Chhath Puja _Kharna

By vermavkv on November 21, 2020 • ( 9 )

Dear friends..

As I mentioned earlier, Chhath Puja is the most important festival for me

Doesn’t matter where I am in the world but I always come home during this time to attend Chhath Puja and enjoy this festival with all my family members. But this year I was deprived of that opportunity.

The greatest festival of folk faith, traditions and emotions is the festival of Chhath Puja. It is a symbol of social harmony. We worship Suryadev (Sun God), the creator of nature.

Enjoy the song of Chhath puja in Bengali Language

Today, I would be mentioning about Kharna, which is performed on the 2^nd day of the festival.. i.e. on 19^th November, 2020,

Kharna is performed on the second day of Chhath Puja.

Kharna means the fast of the whole day. On this day, the devotees celebrate “KHARNA” by observing NIRJALA VRAT , ( Fasting without drinking even a drop of water) from sunrise to sun set, they break their fast only after offering prayer to the Sun God .

In the evening, women prepare KHEER as Prasada, they usually eat gur ki kheer (jaggery kheer), fruits and chapati full of ghee.

First of all, the Kheer is offered to the mother Shashthi after placing the banana leaves in a soil cover. It is believed that mother Shashthi takes enjoyment only the kheer is kept in solitary.

Kharna has its own unique identity of the greatest festival of the drowning Suryadev and the completion of Arunodaya with Ardhya.

The sunrise of the second day of the festival is accompanied by the fragrance of the “Thekua” in every house in Bihar.

The whole Bihar is drenched with the fragrance of the Thekua and the melodious music of Chhath song .

Thekua :

The main ingredients of Thekua are wheat flour, Jaggery and ghee

Dough is prepared using these four main ingredients and cardamom is to be added to enhance the taste. Dough is deep fried in Ghee till it becomes reddish brown. It is soft when hot but hardens after it cools. It needs no preservatives and it can be preserved for several day

The songs of chhath are so popular, that even a new generation, who is fond of cutting-edge songs, is also forced to become impatient by listening to the Lok Geet of Chhath.

One of the biggest features of this Chhath Puja is that whatever shopping is done for Chhath Puja, it is done from the shopkeepers of the lower strata (Small shopkeeper)of the society.

All goods are available with poor sellers sitting on the road side, you cannot shop from the mall.

Hearty greetings and congratulations to all of you on the eve of Chhath festival,

Long live the tradition of Hindu culture. As the generations have passed by . Hindu culture is getting stronger and stronger..