CHENNAI: Heavy showers in the morning did not dampen the religious fervour of the Bihari community in the city who thronged to the Marina Beach in hundreds to worship the Sun god on the fourth day of the ongoing Chhath Puja. A prominent religious festival in North India, the Chhath Puja involves offering obeisance to the Sun god and thanking him for sustaining life on earth and also placing several personal wishes for his consideration. According to several persons who visited the Marina on Wednesday morning, the worship involves a vrath or fast undertaken by the women for two nights and a day for protection of their family. The women abstain from taking even water during the given period and break their fast only on the evening of the fourth day of the festival, they said. The ritual on Wednesday involved a holy dip in one of the water bodies during sun rise. The deity is offered coconut water, fruits and sweets during the aarti ceremony by the women in the family. Three winnows of bamboos are also left floating on the water as a sign of the completion of the worship. Jithin Prasad, who has been coming to the Marina every year for the past 14 years to perform the ritual, said that the family maintains great discipline during the four days as any “misbehaviour” would attract the wrath of the Sun god. Mihir Yadav, who hails from Jharkand and works at a restaurant in the city, said that the puja was an occasion to meet many friends in the community and bond with them. “This is one occasion when we are sure that all people we know will come and attend. The socialising is a part of the festive spirit,” he said. Other places in the city such as the Besant Nagar beach and several temple tanks also saw a number of families performing the puja.
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