How Delhi’s women celebrated the beginning of Chhath puja despite a ban & Covid worries

From seeking far out, isolated ponds to making small temporary ones, worshippers in Delhi got creative as they kicked off the four-day Chhath puja Friday.

A woman performs puja while standing in a pond worshippers found near the Delhi-Noida border, on 20 November 2020 | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

Noida: The annual Chhath Puja that usually sees swarms of people leave the national capital to return to their hometowns in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh was a lot more muted this year.

The four-day festival began Friday with a ban in place. The Arvind Kejriwal government barred people visiting the Yamuna ghats given the rising cases of coronavirus in the National Capital Region.

However, this didn’t appear to deter worshippers. Several created ‘mini ponds’ at home to observe the rituals, while smaller groups made their way to far out waterbodies.

ThePrint’s National Photo Editor Praveen Jain spotted one such group and followed them to a pond near the Delhi-Noida border where they carried out the puja. Meanwhile, Senior Video Journalist Manisha Mondal caught snapshots from a terrace with a makeshift pool.

A young man carries fruits on his head as a group of worshippers make their way to a pond near the Delhi-Noida border | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

There were several groups of worshippers dressed in their finery | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

Two young boys dressed identically accompany other children and their parents on the hunt for the water body | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

Chhath usually comes 6 days after Diwali, and is a festival dedicated to the Sun God. As such, many of the rituals take place on terraces | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

Given that Diwali occurred much closer to the onset of winter, Chhath began on a pleasant early winter morning | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

A man rolls on the ground while performing the ritual observed for Chhath puja | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

His wife, who was standing by, helps her husband along | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

On the first day of puja, families prepare a traditional meal and serve it as a ‘bhog’ (ritual offering). On the second and third days, women observe a fast which they only break at sunrise and sunset | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

The festival concludes after devotees perform puja on the final day at sunrise and break their fast | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint

A family in ITO, unable to go to the ghat, built a temporary pool on the terrace of their house | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

Several of them huddle together in the poor to perform the puja | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

The terrace is filled with offerings given as a part of the rituals. Having finished their puja and now fasting, the women sit together | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint