Patna
Oct. 24: Gudiya Khatun is observing a 36-hour fast and has made all arrangements with her family to ensure she celebrates the Chhat festival with all its strict rituals and stress on purity. This Muslim woman from Patna’s Nehru Nagar locality has been celebrating the predominantly Hindu festival of Chhat for the past four years.
Like Gudiya, hundreds of Muslim and Sikh families across Bihar are seen joining an increasing number of people who celebrate Chhat, the hugely popular Hindu worship of the Sun God and Bihar’s most important festival.
Many hundreds of Muslims and Sikhs are also seen lending helping hands to Hindus celebrating the four-day festival that began on Friday.
As the banks of rivers and ponds and the precincts of the four Sun temples in Bihar were thronged by lakhs of Chhat devotees worshipping the Sun, divisive psychological barriers perpetuated by religious stereotypes seemed to evaporate like the morning dew.
"We have faith in all Hindu deities and we celebrate Chhat very eagerly. More Sikh families are now joining us wholeheartedly," said Sonam Kaur, a Sikh from Patna Sahib.
Clay chullahs used by Chhat devotees are mostly made by Muslims. "The Hindus love our chullahs. There is no religious feeling about this. We Muslims have been making the chullahs for the past 25 years," said Mohammed Makkan, a chullah-maker in Patna.
In Gaya, several riverbanks were spruced up for Chhath devotees by Muslims.
"We have done it gladly for our Hindu sisters and brothers. It gives us great happiness," said Haji Mohammed Khursheed Alam, a Gaya social worker. The Sikhs offered drinking water and puja materials free of cost to many Chhat devotees in several Bihar towns, including Patna.
Chhat brings tremendous religious fervour and festive spirits to Bihar and Jharkhand.
Source: Asian Age, October 25, 2009
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