Chhath is a great folk festival of nature-worshipping mainly
celebrated in Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. However, the
philosophy behind celebrating this festival is worldwide. Perhaps this is the
reason why the migrants of such areas having faith in this tradition celebrate
it not only other parts of the country but all over the world.
Chhath is the pious festival of protection of the
environment, prevention of diseases and maintaining discipline, a mention of
which is found in the epic Rig-Veda, a great Indian scripture for mankind.
On the occasion of Deepawali, the festival of lights, people
clean their houses more particularly. In extension, they on Chhath, clean their
surroundings and the banks of reservoirs like a river, pond, lake, etc with
great piety.
The tradition of cleaning the reservoirs has been in practice
since ancient times in those areas. From the very next day of Deepawali, people
get involved in this virtuous work.
In cyclical nature, what comes after the rainy season is the
good of autumn which, however, inherits a plethora of wastes and weeds breeding
flies, insects and reptiles. All these somehow pose a threat to human
inhabitation. The festivals like Deepawali and Chhath are so designed as to
steer clear of all of them and make our habitation disease-free and worth
living.
Thus, Chhath is the festival of worshipping the Sun and
cleaning reservoirs.
Currently, the schemes like ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ and
‘Namami Gange’ are among the favourite projects of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. For the last few years, the Modi government has been campaigning
vigorously on the sanitation drive and the cleanliness of the Ganges. Both
these programs have a theoretical and practical connection with the festival of
public faith.
The people of those areas well understand the intents and
purposes of the project of cleaning the water-body during the festivals, which
is in line with the Modi Government Cleanliness drive. On the practical side,
what the Prime Minister has envisaged Clean India is not possible without
public participation.
People’s participation in such a government campaign merely
with the policy is not as easy as faith and reverence do, especially in a
country where religion is a way of life.
Sun is worshipped in Chhath in which hard fasts and rules are
followed. In other words, it is a festival of nature-worshipping as well as
discipline in physical and mental exercise and ethos.
The festival which is celebrated for two consecutive days
falls on the sixth day of Kartik, a Hindi Calendar month, accordingly in
English- October- November. Those who fast for such two days on the trot follow
the special rules of purification from the Chaturthi (4th day) date itself. The
worshipping at Panchami and Shashthi is performed in the evening and at the
crack of dawn at Saptami when it concludes.
While worshipping, devotees stand in the water-body up to the
waist for a pretty long time which is called 'Katisnan' in hydro-medicinal
therapy. Many diseases such as leprosy are prevented and cured with such
therapy.
It is an open secret that flora and fauna get energy from the
sun itself. Vitamin D is obtained from sun-rays only. People of western
countries are found to be deficient in vitamin-D because there is hardly
sunrise for a month in a year. The maximum temperature goes up to 30 Degree
Celsius over there.
The latitudinal position of India is as such that there is
plenty of sunlight in every part of the country. The sun is curative and
restorative. The houses where its rays reach directly have no habitat of
insects are generally disease-free. This is the reason why people like to build
east facing houses, according to Vastu Shashtra.
The festival of Chhath is celebrated before the beginning of
winter. The importance of sunlight grows more in winter. Therefore, by
worshipping the sun, people pray to God to protect them from the severity of
cold in winter.
Nature worshipping is the culture of Hinduism. Through such a
tradition of worshipping river, pond, wall, tree, etc, people express their
gratitude to nature for anything and everything they are obliged to. In the Rig
Veda, the sun, the river and the earth are placed in the category of deities.
Hinduism is a philosophy in itself, which teaches us the way
of life and living. Chhath is a great religious festival of faith and learning
lifestyles, in which cleanliness, purification and purity have special
significance. Therefore, this author believes that this Mahaparva of public
faith should be declared a national festival of cleanliness.
Also, this festival of energy preservation, water
conservation, disease prevention and discipline-abiding should be celebrated
all over India. This will increase people's interest in public welfare and will
help in realizing the vision of Swachh Bharat.
The declaration of Chhath as a national festival will create
awareness among the people about the cleanliness of the reservoirs spread in
every corner of the country and this will also accelerate the water
conservation campaign. Recognizing the importance of this festivity, the Delhi
government has made special arrangements for Chhath Puja in its budget.
Hundreds of Ghats and places of worship have been arranged
for the celebration by the Government of Delhi. However, its political
significance is also extracted, because there are about 50 seats out of 70
seats in Delhi Assembly, where no political party can attain Delhi's power by
ignoring the precincts.
Even if it is a matter of respecting the feelings of the
Purvanchalis, the kind of faith that is being seen among the residents of the
National Capital Region regarding the event is a sign of awareness of
environmental protection.
Purvanchali migrants celebrate the occasion with great
devotion in various metros including Mumbai, Surat, and Ahmadabad in the
country. Moreover, the Purvanchali Indian Diaspora celebrates Chhath in
overseas countries like Mauritius, Fiji and America.
In recent times, under the 'Right to Breathe', several steps
have been taken by the Supreme Court to reduce pollution levels in Delhi. As
such, manufacturing units have been taken out of Delhi. There is a ban on
setting brick and kiln in the NCT of Delhi. Selling and setting off
firecrackers here is banned on such occasions.
All these preventive things are happening. However, on part
of the central and state governments and with the help of devotees linking
festivals like Chhath with environmental protection would be a positive
initiative to ensure the contribution in the development.
Like every year, preparations are afoot to celebrate the
festival in Delhi-NCR this time too. The placards of the wishes of the leaders
of political parties have been hung on the streets. Vote bank politics is the
sole motive behind his interest. But if the importance of Chhath is seen
keeping in mind the environmental issue, the motive will be broad.
Collectivism is a part of human civilization. Hence, the institutionalization of celebrating festivals and occasions always give impetus to living a good life and ensuring a standard of living for the posterity.
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Chhath is, of course, a good occasion to understand this fact in our life. It reminds us of the value of energy and power. It also speaks of our cultural values which need to be protected and boasted of. Keeping a tradition in continuity with understanding its values gives mankind a dignified life to live. All religions including Hinduism propagate encouraging humanity and living a collective life.
Celebration of Chhath puja with devotion purifies our body and mind. It also maintains a standard of how we stick to the rotational system of worshipping god and goddess in obeisance throughout the year in the festive land of the beautiful country India.
Dr Birbal Jha is a noted author and Managing Director of Lingua Multiservices Pvt Ltd having a popular trademark brand ‘British Lingua’. He is credited as having created a revolution in English training with the slogan ‘English for all’ in India. He has also been accorded the status of the ‘Youngest Living legend of Mithila’.
----Ashish Jha
