VASCO
A large number of people, especially from North India, celebrated the traditional Chhath pooja, a festival revering the Sun God, at Baina beach on Friday evening.
The pooja was celebrated with great religious fervour, as several traditionally dressed women carrying the puja thali along with the men of the house carrying fruit-laden baskets and stalks of sugarcane arriving at the beach well before sunset to offer prayers.
Though the festival is celebrated every year by the North Indian community at Baina and Bogmalo beaches, this time around, Vasco police teams were stationed at the beach to avoid overcrowding amid the pandemic.
Speaking to reporters, Rashtriya Yuva Hindu Vahini President Avinash Tiwari thanked the Vasco police for permitting women to perform the pooja.
"Usually, a large crowd arrives at the beach for the pooja as several north Indian families participate. However this year, the crowd was less due to the pandemic.”
“When many people arrived at the beach in the afternoon, they were shocked to see a huge police force deployed at the beach, who insisted that there was an order and that no permission be given to any organisation to celebrate Chhath pooja.”
“This is not a festival by an organisation but by individuals and if at all there were any orders, they should have informed us earlier through the media so that people could have been aware," said Tiwari.
"Though there were tense moments, some people spoke to Vasco police and finally, only women were allowed to perform the pooja while the men were restricted and the issue was resolved.”
Tiwari thanked Vasco police for allowing the women in turns and maintaining social distance so that the pooja could be performed to keep the tradition alive.
Tiwari said the Chhath pooja is dedicated to the Sun God and his wives, Usha and Sandhya.
"The festival is celebrated to thank them for bestowing the bounties of life on earth. This festival does not involve any idol worship but the rituals of the festival are rigorous and are observed over a period of four days.”
“They include holy bathing, fasting and abstaining from drinking water (Vrat), standing in water for long periods, offering prasad (prayer offerings) and arghya to the setting and rising sun.”
“The port town is cosmopolitan and many communities who have settled here over a period celebrate the Chhath pooja every year," Tiwari added.
