on tape recorders or radios, but now it is on her YouTube channel,” he added.

Are you celebrating Chhath? Any childhood memories associated with Chhath Puja at your home or in your village? Write to us at [email protected]

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