Jaipur. The four-day festival of Chhath, dedicated to the worship of the Sun God, has officially begun in Jaipur with the traditional Nahay Khay rituals. Organized under the auspices of the Bihar Samaj Sangathan, the festival marks a period of deep devotion and cultural significance for the community residing in the city. Participants began the observance by preparing a simple meal of raw rice, gram lentils, and bottle gourd, seasoned with rock salt, following a ritualistic bath.
Today marks the observance of Kharna, a significant day in the festival calendar. Devotees are maintaining a strict waterless fast throughout the day. As evening approaches, they will prepare a special offering of jaggery kheer, which will be served to the Sun God on banana leaves alongside seasonal fruits and basil leaves. The ritual concludes with the lighting of a ghee lamp, after which the devotees consume the prasad. This offering is considered highly sacred, and it is customary for families to invite neighbors and friends to share in the blessed food, even those who do not traditionally observe the festival.
Following the Kharna rituals, the devotees will enter a period of continuous, waterless fasting. The festival will reach its spiritual peak on November 15 and 16, when the community gathers at the historic Galtaji pilgrimage site. National General Secretary Chandan Kumar Mandal noted that the celebrations are expected to draw large crowds to Galtaji, where the atmosphere will be filled with devotion and floral tributes to promote a clean and healthy environment.
Beyond the main gathering at Galtaji, the festival will be observed with great enthusiasm at 51 different locations across Jaipur. Notable sites include Amer Mawta, the Durga Vistar Colony behind NBC, and Royal City in Machwa, Vishwakarma. The four-day spiritual journey will culminate on the morning of November 16, when devotees offer the final arghya to the rising sun, marking the conclusion of this grand festival of faith and nature worship.