By Binu Shrestha
Kathmandu, Nov. 10: Preparations for Chhath Puja have reached the final stage on the banks of the Bagmati River at Gaurighat, Thapathali and Balkhu as well as at Kamalpokhari in Kathmandu.
The people have started observing Chhath, the festival of the Terai residents, from Monday.

The people of Kathmandu will gather at the aforementioned places on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning to greet the rising Sun with prayers.
According to Raj Kumar Poddar, president of Chhath Puja Committee of Gaurighat, it has managed space to accommodate 674 families there to celebrate the festival. However, he said more people would visit the site.

“The process of offering prayers to the setting Sun will begin at 4.00 pm on Wednesday after President Bidya Devi Bhandari inaugurates the puja process, and the process to greet the rising Sun starts from 5 am Thursday morning,” Poddar said.

The Chhath worship area along the Bagmati River has been cleaned while water flow has been changed. “We invested around Rs. 1.3 million to manage Gaurighat for Chhath festival,” he added.
The good aspect of Gaurighat is that people can perform their puja in the continuously flowing water as Bagmati High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilisation has managed to supply additional water during the puja time, he added.

He further said the committee would provide free service to the economically poor people who cannot afford to pay Rs. 1,100 charge to observe the festival.
Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has taken the responsibility of managing the festival in Kamalpokhari.
Regular devotees who have been performing Chhath Puja for many years expressed their dissatisfaction over the management of KMC.
Lalita Raut, 60-years-old woman temporarily living in Naxal and a permanent resident of Birgunj, said that devotees would be face difficulty while offering prayers to the Sun’s last and first rays due to the low water level in the pond.

The water level of pond is at 3 and a half to 4 feet, which is not enough to put the feet under the water while offering Arghas.
The KMC has not managed to increase the water level. “I am an asthma patient and my other friends and relatives are also suffering from the same problem. In such a situation, we cannot dip the full body in the pond. Without standing in water, offering prayers to the Sun is not meaningful, she said.

Rajendra Singh, president of Chhath Puja Society, said, “We had cleaned the pond before Dashain festival for Chhath taking four weeks but the KMC refused to permit the Chhath management to the society this year even though it has been doing the job for the last nine years.”
Ishwor Man Dangol, Spokesperson for the KMC, said the restoration of Kamalpokhari was underway and that since the contractor had not handed over the pond to the KMC, it couldn’t hand it over to others for the festival.
He expressed his commitment that the problem of devotees would be addressed and they could celebrate the festival without trouble.

Ranipokhari will not open for the festival this year. The National Reconstruction Authority has not handed over the pond to the KMC, said Dangol.
Chhath is celebrated with great enthusiasm mostly by Hindus living in the Terai area. The people of the Terai community living in the Kathmandu Valley observe it at Kamalpokhari and several spots along the Bagmati River.