Chhath, the biggest festival of Jharkhand and Bihar will be celebrated on November 21 and 22, this year. And the preparation is in full swing in Steel City to make things smooth for the pilgrims thronging the riverbanks and manmade water bodies in scores to offer their prayers to the setting and rising sun.

Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC), the local civic body and Jusco, a Tata Teel subsidiary have begun preparing the river ghats for the Chhath festival.

All major ghats in the city including Subernarekga ghat at Sakchi, Kapali in Mango, Domuhani in Sonari, Pandey in Bhuiyandih, Bhuiyandih ghat, Sati in Sonari, Substation ghat at Kadma, Bodhanwala in Bistupur and Baroda ghat at Bagbera draw thousands of devotees during Chhath. Hence, it becomes important to clean and level the ghats for the devotees.

“Besides cleaning, the ghats will also be leveled. We have begun the work to prepare the ghats for Chhath,” said Ravi Bharti, city manager of JNAC. He added, “All river ghats will be cleansed before Diwali, November 14.”

He maintained that streetlights and halogen lights would be set up at the banks to make things convenient for the devotees.

The Subernarekha ghat at Sakchi and Bodhanwala ghat at Bistupur on both days of Chhat celebration attract the largest number of devotees to the embankments of Subernarekha and Domuhani rivers.
In Jamshedpur, Chhath would also be celebrated at the sprawling premises of the Surya Mandir at Sidhgora, which has two artificial ponds.

“We are getting ready for the festival. Prior to Chhath we will be celebrating Deepotsav during Diwali. It will be a three day celebration,” said a member of the Surya Mandir committee.