Chhath Puja History: As soon as Diwali ends, preparations for Chhath Puja begin in full swing. This festival holds immense importance especially for the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The great festival of Chhath is celebrated for four days, starting with “Nahay-Khay” and concluding with offering Arghya to the rising and setting sun. In this fast, devotees observe waterless fast for 36 continuous hours. Do you know how this fast started? Many stories and beliefs are prevalent in this context. Many stories related to Chhath festival are also mentioned in the Puranas, which show its religious and cultural importance.
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Mother Sita had fasted
There are many popular beliefs related to Chhath Puja in Bihar, one of which is that Mother Sita was the first to fast on Chhath Puja. According to the belief, when Lord Ram, Mother Sita and Lakshman returned to Ayodhya from 14 years of exile, they decided to perform Rajyagya Surya on the orders of sages to absolve themselves of the sin of killing Ravana. For this, Mughal sages were invited. Mugdal Rishi purified Mother Sita by sprinkling Ganga water and ordered to worship Sun God on the sixth day of Shukla Paksha of Kartik month. After this, Mother Sita stayed in the ashram of Mugdal Rishi and worshiped Suryadev for six days and on Saptami, at sunrise, again performed the ritual and received the blessings of Suryadev.
Draupadi observed Chhath fast
According to another story, Chhath Mahavrat was started during the Mahabharata period. It was first started by Surya’s son Karna by worshiping Surya. Karna was a great devotee of Sun God. He used to stand in water for hours and offer prayers to the Sun and by the grace of Sun God, he became a great warrior. Even today, the same tradition of donating Arghya is prevalent during the great festival Chhath. Apart from this, this story is also popular when Pandavas had lost their entire kingdom in gambling and then Draupadi observed the Mahavrat of Chhath. By observing this fast, all the wishes of Draupadi were fulfilled and the Pandavas got their kingdom back.