Chhath Puja 2024: Devotees Celebrate Sun Worship Across Mumbai's Beaches And Water Bodies

Mumbai: Thousands will gather on Mumbai's beaches and on the banks of water bodies on Thursday at sunset and during sunrise on Friday to take in the main rituals of the four-day Chhath Puja, the biggest festival of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

The festival began on Tuesday on chaturthi or fourth day of the shukla paksha (bright moon) phase of the month of Kartik. Thursday is 'Chhath' or shashti, the sixth day of the month. The festival will end on the saptami or seventh day of the month. The four days are spent in 12-hour fasts and prayers.

Devotees worship the sun and ‘Shashti’ or 'Chhatti Maiya', an incarnation of Devi, during the festival. Shashti Devi is the goddess for children. The festival is also called the Surya Shashti Vrat. The festival is linked to the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It is believed that Draupadi observed fasting on these days to pray for the success of the Pandavas who were exiled from their kingdom by their cousins. Sita was blessed with twins after prayers during this period.

U K Singh, secretary of the Bihar Association, said that the festival is also a thanksgiving to nature. "People stand knee-deep in water to offer water to the Sun as an acknowledgement of the life and light that God offers," said Singh.

For this reason, any place with a water body becomes a site for rituals. If there is no natural water body, prayers are offered near artificial tanks and specially created ponds.

The biggest gathering in Mumbai will be at Girgaum Chowpatty at sunset on Thursday, but worshippers will also gather at Madh Island; Juhu; Dadar Chowpatty; Nala Sopara; Bhayandar Creek; Aksa Beach, Malad; Sion Talao, Hiranandani Lake, Powai; Palm Beach Road, Vashi, and over a 100 other spots in the city.

Manoj Singh Rajput, spokesperson for the Bihar-goverment supported Bihar Foundation, said the festival to worship the sun is as old as human civilization. "There are no pandits and no mantras. It is sun worship and the communication is directly between you and God," said Rajput.

"Chhath Puja is Bihar’s biggest annual celebration, even bigger than Diwali," said Singh, who added that the festival has grown in popularity in the last few decades in Mumbai with the increase in the number of residents with origins in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Bihar Foundation is holding Chhatt Puja at 29 places in the city. Bihar Front, an organisation led by Sanjay Nirupam, former MP from Mumbai, will organise a gathering at Juhu beach on Thursday evening. Cultural programmes, with music and devotional songs, will be held in Juhu, Malad, and Bhiwandi.