The Chhat festival is largely celebrated in Bihar, in eastern India, where women pay tributes to the sun god in thanksgiving for the bounty of nature. This time the festival gave a stellar example of religious harmony in Bihar. In Bhagalpur city, a Muslim family built a small water pool for Chhat in the courtyard of their house, where more than 50 Hindu women devotees paid their "arghya" (water tribute) to Lord Bhaskar, the sun deity.

 The government had appealed to the people to celebrate Chhath Parv at home instead of going to public water bodies where women stand in the water and pray to the sun. Due to shortage of reservoirs and lack of water bodies in many areas, many devotees had difficulty carrying out the customary water tribute to the rising sun to break their fast.

Realising these difficulties, Muzaffar Ahmad set an example of social goodwill by constructing a water pool in the courtyard of his house for the benefit of devotees in his neighbourhood.

Ahmad told IANS, "Chhat is a festival of social harmony, so I built the water pool. My thinking was not to disturb those keeping a fast even in the pandemic. I am happy that my hard work was of some use to the devout keeping a fast during the festival."

The women who arrived at Ahmad's house said that there was a ban on converging at the ghats this time as per the guidelines of Covid-19. This is when Muzaffar Ahmad came to their aid.

Sadhana Devi, a local resident, said there was no reservoir in the congested neighbourhood. "We had difficulty in going to the Ganga ghat due to corona. We are grateful to Ahmad Saheb to resolve our issues."

During the Chhat festival, the boundaries of caste and religion fade into the background. "The people of every religion have equal faith in the Chhat festival. In Bihar and Jharkhand, many Muslim families have been participating in Chhat festivals for years together. Deeds like these send out a great message of social harmony and unity," said Ahmad.
(IANS)