The Ganga has changed its course and so have the residents of Patna. A sizeable chunk of the people of the city choose to stay put at home or go to their native places to observe Chhath festivities. It’s a transformation that has not happened overnight — with the Ganga drying up and changing its course, Patna’s residents, too, have charted a different route to celebrate the holy festival.

“There are around 80 ghats in Patna, of which 70 per cent have dried up. The few ghats which have waist-deep water essential for the puja are mainly dirty and the area around them is unkempt,” says Nitin Singh, a bank employee.

It wasn’t always so. Till about the late eighties and early nineties, children would look forward to Chhath. They would wake up, bleary eyed, ready to accompany their mothers to the ghats in the misty dawn to see them perform arghya in front of the rising Sun. The entire family used to go and see the vrati (the one who fasts) perform the ritual by the riverside. But by the mid-nineties, the Ganga had receded many miles at several ghats or changed course.

Gai Ghat, Darbhanga Ghat, Collectorate Ghat and Adalat Ghat were a few that would have the required water level and facilities for storing puja paraphernalia and personal belongings. The pressure gradually mounted on these ghats, and with every passing year, the crowds would swell. “Patna is certainly chaotic but performing Chhath puja was never so cumbersome as it is now. A lot of people gather at the ghats and make the banks unclean. In this festival we are very particular about cleanliness and even a little bit of dirt or filth can ruin the rituals. As so many people come, there is a lot of pushing and shoving. You tend to trip or drop the puja items. So I have stopped going to the ghats for the last five years and prefer to offer puja in peace at my native place,” says Shakuntala Devi, 42, a resident of Shivpuri who will be going to her village near Digha.

Many other residents of Patna too have started going to their ancestral homes for Chhath. “It is not just the crowd or the lack of ghats that make us go to our villages or native places. For residents of Chhapra, Ara and Patna, performing Chhath is a must. A newly married girl especially has to do it. Young girls do not know much about the customs and need the guidance of elders. So we decide to call all family members to the village where youngsters and elders perform the puja hand-in-hand. It is a good time to bond with the family members as well,” says Shakuntala Devi.

If city dwellers head for the villages, ruralfolk make a beeline for the city to celebrate Chhath. “For them this is an occasion to rejoice. They do not have access to the river in their native place and they also look for a little entertainment that a big city offers,” says Sanjeev Saran, a resident of Patna City.

This influx has, however, raised security concerns. Pratima Rakesh, a homemaker and resident of Sri Krishna Puri, says: “Though arrangements are fine and the government is doing its bit for providing better security and facilities, there is still mayhem and security personnel are unable to do anything to provide protection. So going to the ghats with young girls is out of question. After last year’s stampede, we have become more apprehensive about visiting the ghats.”

While Pratima creates a makeshift tank on her terrace and fills it with water, many go to a temporary community pond in their localities where residents of the area celebrate together.

“Chhath is a non-Brahminical festival where you do not need the help of priest to carry out the rituals, the only requirement is a water body. Although the charm of praying at the Ganga is different, people have sacrificed this due to over-crowding,” said a priest of a local temple.

For others, the ghats used to hold a different kind of attraction. R.B. Sen, a 54-year-old Bengali resident working with a private firm, says: “Going to see the vratis offer arghya to the Sun God was not the only thing that made us visit the ghats. Former chief minister Rabri Devi, the wife of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, and other VIPs were the added attractions. Rabri Devi used to mainly visit Pahalwan Ghat and that used to be the most protected and cleanest of all ghats. Though we did not perform Chhath, we liked to go and see these leaders and VIPs worship just like the layman. But now they have stopped going and so have the elite crowd.”

The writer, who grew up in Patna, is a journalist with The Telegraph based in Calcutta