• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

Chhath Puja 2025: Chhath Puja, India's very ancient and spiritual Sun God (Surya) and ChhathiMaiya-dedicated festival, is now a global affair that echoes beyond the Ganga's banks and the ghats of Bihar. A once regional and highly indigenous cultural celebration in eastern India and Nepal has become a universal phenomenon, with its resonance heard in foreign lands, the United States and the United Kingdom to Mauritius, Singapore, and more.

Festival Beyond Borders

Traditionally observed in Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal, Chhath Puja is a four-day-long festival that starts six days after Diwali. Fasting devotees worship the setting and rising sun, seek blessings for health, happiness, and prosperity. Chhath stands out due to its simplicity, no idol worship, no elaborate decor just devotion, water, sunlight, and thankfulness.

But over the years, as migration spread communities far and wide, so too did their traditions. The Indian diaspora has carried the rituals, songs, and emotions of Chhath to foreign shores, turning it into a vibrant expression of cultural continuity.

Untitled design (37)

Women offer prayers on the bank of Bagmati River during the Chhath Puja festival in Nepal, 2024 | Credit: PTI

United States: Rivers, lakes, and Blow-up Pools

In the United States, the festival of Chhath has increased immensely among Indians. Hundreds join from New York and New Jersey to San Francisco and Chicago to perform rituals by rivers, lakes, or even man-made water bodies. Where natural sources are not available, devotees carry inflatable pools or tubs to offer 'arghya', the offering to the sun.

Untitled design (38)

Devotees perform rituals of ‘Chhath Puja’ at Fremont, in California, USA | Credit: PTI

In places like San Jose and Fremont, temples and community associations organise big events. "A few years ago, there were hardly a dozen families. Now, hundreds of families attend. Even bamboo soops and puja material are available in local shops," Tarun Kailash, an Indian software engineer who is settled in California said this to PTI.

United Kingdom And Canada: Keeping Traditions Alive In Cold

On the dockside of the Atlantic, London, Leicester, and Birmingham experience similar fervor. It is Indian societies that organise the events, turning local riverbanks and parks into celebratory grounds for the prayers. In Canada, too, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver, believers face the November winter gusts to stand neck-deep in water, clutching baskets of fruits, sugarcane, and thekua, the home-made sweet prepared from wheat flour and jaggery.

Mauritius And Singapore: Public holidays And Cultural pride

Chhath Puja is not only a religious festival in Mauritius, it's a part of national culture. With almost 70 per cent of the population having Indian origin, the government even issues a public holiday for this event. Beaches and Sun God temples become alive with chants, songs, and lights as devotees offer rituals on the sea shore.

Singapore, which has a growing population of Biharis, also celebrates Chhath with utmost devotion. Members of families come together at reservoirs and community centers to perform rituals much like their Indian counterparts. In Nepal, particularly in the Terai area, the festival is a replica of Bihar with identical rituals. Small but well-knit Chhath celebrations by Indian-origin families and cultural associations have also been witnessed in Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

ALSO READ: Chhath Puja 2025: Railways Runs Special Trains From Ranchi To Ajmer And Ara | Details

Link To Ancient Solar Traditions

Though deeply Indian in spirit, Chhath Puja has universal themes in common with other ancient solar festivals like Peru's Inti Raymi and China's Dongzhi. Throughout the centuries and civilisations, humankind has worshipped the sun as a source of life, a feeling that continues to bring together communities observing Chhath throughout the world.

Thekua

ALSO READ: Bihar Govt Bans Carbide Guns, Firecrackers At Chhath Ghats To Ensure Safety

So whether it is done on the banks of the Ganga or on the shore of a Canadian lake, Chhath Puja's nature does not change. It stands today not just as a regional ritual, but also a universal icon of religiosity and cultural tenacity, radiating as intensely as the sun it venerates.

Also In News