MAHOTTARI: The Mithila region, including Mahottari, is radiant and mesmerizing now.
The villages and cities are decorated. Artistic and colorful lights have made the settlements beaming, attracting celebrants of the imminent Chhath festival.
Mithila dwellers are now busy making the environment neat and clean. Houses are scrubbed and daubed.
Even the poor seem jubilant- they have forgotten their plights and are ready to exchange festival greetings. It is what the ambiance of Chhath is.
It is a festival observed every year in Tarai/Madhes. The festival features the worship of the Sun and Goddes Shasthi.
The water sources and river banks are neat, tidy, and decorated. The Sun is offered curd by dipping half of the body into the pond and rivers.
Those observing fast as per ‘arbaarbain’ ritual began the process today, Friday. They took a bath and got prepared for fasting.
The songs devoted to the Sun God and Goddess Chhathi reverberate with the settlements.
Similarly, paraphernalia for the ritual goes further than cooking delicacies such as thakuwa, bhusuwa at every household irrespective of class.
Accessories for puja include sugarcane, banana, ginger, turmeric, and citrus fruits.
Those growing these things get good market during this festival. Hemkali Tharu from Bhangaha municipality-4 which is observing fast said she grew such things for puja and sold to manage the festival spending.
Similarly, those staying away from home have arrived to celebrate the major festival with a family reunion.
It is the best medium to unite family members. Another important feature of the Chhath festival is cleanliness and harmony.
Raj Kishor Yadav, 64, from Sangrampur of Bhangaha municipality-6, said, “From an economic viewpoint, people can be high and low, but every house is made clean as part of the festival.”
The Chhath festival is also a moment to reignite love and harmony.
“Even the estranged ones speak with utmost politeness. The enmity is forgotten and social unity and amity fostered with the festival,” observed a political cadre Mansul Kawari.
