PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Oct 31: All roads lead to the rivers as thousands of devotees thronged riverbanks and manmade water bodies to offer prayers to the rising sun for the Chhath celebration which ended today.
Local civic body – Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC), Tata Steel Utilities and Infrastructure Services Limited (TSUISL, formerly Jusco), a Tata Teel subsidiary and Mango Notified Area Committee (MNAC) had prepared the river ghats and other artificial water bodies for Chhath.
All major ghats in the city including Subernarekha ghat at Sakchi, Kapali in Mango, Domuhani in Sonari, Pandey in Bhuiyandih, Bhuiyandih ghat, Sati in Sonari, Substation ghat at Kadma, Bodhanwala in Bistupur and Baroda ghat at Bagbera drew a huge number of devotees during the festival.
The devotees offered prayers to the Sun God at dusk on Sunday and at dawn today ( Usha arghya ). Numerous Chhath vratis also celebrated the festival on the roof-top and terraces of their houses.
Devotional Chhath songs rented the air as Chhath vratis performed the Puja with traditional vigour. Fireworks and crackers were also burst by devotees at various places including river ghats. The devotees waited since early in the morning today in knee-deep water to get a glimpse of the Sun God.
The Sun rose at 5. 48 am today. As soon as the Sun came out Chhath vratis started offering their prayers and arghya. Men, women and children in large numbers participated in the rituals. The Subernarekha ghat at Sakchi and Bodhanwala ghat at Bistupur on both days of the Chhath celebration attracted the largest number of devotees.
Two artificial water ponds inside the sprawling premises of Surya Mandir at Sidhgora also drew a good number of devotees. Rescue team with lifesaving gear were deployed at Subernarekha ghat at Sakchi and Domuhani, the meeting point of rivers Subernarekha and Kharkai on both days – October 30 and October 31.
Danger zones were demarcated with red flags and ropes in river Subernarekha near Jai Prakash Narayan Setu or Mango bridge.
Additional deployment of police and civil defence personnel was made to prevent any untoward incidents. To make things smoother, entry of heavy vehicles, including long-distance buses, was prohibited between 6 am on Sunday (October 30) and 3 pm on Monday (October 31).
Meanwhile, various NGOs for the last two days distributed free puja items at various parts of the steel city.
