Chhath is a popular four-day Hindu festival celebrated in Bihar and the eastern part of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh to express gratitude to to the sun god, or Chhati Maiya, for bestowing bounties of life on earth. Six days after Deepavali, the Chhath Puja starts with rituals by men and women for four days. The devotees take holy bath, fast for 36 hours and offer prayers to the setting and rising sun god while standing in water. Then they offer prasad (offerings) to others. Crispy thekua made of wheat flour, jaggery and ghee is the most popular offering.
Migrants from all over India return to their native places in both States during the festival. Those who stay back celebrate it wherever they are in the globe. The Chhath festival is gradually getting a global diaspora. Delhi and Mumbai, with a large number of migrants from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, are resplendent with the mood and colour of the festival.
The significance of the festival is that people pay utmost attention to the cleanliness of their surrounding areas and purity of the environment so much so that the crime rate go down sharply during the four days.
