Gurgaon celebrates Chhath puja

The district administration and Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) provided requisite facilities at 35 sites (ghats) in the city and the devotees said that their festive rituals took place ‘smoothly’.

On the last two days of Chhath puja, residents of Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh staying across the city offered their prayers to the Sun on Friday evening.

Devotees perform rituals at the Sheetla Mata temple. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The district administration and Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) provided requisite facilities at 35 sites (ghats) in the city and the devotees said that their festive rituals took place ‘smoothly’.

As per the Hindu religious calendar, on Friday and Saturday, devotees offer their prayers to the Sun during the sunset and sunrise, respectively.

“I visited the ghat at Chakkarpur before sunset and found the place to be clean and adequately lit, with the help of streetlights. I was surprised to find provisions for drinking water and toilet as well,” Anand Sinha, a resident of Sector 56, said.

According to officials of the district administration, an estimated 2.5-3 lakh people from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh live in the city. Most of them celebrated the festival at some of the prominent ghats in the city — Sheetla Mata Mandir, Chakkarpur, Maruti Kunj and Dundahera.

“Chhath puja is considered the most auspicious festival in our community and all members of the family gather in one city during this time to celebrate it together. I am glad that it is being widely recognized and hope that similar to the Delhi government, the Haryana government also declares a public holiday on this festival,” Aruna Lal, a resident of DLF Phase 4, said.

“As per our understanding, 35 areas in the city can be labelled as designated sites for the festival and over the week, sanitation workers have cleaned these areas and ensured that basic provisions such as lighting, water and toilets are in place,” SS Rohilla, public relations officer of MCG, said.

With the puja sites expected to have a rush of devotees during sunset, Gurgaon police cautioned commuters of snarls via social media. “Traffic advisory: Congestion on Ggm roads expected on 26th evening & 27th morning on account of Chatt Pooja. Plz plan your travel accordingly. (sic)” Gurgaon Police tweeted.