Lucknow: Chhath festivities begin with ‘Nahay Khay’ rituals

LUCKNOW: Festive fervour gripped the city on Wednesday as devotees observing Chhath Puja began the celebrations with the ritual of ‘Nahay Khay’, observed on the first day of the four-day festival, amid Covid-19 check.
After waking early in the morning and taking a bath, devotees, as part of the preparation of the ‘prasad’ for the ritual, cleaned wheat and distributed the food among their families.
“Wheat is used in preparation of ‘prasad’ and ‘dauras’, ‘soops’, basket, coconut and fruits are bought for the puja”, said Suman Yadav, a resident of Hasanganj.
“Ritual of nahay-khay is a symbol of purity and strict discipline, the first day of Chhath when we take a bath in the holy river and clean ourselves before preparing food. On Friday, main offering, ‘arghya’, will be given to the sun god on the river banks. Married women will observe a fast of 36 hours for their husband and son and devotees traditionally will offer wheat, milk, sugarcane, bananas and coconut to the sun god,” said Sunita Rai, who will be celebrating the festival at her home.
Arti Jha said items prepared on the first day are highly nutritious. “Three food items are prepared as part of of nahay khay ritual — rice, ‘chana dal’ and bottle gourd. We consume these food items before beginning our fast on the second day. These items have high nutritional value since they are easily digestible and act as essentials to prepare our body for the 36-hour-long fast,” she added.
While many devotees will throng the ghats of Gomti — Jhulelal Ghat, Lakshman Mela Ghat, Kudiyaghat and Mankameshwar Ghat, most will perform the puja in nearby parks due to the pandemic.
“Every year around 10 lakh devotees perform puja at the Lakshman Mela ghat. However, due to the coronavirus scare, people have become more alert this time and many ‘vratis’ will perform puja at their home or nearby parks,” said Prabhunath Rai, president of Akhil Bharatiya Bhojpuri Samaj, who will also be celebrating the festival at his home in a swimming pool decorated for the occasion.