Ranchi, Oct 28 (PTI) Devotees thronged ghats across Jharkhand on Tuesday to pay obeisance to the rising sun on the concluding day of Chhath Puja.
Lakhs of devotees gathered on the banks of rivers and other water bodies since early morning to offer ‘Usha Arghya’ to the rising sun, as devotional songs were played firecrackers burst.
The festival passed off peacefully in the state, barring a few sporadic incidents of drowning, an official said.
JMM leader and Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Manji offered prayers along Ranchi’s Hatnia pond on Tuesday morning, while Leader of Opposition in Jharkhand assembly and state BJP chief Babulal Marandi offered ‘Usha Arghya’ on the banks of a water body in his constituency Raj Dhanwar.
Former chief minister Raghubar Das also offered prayers at Suryadham in Jamshedpur.
“I pray to Chhathi Maiya to bless everyone with happiness and good health,” Manji said.
Over 150 jail inmates in different prisons of the state also observed the Chhath rituals, the official said.
The four-day festivities began on October 25 with the ‘Nahai Khai’ ritual. It is observed on the sixth day of ‘Kartik Shukla’ and six days after Diwali.
Elaborate security arrangements were made across Jharkhand, with the deployment of additional police forces, drones and CCTV cameras in major cities, including Ranchi, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur, a senior police officer said.
Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were also deployed to ensure the safety of devotees, he added. PTI SAN RBT
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