Chhath puja in Ahmedabad reflects class divide

As the festival that marks the celebration of the new harvest with offerings given to Sun include fruits, sugarcane stalks and food preparation made with fresh harvest, the devotees including small children, women and men reached for sundown prayers holding baskets of offerings on their heads.

At the Indira Bridge bank of the Sabarmati river, barely two kilometres away from Meghaninagar, where BJP national president Amit Shah was the chief guest, luxury cars, even Porches, and beaconed official vehicles drove in to drop ministers, bureaucrats and police officers at the riverfront that began with a cultural show by singers from Bihar. Separate enclosures were readied for officers to worship, mostly of whom were accompanied by their respective security staff. Shah is a Z plus protectee.

At Meghaninagar, an autorickshaw driver Lal Bahadur Yadav from Saharsa in Bihar said, “Those who could not get train tickets stay back here for this auspicious Chhath puja. There are nearly 25-30 families from my Saharsa district in Bihar who are living together in Ahmedabad, some for more than last 20 years. They earn their bread by driving auto rickshaws. Initially, one of us came and slowly called their relatives, friends and neighbours to Ahmedabad,” he says.

Jaikumar Yadav (25) from a small village bordering Nepal is a cook at the Law Garden’s elite Gymkhana club which has IAS and IPS as members, and has been in Ahmedabad for last ten years. “First my brother, who is also a cook came to Ahmedabad and then called me too. All members of my family except my wife and children are staying with us here,” he said as he offered prayers at the river bank amidst dirt and filth floating in the water.

A family of 25 members from Darbhanga district in Bihar took up their own corner at the bank. “We have been coming here for puja since so many years. We know about the arrangements at the other banks but we prefer this side,’ said Priyaranjan Jha (35), a housewife living in Ahmedabad for last 17 years.

Mahachandra Jha (48) originally from Madhubani district came to Ahmedabad when he was barely 15 years old and works in a hosiery factory. “If we could earn this much in Bihar then why would be here, far away from our homes,” he says.

At the Indira Bridge venue hosted by the umbrella organsation Chhath Mahaparva Aayojan Samiti, the ceremony which was called “Chhath Mahaparva and celebration of Gujarati new year”, was far more organised and manicured. “This year, it is well organised and in a very planned manner,” said IFS officer A K Verma, member secretary, Gujarat Ecology Commission who was accompanied by his family for the prayers. Other guests who reached this side were Joint Commissioner of Police (DCB) A K Sharma who also heads the Bihar Gujarat Maitri Sangathan (BIGMAS).

Chhath Mahaparv Sarvajanik Trust, Meghaninagar has been organising Chhath puja at this river bank for last 35 years. “It is the same samaj (community). Earlier, we performed puja at the same venue but slowly this divide emerged where the upper class shifted to the Indira Bridge venue where it the prayers are performed for last 5-6 years only. 80 per cent of the people who go there were among us only,” said president of the Chhath Mahaparv Sarvajanik Trust Rajendra Jha.

On Wednesday, the devotees prayed at the Sabarmati riverbank during the sunset and conclude the prayers with the sunrise on Thursday. The organisers, Chhath Mahaparv Aayojan Samiti said that most of the devotees stay back at the banks for the morning prayers.