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A lot of people wonder why Goddess Chhath (Chhathi Maiya) is worshipped along with the Sun God on the occasion of Chhath or Surya Shashti Vrat. Is the Goddess mentioned in the Puranas?
Nowadays, Chhath is celebrated not only in Bihar but all over the world, where people from the area have settled. Still, a lot of people are unaware of the fundamental details of this fast.
Here is all you need to know about the festival.
It's written in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad that God divided himself into two parts to create the universe. The 'right' part formed the 'male' and the 'left' side formed 'nature'.
Shashti Devi is called Chhathi Maiya in local parlance. The Goddess is also called Brahma's Manasputri, and is believed to give children to those who are unable to have any. To this day, in most parts of the country, people celebrate Shashti Pooja or Chhath Pooja on the sixth day after a baby is born.
She is also called Katyayni in the Puranas, and is worshipped on Shashti during the Navratras.
Hindu religious texts list dates for worshipping gods and goddesses. For instance, Ganesha is worshipped on Chaturthi, Vishnu is worshipped on Ekadashi.
Similarly, the Sun God is worshipped on Saptami. However, on Chhath, Sun is worshipped on Shashti, which is unusual.
Women have kept this mythological tradition alive in the folklore of Chhath.
The reason for worshipping God and Goddess together becomes clear from the couplet. In it, Vratis are saying that they are worshiping the sun deities for food, wealth, property, etc, and the Shashthi Devi for children.
(With inputs from texts published by Gita Press, Gorakhpur)
(This article has been republished from The Quint’s archives to mark Chhath Puja. It was first published in Hindi Quint.)
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