Chhath Puja: History, Significance, And Popular Stories Behind This Holy Festival

Chhath Puja is a festival greatly celebrated every year in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and other parts of India. It is also celebrated in Nepal. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival of Chhath is celebrated in the month of Kartik, on the sixth day of Shukla Paksha of Kartik month.

In this festival, the Sun God and Chhathi Maiya are worshiped and arghya is offered to the rising sun. This festival lasts for 4 days, wherein women observe waterless fasting for 36 hours for the long life and good health and happiness of their children. It is mandatory to have a water body like river Ganga or a pond in this puja. Therefore, rivers and ponds are cleaned during Chhath puja.

Chhatt puja date 2023 is starting from 17th November. The festival of Chhath starts from the sixth day of Diwali and continues for four days.

• The first day of Chhath Puja starts with Nahay Khay on the Chaturthi date of Kartik month.
• Following this on the second day, Arghya is offered to Kharna or Lohanda.
• On the third day, known as Sandhya Arghya, Arghya is offered to the setting sun. Special Prasad like Thekua is made on this day.
• On the fourth day, the difficult fast of 36 hours is broken by offering Arghya to the rising sun. Before sunrise, the people fasting reach the ghat to worship the rising Suryadev (Sun God).
• There are some strict rules for fasting in the Chhath Mahaparva. Puja items are kept away from small children so that kids cannot touch them. Prasad is not fed until the puja is completed.

History of Chhath Puja

“Chhath” – ancient Prakrit in origin means the sixth as the festival is held twice every year. On the sixth lunar day of the Hindu Chaitra during the months of March/April and Kartik months October/November on Shukla Paksha Chaturthi Tithi, Panchami Tithi, Shashthi Tithi and Saptami Tithi. Special worship of Chhathi Maiya and Sun God is done on Shashthi and Saptami Tithi. Chhathi Maiya is considered to be the sister of Suryadev.

On a rock in the middle of the Ganga in Munger, Sita Manpathar (Sita Charan) Sitacharan Temple is situated. Munger is known for it as it is believed that Mother Sita celebrated the Chhath festival in Munger. It is also believed that the festival of Chhath started only after this.

Who is Chhathi Maiya?

It is believed that observing Chhath fast brings happiness and long life to the children. It is also believed that Chhathi Maiya takes care of the childless also.

According to religious texts and mythology, in the first Devasura battle, when the gods were defeated by the demons, Goddess Aditi worshiped her daughter Ranbe (Chhathi Maiya) in the Dev Surya Temple of Devaranya to get a bright son. When Chhathi Maiya was pleased she gave her the boon of having a bright son. After this, Aditi gave birth to the She is portrayed as the mother of the Adityas, including Surya who defeated the demons and brought victory to the gods.

Chhathi Maiya is the daughter of Lord Brahma. She is also considered the sister of Surya (Sun God). Shashthi Maiya is worshiped during Chhath puja. According to the mythology, Lord Brahma divided himself into two parts to create the universe. In which the form of man appeared in the right part and Prakriti (nature) in the left part. It is believed that a part of Goddess Nature is called Devasena – the presiding deity of the universe. Since it is the sixth part of nature, the goddess is also known as Shashthi. Shashthi Devi Mata is worshiped as Chhathi Maiya.

There are many mythological stories behind this great festival. We have listed a few in this article:

Chhath Puja Vrat Katha – Story of King Priyamvad and Malini

According to mythology, King Priyamvad was childless. Then Maharishi Kashyap conducted a ritual (yagya) to get a son and offered the kheer prepared for the yagya to Priyamvad’s wife Malini. After this, they had a son, but he was stillborn. Priyamvad took his son to the shamshan and almost died of grief on his separation from his son. At the same time, Devasena appeared and said I am goddess Shashthi. She asked the king to worship her and inspire others to do the same to be blessed with a kid. The king, wishing to have a son, observed a fast while worshipping Goddess Shashthi and was blessed with a son. This puja was done on Kartik Shukla Shashthi.

Story of Lord Ram worshipping Suryadev (Sun God)

According to another story, on the day of the establishment of Ramrajya, after conquering Lanka, Lord Ram and Mother Sita fasted and worshiped Sun God on Kartik Shukla Shashthi. On Saptami, during sunrise, the rituals were repeated again and blessings were obtained from the Sun God. This tradition is continuing till now in the form of Chhath puja.

Karna from Mahabharata started worshiping Suryadev

Another story claims that the Chhath festival started during the Mahabharata period. Suryaputra Karna first started worshiping the Sun God as Karna was a great devotee of Lord Surya. He used to stand in waist-deep water for hours every day and offer prayers to the Sun. According to the epic, it was only by the grace of Surya that he became a great warrior. Even today the same tradition of donating Arghya during Chhath is prevalent.

Story of Pandavas getting back their kingdom by performing Chhath festival

According to this story, when Pandavas lost their entire kingdom in gambling, Draupadi observed Chhath puja fast. After the puja their wishes were fulfilled and the Pandavas got back the kingdom. According to legends, Suryadev and Chhathi Maiya are brother and sister. Therefore, worshiping the Sun on the occasion of Chhath is considered fruitful.

Other significance of Chhath puja

• Chhath Puja teaches us to love nature. During the rituals of the Chhath festival, there is a provision of using green raw bamboo, an earthen stove, fruits, and all things gifted by nature.
• Traditional song sung during the rituals of Chhath Puja Songs shows that people want to maintain the existence of animals and birds by praying for their protection.

We hope you got a clear picture of the popular festival, Chhath Puja after reading this. Do you celebrate the Chhath festival? Let us know in the comments.