Kathmandu, November 13: The process of observing Chhat festival starts from today. Today is the Nahay-Khay day observed by those who participate in the Chhat festival. Preparations for the Chhath festival, which begins immediately after Tihar, Nepal’s second-largest festival, have brought increased activity to villages and markets across the Mithila region. Local residents are busy constructing Chhath ghats, cleaning and decorating public spaces, and arranging the necessary items for the four-day festival.
With the arrival of Chhath, devotional songs have begun echoing in households across Mithila. Construction and cleaning of Chhath ghats along riverbanks, ponds and other water bodies are underway, while homes and public places are increasingly being decorated with lights and other decorative materials.
Sales of festival essentials, including banana bunches, sugarcane, ginger, turmeric and citron, have increased. Local traders say demand has also risen for bamboo-made baskets, trays and other traditional containers, as well as clay lamps, water pots and other earthenware.
Meanwhile, households are busy preparing thekuwa and bhuswa, traditional sweets offered as Chhath prasad. The tradition of preparing rice flour and wheat flour at home continues, as special importance is attached to cleanliness, purity and sanctity during the festival.
In the Mithila region, Chhath is observed from the fourth to the seventh day of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Kartik. The first day is observed as Nahay-Khay, the second as Kharna, the third involves offering arghya (ritual offerings) to the setting sun, and the festival concludes on the fourth day with offerings to the rising sun.
Regarded as a symbol of social harmony and unity, Chhath is also marked by a tradition in which people from different castes and communities set aside social and communal differences and gather at the same Chhath ghats to worship the Sun God and Goddess Shashthi.
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