Thousands of devotees gathered to offer morning prayers to the rising sun on the last day of Chhath Puja on Saturday. Most people across the country stuck to the traditional practice of offering prayers at river banks on the concluding day of the four-day Puja, flouting the guidelines issued to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.
While many decided to remain at home to offer the ‘doosra arghya’ to the rising sun from temporary water bodies, made explicitly for the festival inside their campuses, a large number of people across Jharkhand`s Ranchi, Bihar’s Patna and Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, Varanasi and Gorakhpur stuck to the traditional practice of offering prayers at river ghats on the concluding day of the four-day Chhath Puja today.
Lucknow’s Gomti riverfront, the Ganga banks in Varanasi and Patna and other places in Mumbai, Delhi and Bhubaneswar were abuzz with devotees despite the Covid-19 restriction.
Among other places, Mumbai, Delhi and Bhubaneswar too witnessed the Chhath morning rituals amid the COVID-19 restrictions. In Ranchi, former Congress MP, Subodh Kant Sahay was also seen offering prayers at Hatania Talab.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar too celebrated the festival at his official residence. He offered ‘arghya’ to the setting sun, a tradition he has been following since he became the CM 15 years back, but refrained from stepping out to take stock of the ghats like he earlier used to, PTI reported. Deputy chief minister Renu Devi also performed Chhath at her home town Bettiah.
Meanwhile, PM Narendra modi extended his greetings to the people on the occasion of Chhath Festival.
In a tweet in Hindi, PM Modi said, “Best wishes to the people of the country on Chhath which is the mega festival of worshipping the Sun. May “Chhathi Maiyya” brings happiness, prosperity and vitality of the Sun God to everyone.”