Several hundreds of North Indian migrant settlers from across Western districts converged on Cauvery River bank in Erode on Sunday and Monday to celebrate ‘Chhath’ festival with fervour.
The festival that is being celebrated since 2000 in Erode assumed grand proportions over the last few years. This time around, there were over 1,500 people from Coimbatore, Erode, Tirupur and Salem taking part in the ancient ritual of standing in water for prolonged durations to propitiate Sun God in reverence for bestowing bounties on earth and providing the energy to sustain life, ‘Chhath’ committee member Surendra Chaudhary said.
Roti and 'sabji' were prepared and given as ‘prasadam’ for all the people who worshipped Sun at the time of setting on Sunday evening and rise on Monday morning, Mukesh, who was involved in organising the event, said.
The crowd of visitors praying to Sun God for well-being, prosperity and progress of the entire humanity represented all echelons of society, right from labourers to those in business and white-collared occupations, Mr. Mukesh said.
Most of the participants had observed rigorous rituals over the last four days encompassing holy bathing, fasting, abstaining from drinking water, and standing in water for lengthy durations.
