A girl carries Ganga water at Mahendru Ghat in Patna on Saturday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Nov. 17: Chhath, the biggest festival of the state, began today with thousands of devotees going to the different Ganga ghats for a dip.

In continuance with tradition, the devotees pledge to maintain purity, disci- pline and cleanliness on Nahay Khay.

The main ritual is slated on Monday and Tuesday this year — Pehli Arghya and Doosri Arghya — when the devotees would stand waist-deep in water and offer prayers to the Sun God.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar greeted the people on Chhath. On a motorboat, he surveyed arrangements at the various ghats and asked municipal authorities to remove garbage from the ghats and ensure cleanliness ahead of the rituals on Monday.

 

With 31 ghats being declared unsafe this year, some residents have, however, dropped planned to offer arghya at makeshift ponds constructed in and around apartment complexes or on rooftops.

Manoj Kumar, the president of Sri Sri Chhath Puja Samiti, Postal Park, said: “We have created a pond on the premises of Golghar where around 5,000 to 7,000 people are expected to gather for offering arghya to the setting and rising Sun.”

On reasons of not praying at the Ganga, Kumar said: “The river has changed its course and is now flowing around 4km away from original course. Devotees would have to travel 4km barefoot and return the same way, leaving them tired and harassed. Plenty of the ghats have also been declared dangerous, so we decided to organise the puja in and around our homes.”