Chhath Puja ifinds its origin in the local traditions of Bihar where people worship the setting and rising sun gathering together on a riverside or banks of a pond or pool. The worship requires bamboo soops and baskets made by skilled local craftsmen, seasonal fruits and vegetables and home made sweets made of flour, jaggery and oil or ghee. The puja does not require services of Acharya or Purohit and no ritual or kamrakanda is performed in Chhath pooja. The festival extends to four days during the period the devotee has to observe simple life and a complete fasting of 36 hours.  The festival is based on egalatarian ethos  as all rich and poor celebrate the festival with utmost simplicity  and in a similar way. The Chhath festival arouses the sense ofcommunity feeling. The whole community becomes involved in  making preparation for this great festival. People participate in cleanliness drive of their vicinity,  river or pond sites and connecting roads. 

The festival also gives cultural message of equality and love. In paying obeisance first to the setting Sun and then to rising Sun ,the festival preaches the most sensible  approach towards humanity. The festival gives us strong message of preserving the close relationship with nature. It also teaches us that pleasure of festivity lies in simplicity, cleanliness, cooperation, community life and humane approach towards life. The festival also teaches us to get attached with our roots and social context. The festival gives a boost to local craftsmen and farmers whose produce are only used in celebrating the festval.

The Chhath festival has no religious significance. Although it is popular among Bihari Hindus but people across religious affiliations cooperate their neighbous in sundry ways. The festival is also popular in adjoining states of Bihar like Jharkhand,  UP, West Bengal etc. Now a days the festival has received global attention and is celebrated across the globe by Indians or the people of Indian origin.  The festival is a great age old practice of paying obeisance to the Sun, the source of life on this earth.

The  Bihar finds its great identity across the globe in CHhath festival and give loud and clear message of an ideal civic society. But unfortunately Bihar has forgotten the message it is trying to disseminate through Chhath Puja. I wish that the people of Bihar follow the message of Chhath with strong conviction.