Adit
ya Vaibhav
Munger : All Munger roads led to the Ganga ghats on October 26, 2017, afternoon when devotees thronged them to offer the first ‘Arghya’ to the setting Sun as a part of Chhath celebrations, considered one of the most austere of festivals. The devotees will offer `Arghya’ to the Rising Sun on October 27 morning which is known as ‘Suryodaya Arghya evam Paaran’ and marks the end of the four-day ‘Lok Astha Ka Mahaparv’.
With vermillion on faces and wooden baskets in hands, married women offered ‘Arghya’ to Sun god at various ghats including Sojhi, Bangali Tola and Kashtaharani ghats on the occasion of Chhath on October 26 evening. It may be mentioned here that ‘Arghya’ basically consists of sandalwood, vermillion, Akshat, fruits and other materials. The devotees also offer sugarcane, earthen lamps, coconuts and ‘thekua,’ a special ‘prasad’ (edible offerings) prepared in ghee and milk using wheat flour, to the Sun God as part of rituals.
In their bid to please Chhathi Maiyya, hundreds of devotees assembled at the bank of the river before Sunset and offered ‘arghya’ amid chanting of mantras and hymns from Rig Veda besides the traditional songs songs like ‘Hey Chhathi Maiyya, Tohe Aragh Chhadaib’.
The locals were seen cleaning the localities and main roads besides putting designer entry gates and decorative illuminations on October 25. Elaborate cleanliness drives were conducted by Munger district administration as well as the civil society across all lanes and by-lanes of the city in a bid to make the city spic and span before the ‘Chhath vratis’ queue up at the ghats on October 26. “We have collected ‘chanda’ (donation) from people residing in the locality with which we will pay the sweepers. Some youngsters also help with the cleaning of roads,” said Amaresh Kumar, a Belan Bazar resident on October 26.