Washington: In America, mainly Indian-Americans from Bihar, Jharkhand, and Eastern Uttar Pradesh celebrated Chhath Puja by worshiping the Sun God. Community members at various reservoirs across the country, including the historic Potomac River, a lake in New Jersey, and temporary reservoirs built in houses, worshiped Chhath, ensuring adherence to the social distance rule in the wake of the Covid-19 global epidemic. Hundreds of Indian-American devotees watched all the events associated with the festival, including sunset on Friday and sunrise worship on Saturday, on Zoom and other social media platforms. Chhath is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated mainly in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
During this time people fast, bathe in rivers and worship the sun god. The four-day festival ended on Saturday morning. Indian-American Kripa Singh said, “There were only 25 people in the Potomac River at a time and the family members maintained social distance from each other. People who came to the premises to watch Chhath Puja also kept their distance. ” Singh, a software engineer by profession, has been celebrating Chhath Puja with his wife Anita since 2006 in the Virginia suburb of Washington DC along the Potomac River.
He informed that the entire program from Kharna to giving Arghya in the morning was aired on Zoom and Facebook for those who could not join it due to the epidemic. It was also broadcast to their families living in India and Nepal. The Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America celebrated Chhath Puja at Thomson Park in Monrae, New Jersey for the fourth year in a row. The ceremony was also attended by Consul General of India in New York, Randhir Jaiswal and Deputy Consul General Shatrughan Sinha. Chhath worship was also celebrated in Pennsylvania, Florida and Texas.
