Preparations under way in Bihar for Chhat
Patna/New
Delhi: People in Bihar did last-minute shopping as they
got ready for the two-day annual Chhat ( pronounced variously
as chhath, chhaath, chath) festival, which involves worship
of the Sun god, symbolising life force and prosperity. The
festival, which begins on Sunday, is also celebrated in many
parts of Uttar Pradesh. During the Chhat ( 'chhath', 'chhaath',
'chath') festival, women offer special prayers for the welfare
and prosperity of their families. As part of the ritual
women stand waist-deep in water for at least two hours and
offer fruits and flowers to Surya, the Sun God. People
crowded marketplaces to buy fruits, earthenware, clay ovens
and straw baskets for the festival, which is generally celebrated
on the sixth and seventh day after Diwali. "Other
gods whom we pray cannot be seen. We pray to Sun god as he
is visible and we believe it is with his power that we are
alive," said Ranjana Sinha, who took a dip in the Ganges prior
to the festival.
Traditionally,
on Chhat (chhath), people go to bathing ghats on riverbanks
to pay obeisance to both the rising and the setting sun. This
time, however, most of the devotees are worried that the ghats
are filthy. Authorities are nevertheless setting aside such
fears and have said the banks have been cleaned before the
festival. "We have cleaned all the 64 banks. We have cleaned
all the stairs and then we have made rope barricades to restrict
people from entering a deep area," said KP Ramaiya, Commissioner,
Patna Municipal Corporation. A heavy rush of devotees is expected
on the festival day and authorities usually ban private-run
boats from ferrying people. Last year, five people were killed
and several others injured in New Delhi when hundreds rushed
down the stairs from an over bridge while trying to board
a train to Patna ahead of the festival.
This
year Railways have made elaborate arrangements to prevent
any such mishap. Special patrols have been set up at the main
railway station to restrict any mishap. Two
companies of Railway Protection Force (RPF) have also been
deployed. Ropes are being used to divide passenger walkways
between platforms into lanes. "We have installed Close Circuit
Cameras to monitor the entire railway station round the clock
where there is rush. We have opened 50 ticket counters. As
for security we have 550 RPF, Delhi police and other officials
at the station," said Pradeep Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager.
Railway officials have said that they estimate a rush of 4,20,000
passengers a day in the festive season.