GAURIPUR, Nov 20 - Chhath Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Bhojpuri community, was celebrated here today. For the purpose, both male and female members of the community assembled at Royal ghat, Paulpara ghat, post office ghat, Gadadhar view point ghat, FCI ghat of river Gadadhar to offer �Argha� to the Sun God standing in the water till the time of sunset. The members of the community will offer �Argha� to the Sun God by observing all the rituals at the time of sunrise tomorrow in the same manner. The ghats have been decorated to mark the occasion.
The local administration has made elaborate security measures to prevent untoward incidents and plying of e-rickshaws has been banned during the puja period. Even plying of vehicles through NH-31 has also been diverted. Medical facilities have also been provided to help the needy devotees. Pramesh Chauhan, the chief adviser of the puja celebration committee offered gratitude to the people of the town for helping the community to celebrate the puja peacefully.
Bongaigaon: This time Bongaigaon witnessed less congregation of devotees at the Chhath Puja sites due to Covid-19 restrictions imposed by the district administration.
Being discouraged by the local administration�s instructions on Covid protocol, most of the devotees preferred to worship the Sun God in the evening at their homes. But some devotees,who had some special ritual to perform near the water bodies of the town, had moved out despite restrictions.
�All the restrictions are only for devotees and not for others. In the election rallies and the political meetings Covid protocols are not maintained and in these cases the administration remains mute,� some devotees said.
In Bongaigaon, the main sites of Chhath Puja are the pond in front of Bongaigaon College, pond near Vivekananda Vidyapeeth in new Bongaigaon area, Tunia rivulet in New Bongaigaon, Kujia rivulet in Palpara etc. But in Chirang district, the administration had allowed the devotees to worship the Sun God with some relaxations.
ANN Service from Gossaigaon adds: Chhath Puja was also celebrated at Gossaigaon today. Devotees took part in the festival since this evening. The male members of families, with baskets of various fruits on their heads, rushed to the banks and stood in knee-deep water until sunset.
