Hindu devotees across the country marked Chhath festival on Sunday by offering prayers to the Sun god for its invaluable role in sustaining life on earth. The three-day festival concluded after the devotees offered their prayers to the setting sun.

The devotees worshipped the setting sun this evening with fruits and sweets. Devotees erected tents and stalls with colourful decoration along the banks of rivers and ponds throughout the country from where they pray to the sun god.

 The Chhath festival is celebrated from Chaturthi to Saptami in the month of Kartik in the Bikram Sambat calendar. During the festival, devotees, mostly women, observe a strict fast for welfare and wellbeing of their family members.

The Chhath festival celebrated in the Mithila culture in Tarai started to spread to Kathmandu and other hilly regions after 1989.

The devotees prepare, offer and distribute special delicacies like Thekuwa and Bhusana during the festival. The festival concludes after worshipping the rising sun tomorrow morning.

On the occasion, President Bidya Devi Bhandari paid homage to Sun god at Guheshwori and Kamalpokhari of the Capital city. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal also visited Kamalpokhari, Ranipokhari, Pashupati, among other places, where Kathmandu dwellers celebrated the festival. Likewise, Health Minister Gagan Thapa and Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun also appeared at the sites where devotees were celebrating the festival in the Capital.

The Chhath festival that used to be mainly observed in the Tarai districts until some years back is gradually becoming popular among the hilly people including in the capital of late. 

It usually falls between October and November in the Gregorian calendar. The Sun considered as the God of Energy and of the Life-force, is worshiped during the Chhath festival to promote well-being, prosperity and progress. The festival ends tomorrow with offering arghya to the rising Sun.