Chaiti Chhath Festival Celebrated Today

10 Chait, Janakpurdham — The Chaiti Chhath festival is being celebrated with great enthusiasm today in Janakpurdham and across the Madhesh region. According to traditional rites of Chaiti Chhath, the evening worship involves offering Arghya (water offering) to the setting sun. Tomorrow morning, after offering Arghya to the rising Sun God, known as Dinanath, the Chaiti Chhath festival will formally conclude.

In Janakpurdham, the festival is particularly vibrant at Gangasagar and Argajasar, where both sites have been beautifully decorated like brides in preparation for the celebrations.

There is a widespread belief that observing Chaiti Chhath fulfills all desires and protects devotees from skin-related diseases.

Observed over four days with strict rituals and devotion, the first day of Chaiti Chhath is known as ‘Nahay-Khay’ (bathing and eating). On the second day, devotees fast all day and consume only kheer (a sweet rice pudding) made with sugar at night. The third day falls on Shashthi Tithi (sixth lunar day), when devotees fast without food or water and offer Arghya while standing in a water body during the sunset.

Today, devotees enter the water body an hour before sunset to meditate on Shashthi Mata and offer Arghya to Dinanath. The offerings include traditional items such as Thekuwa (a baked sweet), Bhuswa (a type of snack), radish, sugarcane, puffed rice, bananas, and coconuts, which are presented as prasada (sacred offerings).

Devotees keep vigil through the night and on the following day, the festival concludes with the Arghya offering to the rising sun on Chaitra Shukla Saptami.

Although the number of participants in Chaiti Chhath is not as large as that of the Chhath festival celebrated in Kartik, the number of devotees observing this festival is gradually increasing each year.