Heavy Crowd at Patna Ghats; Kharna Complete
Patna: Nov. 15, 2007
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Heavy Crowd at Patna Ghats
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Photo by Shashi Uttam |
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Patna ghats, on the third day of the 4-day Chhath festival on Thursday, witnessed the gathering of hundreds of thousands of women, men, and children devotees who started to arrive at the Ganges at the wee hours of the dawn to take a dip in the holy river and pay their homage to the Sun God.
Heavy crowd was seen at the Collectorate Ghat where several make-shift tents had cropped up to accommodate the devotees and vendors selling everything related with the puja including mango-tree wood logs, coconuts, utensils, and other items.
At Gandhi Maidan, a large tent has been set up by the district administration to provide temporary shelter to thousands of devotees arriving from remote parts of the state to offer prayers to the sun while standing waist-deep in the Ganges.
The government has also arranged for bonfires at many spots to provide the devotees relief from the chilling temperature.
Meanwhile, the entire city of Patna has immersed in the Chhath environment as private business owners and voluntary organizations kept the streets clean and offered coconuts and other puja materials to anyone who needed them.
Private organizations have also erected several welcome doors in many parts of the city to make the devotees feel good and keep their spirits high considering the rigorous nature of the puja.
After the prayers, the devotees collected water from the Ganges and prepared 'kheer' and 'roti' as part of their 'prasad' to complete the prayer for the day.
With 'Kharna' over, the devotees will now fast for 36 hours to complete the rituals on Saturday morning.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in his greetings to everyone involved in the festival, said if the same enthusiasm as seen during Chhath could be maintained throughout the year, Bihar could no doubt become one of the most advanced states in the nation.
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