THERE IS NO VRAT AS SEVERE AS CHHAT. THE PEOPLE OF BIHAR have made it their special celebration. The eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Madhya Pradesh also give great importance to this fast, and all of them celebrate it as a festival for six days, beginning from the day after Diwali (which is in Kartik and culminates on the 6th day of the the waxing moon of the same month). The Tith is Chhat, hence the name. It falls somewhere in October-November.Chhat is considered to be one of the most rewarding fasts and pujas. Lord Kartikeya or Skanda - the first son of Shiv and Parvati - is prayed to on this occasion along with the sun.

Kartikeya is all-benevolent and said to have the power to fulfil all desires. Therefore, people undertake this fast for children, or for their own health or wealth. They continue doing it year after year until the boon is granted. The sun is also given as much importance since it is the sustainer of life and becomes god in the Hindu way of life; both join in to bless the faithful during this week.

As said before, preparations begin from the day after Diwali, which is Parva of the waxing moon of Kartik, and houses are cleaned and whitewashed, if they have not already been for Diwali. In the villages fresh cowdung is applied to the courtyards.

During this week people refrain from telling lies, smoking and gambling. They also become vegetarian for the duration, if they are non-vegetarians. A sense of purity and piousness becomes the order of the day, especially for those who keep the fast. But even those not keeping the fast, but living in the same house as people who are, should be able to feel the impact of the occasion. The main activities on the third day, known as Nahan Khan (literally eating after a bath), are cleaning the puja and putting fresh tablecloths on the tables and chowkis, and dressing up the deities. The ladies of the house, who usually keep this fast, leave the men to pursue their usual occupations outside the home without the austerity. Some men, however, do keep urats.

From the first day of Chhat onwards; the food is without garlic or onions and it must be vegetarian. There is no restriction as to the number of times one can eat. Coffee and tea are allowed all through the day. This day is more in preparation for the actual days of urat.

The next day is the day of fasting and is known as Kharna. On this day, the fast is an absolute fast without water or anything to eat, not even in the early morning; hence the food and liquids taken on the day of the Nahan Khan are the ones that will sustain one right up to the evening, thus making it a 24-hour fast in its first phase. The whole day is spent in cleaning and making arrangements for the food to be cooked for the evening. The food is usually cooked away from the main kitchen, preferably in a courtyard where a chulha is made out of bricks; some cowdung is applied onto it and the surrounding area, since cowdung is supposedly very clean and pure. No one is allowed near the chulha with shoes on and no one can cook until they have bathed and worn absolutely clean clothes. The utensils used for cooking should be new; if they are not, then they are washed with gobar (cowdung) or mitti (dry mud) to make them pure. The fire lit in the chulha is of wood. A stack of wood is required to feed the fire and keep the heat even. This practice, however, is for the very orthodox, or those who live in houses with grounds or courtyards. When one lives in a flat with limited space for cooking, it is best to cook in the kitchen after cleaning the stove and the kitchen thoroughly to give a sense of cleanliness and sanctity. If you require a utensil for your kitchen, buying it during this period gives a sense of doing the right thing and gives the family something to think and talk about. The food cooked for the evening is kheer and puri. The wheat for the puri could be freshly ground from wheat bought specially for the urat; otherwise buy a new packet of wheat flour if you want to go along with conventions. In Bihar such rules still catch the imagination of the people, and as long as it does not make for tension and unpleasantness, there is no harm in treating the festival in this special manner.

In the evening the puja to Kartik Bhagwan is performed in the puja room which has duly decorated with a new chowki and flowers or kharia matti decorations on the floor. Fresh flowers and garlands decorate the deities. Lord Ganesh, the younger brother of Kartikeya, is always to be honoured first; therefore the first teeka is applied on his forehead, after which it is applied on the other gods. The youngest girl of the house applies the teeka of roli and rice to all those present- she applies it on the forehead with her thumb, elongating the teeka a little, from between the eyebrows up to the forehead, with a little rice stuck to the wet roli of the teeka. A round teeka is applied to women with the third finger of the right hand between the eyebrows without rice stuck on.

