Chhath Puja: Four Days of Devotion to the Sun
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Observed largely across Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and among diaspora communities from that region, Chhath Puja stands apart for its direct devotion to the sun, offered not inside a temple but standing in open water at a river, pond or specially built ghat. The festival unfolds across four demanding days, combining strict fasting with ritual bathing and offerings.
Devotees, most visibly women observing the fast known as vrat, wade into water at both sunset and sunrise to make offerings of fruit, sugarcane and rice based sweets, timing the ritual precisely around the sun's movement rather than the clock. The physical discipline involved, including a full day without water, is considered part of the devotion itself.
What gives Chhath its particular character is the communal effort behind it, families and neighbours together cleaning ghats, building small clay shrines and preparing the traditional thekua sweet in the days leading up to the main rituals. Far from a solitary observance, it becomes a shared civic project, entire riverbanks transformed for a few days into open air spaces of collective devotion.