A glimpse of Chhath festival as flashed on the f.b. on Nov.13,2010.

Bishwa Nath Singh :
 Chhath is celebrated twice a year, once in May-July called Chaiti Chhath, and once in October-November called Kartik Chhath. In the four-day festival, the first day begins with the ritual bathing (preferably in the Ganga). On the first day, `arwa' chawal, kaddu (gourd), the price of which escalates to Rs 100 a kg durin...g Chhath, and bajka is cooked in the daytime. The second day, called Kharna or Lohanda, the `parvaitin' (the fasting person offering `arghya') fasts with not a drop of water or morsel of food going into her mouth. She starts, with assistance of womenfolk of the house, cooking huge quantity of `prasad', mainly `kheer' (rice cooked in jaggery sans milk) and puris, on mud chulhas. The `parvaitin' then fasts, without food or water, for the next 36 hours. The third day begins with the fasting woman cooking `thekuas' and decorating jute-knitted `soops' with coconuts, diyas, soaked gram, apples, `kasar' (made of powdered rice, black sesame seeds and jaggery), `thekuas', dry fruits, besides tall sugarcane sticks and entire stalks laden with ripe bananas for offering as `arghya' to the "Astachalgami Surya." Lilting songs sung amid tall sugarcane sticks, jute-knitted containers heaped with fruits, lit diyas, coconuts and the famous `thekua', wafts to your ears -- "he chhathi maiya, tohe arag chhadaib", "Maiya ke arag chhadaib, suruj ke arag chhadaib" -- when Chhath lovers enjoy the song very thoroughly.The Chhath festival that is the holiest of holy festival will conclude today after offering prayers & Bhog to the Sun God while rising in the east.
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Bishwa Nath Singh: Let us have a glimpse of Chhath Puja-the holiest of holy festival and offer our humble obeisance's to the lotus feet of Sun God to seek His bliss for well-being of all living-being of this universe!

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f.b.
Nov.13,2010.