Chhath Puja, the major festival of north India, was celebrated with religious fervour here on Sunday, witnessing participation of thousands of people hailing from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of north India.
The devotees thronged the banks of Dhansiri river near Urra village behind ISBT and elsewhere in the afternoon and paid obeisance (Sandhya Arghya) to the setting sun.
Chhath is celebrated as a thanksgiving to the Sun God for giving the bounties of life on earth and for fulfilment of wishes of the believers. It is a festival of reverence to the solar deity, the only festival in the world where devotees offer salutations to the setting sun and then again ends with offering prayers to the rising sun the following morning. Nagaland Bhojpuri Samaj and Nagaland Bihar Samaj made elaborate arrangements on the banks of Dhansiri river for the devotees.
The second arghya (Ushakalin Arghya) would be offered to the rising sun early Monday morning. With this, the four-day festival would come to an end.
The Nagaland Bhojpuri Samaj in a press release expressed gratitude to the Ura Village Council, the police administration, traffic police, State Disaster Response Force and well-wishers for their support and cooperation.