Pujan is done first with water, then with aipun and roli, and last with rice; flowers are showered on all the deities by everyone, turn by turn. Bhog (prasad) is offered to Lord Kartikeya and the other gods. The food that is to be eaten in the evening is offered as prasad (puri and kheer). A coconut and seven paans and batashas are placed in a thaal alongside a bowl of kheer and some puris and is then put back into the main food which is in the kitchen. Any special songin praise of Lord Kartikeya or a bhog song is appropriate to sing before the arti which can be a special one for Lord Kartikeya or the universal arti, 'Om Jai Jagdish Hare'. The puja is completed with the usual chants of Karpur gauram and Tumev Mata and the showering of water on the assembly with 'Chittan para neer ka, dukh gaya sharer ka' (these drops of water drive away all the illnesses of my body).The puja finishes and all those who have kept the urat gather together in a room where there is no noise and, without speaking,they serve themselves the kheer and puri either from the dishes placedin the middle, or straight from the kitchen. Bananas, water and tea can also be taken, but they must be eaten without speaking. No one should call another; even outsiders must not call anyone's name during the process of eating. If someone does call out by mistake the person whohas been called or the person who unwittingly says sometning must stop eating at once. This is a very serious matter since another fast for the next 36 hours will have to be kept to complete the ritual of Chhat. This is the only meal between the 24-hour fast and the 36-hour fast which commences at once. Tea and coffee are also allowed to be taken at this time but in continued silence.Therefore it is best to close the area and no one other than the ones observing the ritual should be allowed anywhere near. Getting up and moving around is also not allowed. It is difficult but people adhere to it with great devotion. No one with a weak constitution should undertake the fast in all its severity since the next day is even more demanding and extremely arduous, to say the least.From the morning of the third day those who are observing the fast start preparing for the evening when each one offers argh to the sun god along with the soop, a reed contraption used for cleaning lentils, wheat, rice or anything with husk or small stones mixed in it. The items is put in the soop and thrown up rhythmically, thus leaving the rubbish in the front from where it can pushed off with very little effort. Each soop must be filled with any of the following items:

(1) Alta (a red piece of paper)
(2) Coconut (dry)
(3) Sugarcane
(4) Radish (white)
(5) 1 mithai
(6) Flowers
(7) Sprouted grain
(8) Khajurees (gujias)

These are in the count of one, seven, nine or even eleven, depending on the desire of the person. A double number of soops have to be prepared because the number of soops offered in the evening to the setting sun have to be offered the next morning to the rising sun. This aajal to the sun god is done while standing in water; therefore, one has to go to the river-bank or to a tank. If there is no natural water near the town or village, a ditch is dug at an appropriate place in the house, and fresh water filled in it. People go to the water with a feeling of great devotion wearing clean or new clothes and either walking bare feet all the way or doing the Dhaud Pranam, which means lying down on the ground, face down and hands joined in prayer over the head, then getting up and again lying down at the spot where the hands were,and very slowly proceeding towards the river or tank. Many people take it upon themselves to clean the path where the devotees would proceed towards the waterfronts, and one can see people sweeping and washing roads and lanes, removing garbage from the houses on the way to the waters. Some people whose wish has been fulfilled can be seen going with full-fledged bands playing happy tunes.
The festivities become a community affair from now on. On reaching the ghat, everyone gets into the water and takes a dip or just sprinkles some water on the body before offering the argh to the setting sun, while standing in knee-deep water. Argh is offered from a lota full of water held in both hands and raised high; water is poured gently into the main stream, then, one by one, the soops are raised likewise and offered to the sun god with a prayer on the lips. Agarbatti, dhoop and floweres are thus raised and presented to the sun. Prayers are performed silently. Everyone remains in the water until the sun has set completely. Since the next morning the same ritual is to be done to the rising sun, none of the uratis can eat or drink anything until the morning prayer has been completed. People prefer to remain at the ghat, singing songs in praise of the sun god or interacting with acquaintances and generally socializing.

As soon as the sun's rays announce the rising sun in the morning, the same devotion is shown as on the previous evening, with the same amount of soops kept aside for the morning puja. The contents of the soops are the prasad for this day and everyone breaks the long fast by partaking from the soops right at the riverbank itself. The prasad is distributed to everyone, known or unknown; some, of course, is kept for the family and for distribution among relatives and neighbours. Rest becomes the order of the day. One can eat and drink now, although it becomes difficult to eat a normal meal; it takes some time for the juices of the body to start functioning normally, therefore light food is taken. People are quite sure of the effectiveness of this urat. It is a great discipline and hats off to those who abide by it - they deserve to be rewarded by the Almighty!