Chhath Puja

Worship of Surya and Chhathi Maiya, held to be his sister and the protector of children. Draupadi is said to have kept it; so, in another account, is Karna, Surya's son. It is one of the very few Vedic-era solar observances still practised in its old form.

The most physically demanding fast in the Hindu calendar, around thirty-six hours without food or water. Devotees stand waist-deep in a river or pond and offer arghya to the setting sun on the third evening and the rising sun the next morning. Many approach the water bank prostrating full-length.

Thekua, a wheat and jaggery biscuit, is the signature offering, with sugarcane, seasonal fruit and rasiao-kheer. Prepared in scrupulously clean conditions, no salt or onion.

Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern UP are the heartland; Nepal's Terai too. It has travelled with migration to Delhi and Mumbai, where the riverbank scenes are now large. Notably it has no priest, devotees perform it directly, which is unusual.