Chhath is celebrated down south too with fervour

Shashi Bhushan
In recent years, Chhath has become an identity icon for Biharis, not only in its home territory but all across wherever Biharis live in significant numbers. It has become a unique symbol of Bihari culture distinctively exclusive in the wider spectrum of Hindu living in the subcontinent.
Even in far-away countries in the pacific like Fiji or Guyana, or nearer south in the Indian Ocean island country of Mauritius where Biharis went in late 19th century, traces of Chhath can be seen in some form being celebrated.The out-migration from Bihar that has happened in recent decades to other parts of the country has brought Chhath festival to strange neighbourhoods.
There reside a large number of Biharis down in the south, particularly Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram. But unlike in Mumbai or Ahmedabad, Bihari population is not of migrant labour, but of higher class professionals or intermediary businessmen and army personnel. Chhath celebration in southern cities, therefore, happens to be decently organized, not at all chaotic as seen in the home state.
Since big rivers like the Krishna or the Godavari are far away, Chhath is organized around lakes. Closer to Secunderabad Cantt, Hussian Sagar and Samirpet are two picturesque lake-sides where beautiful arrangements are made by Bihari Association. The only difficulty faced in south is the core material, mostly veggies grown by early winter. Since winter in south is only nominal, these materials are imported from Neelgiri areas or from the North, and therefore become cost intensive. However crafty businessmen make these things available in abundance. The best variety of banana, which is a key offering in Chhath, is produced in Guntur which is available to all Chhath locations in the south.
Usually it is described as a worship of Sun god, a recent acronym given as Ravi Shasti Vrat. But the dominant connect is to Chhathi Maiya, a female deity not known in any other part of India. Though Kartik month of Hindu calendar is distinctly defined as ‘Dev Masam’, the month dedicated to gods, and almost every day is dedicated to some god or goddess, the sixth day since the Amavasya must have some significance that Vrat Kathas of Puranic texts do not explain.
Reverend Henry Whitehead, a Christian priest and scholar of primitive religions, has extensively documented the village gods of India. He says all primitive races believed ‘The world is peopled by a multitude of spirits, good and bad, who were the cause of all unusual events, and especially of diseases and disasters. The object of their religion is to propitiate these innumerable spirits. The village deities evolved as protecting spirits, and were regarded as guardian deity. May be Chhathi Maiya too had been a guardian deity over a localized geography, perhaps in the immediate south of the Ganga in the territory of Bihar which in course of time acquired a pan-Bihari acceptance because of its miraculous healing powers. [The writer is a Hyderabad-based sociologist]