Chhath Puja 2023: From Delhi to Bihar, Jharkhand and UP among other places, the colours of Chhath have painted the Indian towns as devotees prepare to offer evening prayers to the Sun God on Sunday nearing the conclusion of the four-day festival on the second-last day. Worshippers, both men and women, fast and pay obeisance to the deity on the last two days of the Chhath festival --Sunday and Monday (Nov 19-20) this year.


Chhath began on Friday with 'nahai-khai' in which devotees take a bath at ghats and perform rituals. State authorities have made elaborate arrangements for the devotees to allow them to celebrate the occasion with ease. Here's a detail about the preparations at various places, reported PTI.


 


Artificial Ghats, Rooftop Tubs In Delhi For Devotees


In Delhi, on the banks of Yamuna, temporary ghats and rooftop tubs, have been prepared for the people so that they can offer evening prayers to the Sun God as part of Chhath festivities on Sunday. The worshippers observed observed 'kharna' and cooked 'kheer' on Saturday. They will on Sunday offer evening 'arghya' (prayers) to the Sun God.


Delhi Revenue Minister Atishi on Saturday said the government has built over 1,000 ghats across the national capital so that anyone in the city can celebrate the festival here. She said the district administration and police have been instructed to ensure robust security arrangements at all Ghats, as per PTI.


Eight artificial ponds have been constructed at the DDA ground in Mayur Vihar Phase-3. Officials were quoted by PTI as saying that most of the preparations at this ghat have been completed. Temporary trenches have also been dug up in Sonia Vihar where many people hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh reside.


People have made arrangements on their terraces by filling water in big containers and tubs and decorating them in other parts of Delhi like Pitampura and Kailash Hills, which are far away from ghats.


 


Tight Security In Place In Bihar For Chhath


In Bihar, where Chhath is one of the biggest festivals of the year, enhanced security arrangements have been made by the government. According to PTI, officials said the Patna district administration has bolstered security at all the 100 ghats along the River Ganga and other places in the state.


Apart from this, a number of medical camps have also been set up at the ghats. "Around 5,000 additional security personnel have been deployed in the state capital to manage the crowd. More than 300 disaster response force personnel are also present at the different ghats in the city," a senior police officer said, as reported by PTI.


 


Water Bodies Decorated With Lights, Drones On Guard In Jharkhand 


In Jharkhand, authorities have cleaned and decorated major water bodies including ponds, dams and reservoirs with lights for the Chhath puja. Barricades have also been put around the water bodies for Sunday evening 'Arghya' to Sun God. For the safety of devotees, reported PTI, district administrations have deputed additional security forces and deployed NDRF teams in vulnerable water bodies of Ranchi and Deoghar.


"Three NDRF teams have been deployed in Ranchi's Kanke Dam, Bada Talab and Dhurwa Dam. One team has been deployed at Deoghar," NDRF inspector Ravi Kant told PTI.


Apart from this, drones, CCTV cameras and motorcycle squads have also been deployed to keep an eye to avoid any untoward incidents, PTI stated citing a senior police official. In Ranchi, all 72 water bodies within the limit of Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) have been cleaned up, an RMC official said.


The Chhath festival will culminate on Monday (Nov 20) when devotees will offer morning 'arghya' to the rising sun.