Mahottari: The vibrant celebrations of the Chhath festival have begun, enveloping the Mithila region in fervor and devotion as people prepare for the grand four-day festival dedicated to worshiping the 'Sun God.' The festivities commence today with the ritual of 'Nahay Khay.'

Devotees have embraced the 'Araba Arabain' tradition on Thursday, refraining from consuming impure foods like boiled rice, millet, lentils, and meat on the third day of Kartik Shukla. According to tradition, fasting begins on the third day after having a regular meal. Songs resonating the praise of the Sun God and Chhathi Devi (Goddess) echo across the Mithila region.

As the Chhath festival unfolds, ponds and river premises in Mithila, significant for their religious importance, are adorned like brides. While both genders can observe the Chhath fast, it is predominantly women who are seen devoutly fasting and worshiping the Sun God.

On this initiation day of Chhath celebrations, devotees take a holy dip and consume only pure food items, making a resolution for rigorous fasting. This phase, known as 'Nahay Khay,' has heightened the hustle and bustle in marketplaces and public areas.

Across the Mithila region, devotees are immersed in procuring materials for the Chhath celebrations, emphasizing the festival's role as a common cultural symbol in Tarai/Madhes. The Chhath festival venerates the Sun God, with offerings made during both the rising and setting sun.

Observed for four days, from Kartik Shukla Chaturthi to Kartik Shukla Saptami, following the lunar calendar, the festival concludes on the upcoming Monday with the rising sun. The Chhath ritual involves holy bathing, fasting, extended worship of the Sun, and offering prasad and argha (curd) to the 'Rising and Setting Sun.'

Chhath is a festival that encompasses bathing and worship, preceded by a period of abstinence and the worshiper's segregation from the main household for four days. During this time, the worshiper adheres to a state of purity, sleeping on the floor with a single blanket.

The culmination of the Chhath festival involves offering prayers to the setting sun and, subsequently, the rising sun, symbolizing the cycle of birth commencing with death. This festival is revered as the most glorious form of Sun worship.