Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Tuesday extended greetings as Chhath festivities started with the ‘Nahay Khaaye’ ritual, and the devotees from Purvanchal begin their fast as per the festival.

While addressing a press conference here, she stated that there was a time when people from Purvanchal had to go to their villages far away from Delhi for the Chhath festival, but under the guidance of Arvind Kejriwal, it is being celebrated with great pomp across the national capital for the last 10 years.

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She said this year, more than 1000 grand Chhath Ghats are being constructed by the Delhi government to make it convenient for the devotees so that they do not have to go far from their homes for the celebration and rituals. She claimed that due to efforts by the state government, Chhath festival has now become a festival for all the residents in the city, especially the Purvanchalis.

The CM said that before Kejriwal became the CM, there were 60 Chhath Ghats in Delhi, but after 10 years, under the guidance of AAP chief 1000 Chhath Ghats are being built in Delhi.

According to the CM, the government organises the arrangements for Chhath, including construction of ghats, arranging water, medical facilities, doctors and other amenities is taken care of by the different departments. She said that the state government has announced a public holiday on November 7 for Chhath festivities.

Meanwhile, the city is all geared up for the festival with people in the localities with majority of population from the Purvanchal ,seen shopping for Chhath essentials from the local markets. Vendors are selling items used in the rituals such as fruits, sweets like Thekua, coconut, sugarcane, ginger, banana and special baskets used to carry all these items to the Chhath Ghats.

The devotees including women and men begin the festivities with ‘ Nahay Khaaye’ that includes a holy bath and then preparation of prasad. On the next day is ‘Kharna’ which is the main start of the festival where the prasad is cooked including Kheer made of jaggery. People offer argh to the Sun and then the next morning during sunrise the devotees offer the argh to the Sun God.