M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Oct 25: A good number of men and women have arrived in Daltonganj from the Sonebhadra district of Uttar Pradesh to celebrate the Mahaparv Chhath. They were spotted fast asleep under the shed of the roadside shops on the night preceding Diwali by Palamu SP Chandan Kumar Sinha who was on the town patrol.
On seeing so many people, the SP at once had his police bent of suspicion about the sleepers in such a number but later found that they had come to observe Chhath by ‘begging’.
SP Sinha then went on to say that these people although looking impoverished had their reasoning and logic to have their Chhath by begging. They told the SP that they would raise money by begging for Chhath Puja and then leave for their homes in the Sonebhadra district in UP.
Sinha admitted that this tradition of celebrating Chhath by begging was new to him and perhaps that tempted him to write about his feelings and circulated it among the media persons.
Daltonganj town witnesses people in hordes who carry bamboo woven hand-holding baskets begging for Chhath and people cutting across faith donate coins or rupee notes etc. Majority of the Hindu people offer incense sticks, peanuts, vermilion etc. These people do not press anyone for the offering.
The tradition of performing Chhath by begging has a spiritual and psychological basis. It is said that such a tradition removes the ego of a person. The mind becomes pure and peaceful and a harmonious society is created.
