E-Paper
Chhath a festival of public faith: U.P. CM Yogi
Yogi Adityanath attends puja at Laxman Mela ground in Lucknow, asks people to celebrate the festival in an environmental-friendly manner
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said Chhath Puja is a festival of public faith (Lok Aastha) that unites people. Addressing a huge gathering of devotees in Chhath Puja celebrations organised at Laxman Mela ground on the Gomti banks, the CM said, “Today (Sunday) is the third and important day of Chhath Puja. In the evening, the first Arghya is being offered to the Sun God. The setting sun gives the message that even though it is setting today, tomorrow it will come out again with a renewed vigour.”
“The importance of festival is in its philosophy of public faith. We are all united and working towards cleanliness of internal soul in cohesion with the nature and with this devotion towards public faith” Yogi added.
“The whole society celebrates Chhath that is the symbol of inner and outer purification. The nature is worshipped in unison during this festival. On this day, wherever Bhojpuri society is present, the unison of nature and human beings is witnessed. This festival first gives the message of self-purification and then the purification of the environment,” the CM said.
“The temporary structures which we make at ghats should be avoided because after the festival is over, these structures are not respected. We should clean the ghats after puja and honour the nature as a mark of respect to the God,” he added.
Moreover, the CM said the campaign for the cleanliness of rivers has been taken forward unitedly. “Resultantly, the Gomti river is in a cleaner form today. Chhath promotes unity, social harmony and prosperity of the society as a whole,” he added.
Yogi also urged the people to celebrate the festival in a way that is environmental-friendly and that does not cause pollution in any manner. He assured people that the government and administration had made foolproof arrangements for the convenience of devotees during the festival and utmost importance had been given to the maintenance of safety standards.
Earlier, greeting the people of the state on Chhath, the CM tweeted, “Heartfelt greetings and best wishes to all the people of the state and devotees on Chhath, the great festival of worship of Lord Surya! By the grace of God , this great festival of public faith should become a factor of happiness, prosperity and health for the entire Universe.”
Meanwhile, on the third day of the four-day Chhath festival, women devotees in large numbers offered Arghya (offering of water) to the setting sun. Thousands of people were present on the banks of the Gomti river, singing folk songs on the occasion. A number of cultural programmes were also organised to mark the event. Another Arghya will be offered to the rising sun on the fourth and last day of the puja on Monday following which the fasting women will break their fast.
On the occasion, national president of All India Bhojpuri Samaj Prabhunath Rai honoured the CM by offering flowers, ‘Angavastra’ and a memento. Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra and principal secretary to the CM Sanjay Prasad were also present there.
