Greater Noida West: Chhath, a great festival of folk faith, is a special festival of the Hindu religion, which starts from Nahay Khay and continues for four days till Usha Arghya. This year Chhath is starting on 17th November and will end on 20th November 2023.
There is importance in offering Arghya to the setting and rising Sun in Chhath Puja. Many important festivals take place in the month of Kartik, of which the great festival Chhath is also one. It is celebrated on a large scale, especially in states like Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Preparations for organizing this great festival have started in full swing under the ageis of NEFOWA and Purvanchal Ekta Manch at Chhath Ground near Cherry County, Greater Noida West. Abhishek Kumar, President, NEFOWA and Purvanchal Ekta Manch says, “Right now we are getting proper cleaning done here. The condition of this place is not good right now. We have to prepare this place for the great festival of Chhath so that everyone can come and enjoy a lot on that day. Right now there is difficulty even in walking here because everywhere is rough and waterlogged, but after our final preparations, the aura of this place will be worth seeing.”
President of Nefowa Foundation and Purvanchal Ekta Manch, Abhishek Kumar says, “Hundreds of our volunteers are continuously working day and night to complete the outline of the program. In this, a lot of cooperation is also being received from the officials of Greater Noida Authority so that proper arrangements can be made at the ghat.
A request has also been made to Police Commissionerate Gautam Buddha Nagar for security arrangements and traffic management at Chhath Ghat.
During the four-day puja, nothing like soil, concrete, garbage, or pebbles will be seen, carpets will be laid everywhere. This entire ground is spread over 15 acres and is currently being cleaned.
Last year, 20 thousand people from Noida, Greater Noida had participated. This time more people are going to come, but only as many people will be invited as can be controlled.
Greater Noida Authority is doing commendable work like last year. Gaurav Bhagel, Junior Engineer has started getting the entire area cleaned under the aegis of Greater Noida Authority. He said that the entire place where there is mud, mosquitoes and dust, all will be cleaned in the coming days.
Trees are being cut and pruned, water is being drained from various places, the soil is being added, and the land is being levelled. The authority is fully engaged in getting the cleanliness done.
Abhishek Kumar, President, NEFOWA says, “As soon as the cleaning work of tents, changing gates, installing lights etc. is done, the executive committee of NEFOWA will start it and painting will also be done all around.”
Deepak Gupta, NEFOWA and Purvanchal Ekta Manch says, “The event will be more grand than last time. Once again the melodious voices of the artists will echo in the land of Noida West and this event will be organised. To take special care of women and children during the Chhath festival, women members of NEFOWA have also come forward and taken charge.”
Jyoti Jaiswal, Vice President of NEFOWA says, “The festival has special significance for us. In Chhath, a four-day festival of faith and folk faith, along with a strict fast, strict rules are also followed.”
At the same time, preparations for the Chhath festival have also started in Sector 3 of Greater Noida West. Sector 3 Vikas Samiti’s Deo Raj Tiwari says, “Chhath is the true worship of nature. She teaches us to be clean and neat, the sixth mother is Mother Katyayani, and the evidence of that worship is the Sun God.
The residents of Purvanchal who live in our sector will all come together and perform collective puja. Construction of ‘Ghaat’ for Chhath for mass puja for Sectors 1, 2 and 3 was started last week and it will be completed in a few hours. The grains offered by Prasad have been washed and left to dry in the sun.
Jai Prakash Yadav, a resident of Sector 3, says, “last Sunday the committee members conducted a survey at a place and after everyone’s consent, preparations for the puja have started from today like cleanliness, budget making etc.”