Devotees return to Yamuna for Chatth prayers after 5 years; Delhi CM, others join celebrations

Lakhs of people hailing from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh performed Chhath rituals in artificial ponds in their colonies and at ghats lining the Yamuna.

“I am just happy that I am getting to celebrate this (Chhath) in the Yamuna after so many years,” Yadav said, adding that he was satisfied with the facilities put in place at the ghat.

CM Gupta spent the evening visiting multiple ghats — Mangolpuri, Sonia Vihar, and Vasudev — joining devotees in their prayers to Chhathi Maiya and the Sun God. “This year’s celebrations marked the most magnificent and organised Chhath Puja Delhi has witnessed,” she said.

For the last five years, devotees have performed the Chhath rituals in artificial ponds due to restrictions put in place by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Delhi government owing to the river’s polluted state. This year, special arrangements were made to allow devotees to perform Chhath rituals on both sides of the river while ensuring that no immersions took place in the main flow.

Meanwhile at Vasudev Ghat near Kashmiri Gate, as cultural performances and folk songs added to the festive fervour during the evening prayers, the Chief Minister, Northeast Delhi MP Tiwari and Minister Mishra joined the celebrations. Mishra is heading the Delhi government’s Chhath Committee. The government, Gupta said, made extensive arrangements this year that included setting up facilities of drinking water, medical assistance, security, sanitation, etc. at 17 model ghats — from Palla to Kalindi Kunj.

As dusk settled over the Yamuna, the iron bridge next to the Vasudev Ghat glowed with strings of yellow and orange lights. Motorists slowed down, leaning over railings to catch a glimpse of the river that, until last year, had been frothy and stinky. Below, the Yamuna glimmered under the floodlights — its surface broken only by boats flying the Indian flag and women standing knee-deep in the water, palms folded in prayer. On both sides of the river, temporary ghats had been built for devotees. From above, it looked like the two Yamunas had merged — one clean, cordoned off and lit up for the festival, and the other, just beyond the bamboo barriers, hidden in the dark.

Toy sellers called out from the steps; hawkers with trays of tobacco sachets, roasted gram, bhelpuri, chai and plastic water pouches moved between the crowd. Stalls selling food, sugarcane juice, and cotton candy lined the road leading to the ghat. Women in shimmery saris and lehengas stood in groups with their families, their reflections flickering on the water; children squealed on makeshift jhoolas; and devotional songs played from speakers tied to bamboo poles. “Neeche se toh lagta hi nahi ki do Yamuna hain (From here, it doesn’t even look like there are two Yamunas),” said a devotee from Shastri Park, gazing at the clean, still pond carved out of the river for the rituals.

Boats carrying saffron flags made slow rounds as chants of “Chhathi Maiya ki jai” echoed from both banks. “After years, it feels like we have got our river back,” said Meena Devi, a resident of Mangolpuri, who had come with her two daughters. “We used to pray in plastic ponds. The festival hadn’t been the same…Today, standing here, it feels like home.”

Different places across the city depicted similar pictures of celebrations.

Social Welfare Minister Ravinder Indraj Singh too visited several ghats in Bawana Assembly, including Rohini, Shahbad Dairy, and Bawana JJ Colony, to review facilities and offer prayers with devotees. He said Chhath symbolised discipline and unity, calling it “a reflection of Sanatan Dharma’s cultural heritage and national integration”. In Janakpuri, Education Minister Ashish Sood led celebrations at over 30 newly built ghats. Addressing devotees, he said, “For the first time in 27 years, Chhath Puja is being celebrated here on such a large scale.”

Other BJP leaders who joined the celebrations included Virendra Sachdeva, Yogender Chandolia and Raj Kumar Chauhan.

Responding to the AAP’s remarks on the government’s preparation and Yamuna’s water quality, Gupta said, “Some people tried to convert Chhath into a political arena, but people of Delhi responded to them, by showing their happiness with the grand celebration.” Meanwhile, Parvesh Sahib Singh constructed a ghat for inside his housing premises in New Delhi for devotees in nearby areas.

Taking a pot shot at the AAP, Mishra said, “The presence of people in thousands has answered Arvind Kejriwal and others who could not believe that a government could make such wonderful arrangements for the common people.”

By dusk, the city’s ghats — from Sonia Vihar to Kalindi Kunj — were glowing with diyas, as devotional songs kept playing. The banks of the Yamuna were covered with Chhath puja sthals. People had decorated their sthals with bamboo stalks with branches of bamboo leaves standing guard to manu sthals. Colourful streamers glistened over baskets with all varieties of fruits. People who live close to the ghats returned home to spend the night, while others waited for the sunrise to offer prayers one more time.

Spread over 16 hectares, Vasudev Ghat had been reopened for the public after the DDA-led LG office carried out a project for the restoration of its premises last year — and it has quickly become one of Delhi’s most prominent sites for Yamuna worship.