Hundreds of devotees offer prayer to Sun God for Chhath Puja

Sainikpuri: Over hundreds of people from communities across Bihar, Jharkhand and Eastern Uttar Pradesh who have migrated to Hyderabad, came together for Chhath puja on Saturday in the 1 Eme centre temple in Sainikpuri.

On Saturday, the pond made in the temple turned into a colourful spectacle just before the sunset. It was a confluence colour as devotees, clad in traditional attire, thronged the mini pond. Women gathered to offer 'arghya' (offering to gods) to the setting sun marking the end of a three-day. There is a saying about the puja that 'one should never step on any of the things used in and after the puja and can only perform the puja by the consent of any elder in their house'.

Prabha Sinha, a resident of Kushaiguda who migrated to Hyderabad twenty years ago from Jamshedpur's Jharkhand district, said, "The puja ends on the fourth day while praying to the sun God early morning while the sun rises. This is one of the toughest festivals as the people performing it needs to take care of a lot of the cleanliness. One of the main reasons that make this puja special is the 'Prasad' that is distributed after the puja."

The most enthralling was the ambience that was created for the festivities. The devotees chanted the church folk songs while offering their prayers.

Anita Singh, a resident of Yapral who migrated to Hyderabad seven years ago from Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, said, "I am celebrating this festival in Hyderabad for the last two years. Earlier, I used to take my family back to Bihar but now, since we have such good facilities in the city itself, I don't feel the need to go all the way to our state."

According to the devotees performing the puja, chhath puja is not just a festival, it's a celebration of happiness and love blended with the devotion that brings families and friends of different communities together.