Chhath: Rising in scale, standing
FESTIVAL Massive arrangements in place to mark one of the biggest festive congregations
NEWDELHI: Over the last two decades, Chhath Puja — dedicated to the Sun god and his wife — has developed into one of the biggest festivals in Delhi, manifesting the growing aspirations of the largest migrant group in the city, the Purvanchalis (natives of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh).
Chhath’s political and cultural influence has swelled over the years. In 1998, the then-congress government in Delhi had set up 78 ghats on the banks of Yamuna for the celebrations. This year, there will be 565 ghats where people will perform puja rituals.
The rituals of the four-day festival include a holy bath, fasting, and offering water and other material (arghya) to the setting and rising sun.
MASSIVE SCALE
Over 35,000 municipal workers would ensure that the celebrations go peacefully. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with senior members of his cabinet, is overseeing the preparations. The Delhi government is spending ₹20 crore on the facilities for the devotees. The BJPruled South Delhi Municipal Corporation has spent ₹41 lakh.
Vikas Rai, 52, who has been overseeing Chhath arrangements at Kalindi Kunj Ghat under the Lohia bridge since 1997, said the number of devotees there has risen from about 5,000 to one lakh over two decades.
At the three ITO ghats, which host the biggest congregation of Chhath devotees every year, organisers claim over 1.5 lakh people would start assembling just ahead of sunset on Thursday. The venue, a few metres away from the Delhi Secretariat, has already been made ready with pandals, sand bags, floodlights, and sign boards. For the hygiene conscious who may not want to wade through the polluted Yamuna, the organisers have made artificial pits, filled with water from a borewell.
“The festivities have grown over the years. It is not only people who observe the 36-hour fast but also tourists and locals who now come to the ghats to enjoy the atmosphere,” said Abhay Sinha of the Purvanchal Vikash Sangathan Chhath Puja Samiti at the ITO ghat. At least 10,000 people are expected to attend the cultural show at ITO where a makeshift stage has been made on the other side of food stalls.
Arrangements for night stay have been made for at least 500 devotees each at Wazirabad, Kalindi Kunj and ITO ghats, where over five lakh devotees are expected for Chhath, organisers say.
POLITICAL CLOUT
To woo 56 lakh Purvanchalis in Delhi, both AAP and BJP are trying to outdo each other by making extensive arrangements for the devotees.
“There are two reasons why Chhath has become important. First is the rising number migrants from Bihar and eastern UP over the last decade. Second, with many generations of the migrants now settled in Delhi, most of them don’t go back to their native towns during Chhath,” said Sanjay Kumar of the Centre for the Study of Developing Studies (CSDS) and author of Changing Electoral Politics in Delhi.
“The Delhi government has developed 565 sites, double than last year, where devotees can perform the rituals.” said Delhi development minister and AAP’S prominent Purvanchali politician, Gopal Rai.
Delhi BJP president and a famous Purvanchali personality, Manoj Tiwari said the ghats were looking good this year due to the hard work of the municipal staff and Chhath committees.
“The Delhi government is trying to fool people, saying that it has spent ₹20 crores on Yamuna ghats. People know that it not government money but the one donated by the people,” said Tiwari, the first Purvanchali president of Delhi BJP.
Former Congress MP Mahabal Mishra, a Purvanchali himself, said it was the Congress government that started facilitating Chhath Puja on Yamuna ghats. In 1998, the then urban development minister Ajay Maken gave permission to construct a ghat at ITO,” Mishra said.