Ghats in Jamshedpur saw a hike of over 5 to 10 per cent in Chhath devotees on Sunday evening and Monday morning from last year, said a source in East Singhbhum administration, bringing down curtains on the peaceful four-day festivities centred around the sun god and Chhathi maiya.
Ghats with the most devotees in an arghya were Domuhani in Sonari with over 3 lakh, Subernarekha in Mango with 1.5 lakh and Mahakaleshwar in Jugsalai with 1 lakh. Over 30,000 people went to the artificial reservoir at Surya Mandir, Sidhgora, to offer arghya. About 20,000 devotees went to each of the small ghats.
On Monday dawn, Chhath vratis gathered to offer their second arghya to the rising sun, also known as bihaniya. About 20 ghats across the city, big and small, saw Chhath vratis with bamboo containers, making offerings of thekua, sugarcane, radish, sprouted grams, kidney beans, turmeric, coconut, orange, sweet lime, banana and other fruits.
Arghya over, it was time to break the fast. Food and civil supplies minister Saryu Roy arranged a breakfast of puri-sabzi and halwa for devotees at Mango Chowk. Volunteers of Ajsu Party also distributed hot jalebis at the same place.
Though the administration ensured smooth festivities at all ghats, two venues stood out this year.
One was Surya Mandir in Sidhgora, where Bollywood playback singer Sunidhi Chauhan regaled thousands on Sunday evening with her popular numbers Desi girl, Dhoom machale, beedi jalai le and more for two hours.
Notables in the audience included chief minister Raghubar Das, also the temple committee patron, Tata Steel corporate services vice-president Sunil Bhaskaran, Jusco managing director Ashish Mathur, TCIL managing director Tarun Daga, Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahto, East Singhbhum DC and SSP Amit Kumar and Anoop T. Mathew. Four LED screens were placed at different locations.
Chief minister Das offered his arghya on Sunday and Monday.
The other was Mahakaleshwar ghat in Jugsalai, which according to devotees had one of the best arrangements in town. Managed by Mahakaleshwar Chhat Ghat Samiti, a not-for-profit group, the gaily decorated ghat was carpeted, had temporary changing rooms for vratis and separate toilets for men and women.
Dhalbhum SDO Suraj Kumar said they were happy that Chhath was peaceful. "The district administration put in place the best possible safety measures and we are happy that Chhath was peaceful despite the hike in devotees especially at Mahakaleshwar ghat in Jugsalai and Subernarekha Ghat in Mango," he said.
