Chhath Festival Begins Today with Prayers to the Sun God

Several rituals associated with the Chhath festival are starting from today. This festival is observed in the Tarai-Madhes and Kathmandu Valley as well as in other parts of the country with devotion and fervor.

The festival is dedicated to the sun God, with offerings made to the rising and setting sun. It is observed for four days, from Kartik Shukala Chaturthi to Kartik Shukla Saptami as per the lunar calendar. It usually falls between October and November in the Gregorian calendar.

The sun considered as the god of energy and of the life-force, is worshipped during the Chhath festival to promote well-being, prosperity and progress.

The ritual of Chhath Parba includes taking holy bath, fasting, standing and worshipping the sun for a long time and offering Prasad and Argha to the ‘rising and setting sun”.

It is believed that worshipping the sun on the special occasion of Kartik Shukla Paksha (bright- fortnight in the month of Kartik as per the lunar calendar) materializes one’s wishes.

Chhath is a festival of bathing and worshipping that follows a period of abstinence and segregation of the worshiper from the main household for four days.

During this period, the worshiper observes purity, and sleeps on the floor on a single blanket. This is the only holy festival which has no involvement of any pandit (priest).

The devotees offer their prayers to the setting sun, and then the rising sun in celebrating its glory as the cycle of birth starts with death. It is seen as the most glorious form of sun worship.