Chhath festival begins in Bihar

Lakhs of devotees today took a holy dip in rivers and prayed to Sun god marking the beginning of the 'Chhath festival', the most popular festival in Bihar.

The devotees with their family members thronged nearby rivers and ponds early this morning and took bath before turning to the East for offering prayers to the rising sun.

They later returned home, cleaned up houses and utensils and cooked vegetarian meal while singing traditional songs for the 'Nahai Khai (bath and eat). During the four-day festival, several devotes would fast and would not not drink a drop of water for 36 hours.

In Patna, thousands of devotees, male and female, assembled on the bank of Ganga and took a holy dip. Most of the ghats across the state have been cleaned and spruced up with decoration of lights, official sources said, adding all roads leading to the ghats to be visited by devotees on Sturday evening and sunday morning have been repaired.  

Chief minister Nitish Kumar has directed the authorities to make fool-proof arrangements for security and safety of the devotees in their respective areas. They have been asked to keep close watch on the situation and crowds which assebled at ghats where rivers have swift current and deep beds, the sources said.

Special arrangements have been made for Patna where helicoptors would fly over the ghats to closely monitor the crowds on the bank of river Ganga and launch rescue in the event of any disaster, sources said.

"There are 52 ghats in some areas along Ganga in the state capital which have been declared dangerous," they said. Several ponds have been dug by the administration to regulate the rush of devotees due to strong current seen in river Ganga, the sources added.