Sun is a living god. Due to Sun there is life, Water,
Nature and all living things on Earth. From Pre Historic period people are
praying Sun as their savior.
When Night scares those people they start praying
Sun to rise soon, in the day they felt more secure and it was easier to get
food easily in the day. So soon they started praying Sun as God.
People of Indian Subcontinent from ancient times or can say from Vedic period started worshiping god Sun, more specifically in Eastern Indian States – Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Eastern Utter Pradesh as well as the Madhya desh or Central region (Madhesh region) or Tarai region of Nepal, Assam and all northeastern states.
It is also more prevalent in areas where migrants from those areas have a presence.
It is celebrated in all Northern regions and major Northern urban centers in India.
The festival is celebrated in the regions including but not exclusive to the Mauritius, Fiji, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica parts of Caribbean, US, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand etc.
It is assumed that
organized Chattah puja or worship is started by the Son of God Sun ‘Karna’ the
famous donator, kind hearted warrior king of Ang Desh (now Bihar’s Bhagalpur
and Munger district) during the Mahabharata period.
To get his kingdom back
Draupadi and his sons Pandavas also worshiped Sun and did Chhath puja in
Indraprastha (Delhi).
The Chhath Puja is
dedicated to the life giving and daily seen God Sun and his wives Usha
and Sangya or Sandhya in order to thank them for bestowing the bounties of
life on earth and to request the granting of certain wishes and his sister Chhathi Mata.
In Chhath puja no idol
is worshiped, in place live Sun God is worshiped. This festival is observed by Hindus
mainly. People from other religion also do fast or keep fast if they wish to so. In this festival religion doesn’t matter.
While it is a Hindu festival, some
Muslims also celebrate Chhath. Now people from all over world are keeping fast
and celebrating Chhath.
It
is believed that the celebration of Chhath puja may predate to the
Vedas, as the rituals performed during the puja are similar to the ones
mentioned in Rig Veda, in which the Sun
god is worshiped.
At that time, the Rishis (sages) were also known to
worship the Sun and remain without intake of good as they would obtain their
energy directly from the sun.
However, another significance of the puja is
attached to the story of Lord Rama.
According
to ancient story, Rama and his wife Sita had kept fast and offered prayers to
the Sun god, in the Hindi month of
Kartika in Shukla Paksh,
Once they returned to the Ayodhya after 14
years of exile. From then on, the Chhath Puja became a significant and
traditional Hindu festival, which is celebrated with zeal and zest every year.
Chhath Puja is an important Hindu festival that is mainly
celebrated in Bihar and some regions of Nepal.
The puja is dedicated to the
worship of the Sun god and his wife Usha.
During the occasion, devotees perform
puja to thank god for supporting life on earth and seek the divine couple’s
blessing.
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