Four-day long Chhath festival ends in Bihar

The four-day long ‘Chhath’ festival ended on Monday with devotees offering ‘Arghya’ to the rising sun god.

Lakhs of devotees, who thronged the banks of the Ganga river and other water bodies across the state, ended their 36 hour fast by offering to the rising Sun god early this morning.

Meanwhile, seven children drowned during Chhath puja this morning in separate incidents in three districts of Khagaria, Muzaffarpur and Patna, official sources said here quoting reports.

In Patna, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar offered ‘arghya’ to the rising Sun at a pond built at his official residence -- 1, Aney Marg -- and prayed to the sun god for the peace, prosperity and development of the state and the country.

Kumar’s sister-in-law did the puja at the Chief Minister’s residence.

In a departure, the family of Kumar’s ally and RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav did not celebrate ‘Chhath’ at his 10 Circular Road residence, which used to be the centre of media attention every year.

The district administration, however, heaved a sigh of relief as the four-day long Chhath puja, which began on November 4 and revered as the most pious festival of Bihar, passed off peacefully barring some stray incidents of drowning during puja this morning across the state.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, while inspecting the ghats along Ganga river, had praised the district administration for its preparations on Sunday.

Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, who himself inspected ghats last evening and this morning and monitored the entire arrangements, expressed satisfaction on the successful completion of the puja and said administration would honour officials and employees for their good work, an official release said.

Elaborate security arrangements were made by the district administration on the banks of the Ganga and ponds in Patna and elsewhere.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams were posted at the ghats with boats and other equipment for rescue and relief operation personnel.

Municipal authorities too had made elaborate arrangements to spruce up ghats across the city and roads leading to ghats.