Thousands of devotees gathered on the banks of Sabarmati river here on Sunday morning and offered prayers to Sun god as two-day Chhath puja celebrations came to an end.
Thousands of devotees gathered on the banks of Sabarmati river here on Sunday morning and offered prayers to Sun god as two-day Chhath puja celebrations came to an end.
Women offered special prayers to the rising Sun for the welfare and prosperity of their families by performing a ritual in which they stood waist-deep in water and offered fruits and flowers to the Sun god.
The main puja venue in the city was Sabarmati river bank near Indira Bridge and Camp Hanuman where thousands of devotees gathered on Saturday evening and again on Sunday morning to perform the puja.
LB Jha, a member of Maa Janki Sewa Samiti, said, “Though the grandeur and fervour of festival here can not match the one witnessed in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, we perform the puja with as much devotion and purity.”
Some years back, Jha said, the Chhath devotees found it difficult to arrange the puja items such as bamboo basket and fruits used in the festival. “Often we had to ask our relatives to send these items from their home town. However, over the years things have changed and the special puja items are now easily available in Ahmedabad,” he said.
Jha said over 30,000 people gathered at Sabarmati banks and offered prayers this year. JP Mishra, another member of Maa Janki Sewa Samiti, said, the district administration and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation had arranged special arrangement for the puja and pandals and light arrangements were also set up for the occasion.
Mishra said apart from the civic body officials, several municipal councilors and Naroda MLA Maya Kodnani visited the ghats and greeted the devotees. Jha said that though Indira Bridge was the most popular venue for the Chhath puja, the devotees also offered prayers near Vasna barrage and in Odhav, Maninagar, Chandkheda, Ghatlodia and other areas.
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