Chhath Puja : A Living Heritage of Faith, Ecology, and Togetherness

For me, Chhath Puja has never been just another religious ceremony. It is a profound seasonal ritual of sun worship, a tradition where prayers are offered uniquely to both the setting and the rising sun. The evening sun represents closure, surrender, and peace, while the rising sun embodies hope, renewal, and the beginning of life. Rooted in ancient agrarian culture, Chhath is a way of honouring sunlight, water, and fertile land, an act of gratitude to the supreme natural forces that sustain every grain and every life form on this earth (Jagat). In this sense, Chhath is not only spiritual, it is deeply ecological.

Being born in Bihar, I carry a natural sense of memory and belonging to this festival. My first encounter with Chhath was around the age of ten, at my Nana’s house in the village. He came from an agricultural family and his fields were near a large village pond. I still remember how every member of the family, along with neighbours, would clean and prepare the Chhath ghat with devotion. That was my first living experience of harmonious coexistence, where people belonging to different faiths came together with mutual love and dignity. As a child, I never recognised religious divisions,  my Nana, Mama, and the Hindu families around us were all simply family. My Nana, in fact, was deeply respected in those homes.

In the evenings, I would eagerly go to watch the Chhath congregation. At the time, I only saw it as pure joy, an escape from studies and a moment of colour and collective energy. But today, when I look back, I realise the cultural richness I was unconsciously inheriting. I can still see women seated together at the ghat, dressed in vibrant traditional saris, and married women applying bright sindoor (vermillion) in the parting of their hair. What mesmerised me most were the women standing silently in the cold pond water long before sunrise, their palms folded towards the glowing horizon , as if engaged in an intimate dialogue with the rising sun for the wellbeing of their families and the entire world.

I also cherish the early dawns when the fast would end with the offering of arghya to the rising sun. I still remember walking to the village pond,  the crisp winter air, the soft light before sunrise, and an indescribable sense of togetherness that no city has ever been able to recreate for me.

And of course, as a child, the most exciting part was the Chhath Prasad, thekua, khaja, kasaar (rice laddus), and many other homemade sweets. Later, when I was growing up, my father too would receive Chhath Prasad from his colleagues. As his professional bonds strengthened, festival greetings between Hindu and Muslim families became more frequent. My Abba, in turn, would send sewaiyan and sweets to all his friends during Eid. These exchanges were not mere courtesies ,they were lived experiences of cultural warmth, mutual trust, and everyday secularism.

Chhath Puja, for me, is not just a ritual , it is a living heritage of gratitude, discipline, community, and harmony with nature. It is a quiet reminder that faith does not have to be loud, commercial, or hierarchical. It can be pure, humble, and shared , like those dawns in my village, where collective devotion rose with the sun, and so did the spirit of human togetherness.