The festival is celebrated for four days by worshipping the rising and setting sun, the major source of energy, for sustaining life on earth.

The rituals include fasting, a holy bath, standing in water for a long time and offering prayer, prasad and arghya to the sun.

The ponds and river banks, including Ranipokhari, Kamalpokhari, Gaurighat, Kalimati, Balkhu, Thapathali, Kupandole, Baneshwor and Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu valley, were flooded with devotees performing the prayer to the Sun god and Chhathi Maiya, a Vedic goddess.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala visited Kamalpokhari, Ranipokhari, Gaurighat and Kupandole to offer prayers to the sun on the occasion.

Asmita Sharma, who goes to the river banks to watch people offer their prayers every year on Chhath, said she was delighted to see the lights and decorations.

The Chhath festival started in ancient Mithila’s capital Janakpurdham wishing longevity of the progeny. “The fast that married women observe during the festival is really a strict one as they cook separately and wear new clothes,” said Deepav Yadav, a devotee.

On the first day of Chhath, devotees take bath and eat “pure food”. People fast throughout Kharna, the second day of the festival, and eat only food without salt such as kheer (rice pudding) and puri. The third day, Sanjhiya Arghya (evening offerings) is the most important ritual when devotees go to riverbanks and ponds to make offerings to the setting sun. Similarly, on the final day, offerings are made to the rising sun known as Bhorwa Aragh (morning offerings). Devotees continue with the rituals through the night on Wednesday, the third of the festival, and will return to the riverbanks and ponds on Thursday morning to perform the second and final puja at sunrise.

The Chhath offerings are made in bamboo baskets containing radish, carrot, sugarcane, banana and jack fruit. Home-made sweets like thekuwa, bhusuwa, gujiya, khajuri and others are used as prasad. Likewise, elephant and vessel made of clay are also used to offer arghya.

Meanwhile, the festival was observed with much fanfare across Tarai districts on Wednesday. Various water rivers and ponds in districts, including Mahottari, Saptari, Parsa, Sarlahi and Morang, were kept clean and decorated while hundreds of people gathered there to worship the setting and rising sun.

In Janakpur, various local ponds were decorated while Dhanusa District Administration Office had tightened security during the festival. In Saptari, more than 20,000 people gathered at Koshi barrage to mark the festival.

Satya Narayan Mandal of local Puja Committee said people also gathered at ponds at Bharadaha and Rajbiraj. In Biratnagar, devotees thonged the banks of the Sindiya, Kesaliya rivers as well as Chatara canal to mark the festival. Security personnel were also mobilised in the area.