Devotees worship sun on Chhath Puja

At the New Lake in Sector 42, around 1.5 lakh people turned up and the lake premises was decorated with lights and flowers. Special parking provisions were made for vehicles and the road leading up to the lake was blocked for private vehicles.

Purvanchal Welfare Association arranged for tea and milk to be served to the devotees. "The evening of the second day is marked by worshipping the setting sun and on the third and culminating day, the first ray of the rising sun is worshipped as it is considered to possess healing properties," said Rajendra Singh, president of the association.

The festival is predominantly celebrated in the north-eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern UP. "With changing times, people have started making slight alterations in the traditional means of celebration. These days, some people even make temporary arrangements at their houses in the water pool and make offerings to the Sun God there itself," said an organizer at the puja.

Arrangements were also made at Ghaggar river and Sukhna lake for the puja that witnessed people standing waist-deep in water and offering resh fruits to the sun. "We fast in intervals during the first two days and eat humble food. The sun is the only god that we can see and during this auspicious time we believe that it blesses with health and prosperity and makes our wishes come true," said Ragini Mishra, a Panchkula resident , originally from Bihar.

There are around 4 lakh people from the Bihari community in the region and those who cannot go to their parent states gather at various water bodies at Suryashashthi.

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