Members of Punjabi Biradari distribute soops among devotees at Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Hall in Patna on Sunday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Oct. 30: Munna Kumar Yadav, a milkman in the Lodhipur area, is not interested to make profit, at least for the next two days. Instead, he will distribute milk to Chhath devotees free of cost.

Rajesh Kumar, a 36-year-old businessman, will distribute khichri among the devotees on the last day of the festival, the day the break break their fast.

Lal Babu Mehta, another businessman, has concentrated on cleaning up areas in his locality where devotees gather to perform Chhath rituals.

There are many like Yadav, Kumar and Mehta, who would not celebrate the holy festival but would please the Sun God in their own way.

While many persons have started distributing Chhath ingredients like soops and coconuts among devotees, many others have started cleaning the Ganga ghats as well as areas in their own localities where many vratis would gather to offer their prayers.

The common belief is that even passive participation in the festival would earn those not actively taking part in the festival a good deed.

“I will be not selling milk for the next two days. I will distribute it among the vratis when they offer the arghya. I will stand on the roadside and will offer devotees who go past me with milk free of cost,” Yadav, the milkman, said.

“It is true that we do mix water while selling milk to our customers. But we do no do such things during Chhath. There is not a single drop of water in the milk that we sell during Chhath,” another milkman told The Telegraph. Mehta, the businessman who is arranging khichri for the devotees, said: “I am happy to contribute to Chhath Puja in my own way. Even though none of my family members are celebrating the festival this year, I want to be a part of it as this will help me earn the blessings of god.”

Shambhu Prasad, a pleader at Patna civil court, is also trying to earn some blessings by helping Chhath vratis. He has opened the doors of Sheela ghat, a small water tank on the roof of his house, for the devotees from outside.

“I invite Chhath devotees to offer arghya at the tank on the roof of my house. It becomes difficult for devotees to offer arghya in the ghat among the sea of people. Therefore, I thought of inviting ladies of my locality,” said Prasad.

The sight of 25 Muslim women cleaning Dulli Ghat in Patna City shows that the festival has blurred the barriers of religion.

“There is a belief that those who observe the Chhath Puja, their wishes are fulfilled. I have seen Hindu women from my locality observing the puja in difficult conditions. They stand in knee-deep water, perform prayers and do the whole puja. Therefore, I decided to extend a helping hand to the people,” Mumtaz Jahan, one of the women said.

Even clubs and different associations have come forward to assist the devotees. While Patliputra Janseva Sansthan in Patna City distributed soops to around 300 devotees in City Chowk, Maroofganj Vyapar Mandal distributed puja materials among 200 devotees.