Chhath puja festivities drew to a close on Sunday morning amid joy and fervour among devotees in the city and across the state.

Devotees performed arghya as the sun rose around 5.30am before breaking the 36-hour fast.

Arghya offerings were distributed among friends, neighbours and relatives as it is believed that the prasad is beneficial for both givers and receivers.

The ghats and other venues here witnessed activities throughout the night as many stayed back for the sunrise arghya after performing similar rituals on Saturday evening. Others, all dressed up for the holy occasion, started arriving from the wee hours on Sunday.

Chanting of Vedic mantras and singing of bhajans and kirtans continued throughout the arghya ceremony at sunset on Saturday and sunrise on Sunday.

Saturday evening was also marked by cultural programmes organised on Chhath. Several noted performers from the state and outside, including Vinay Bihari, Parul Nanda, Rakesh Pandey, Manoj Pandit, Ravi Roshan, Pallavi Das and Bhojpuri singer from Assam, Kalpana Patowary, entertained the crowds that gathered at the puja venues in Fancy Bazar and Machkhowa.

Religious bonhomie was also created by the Khalsa volunteers in the city. The team put up a langar serving tea and snacks near the Sukreswar ghat.

Several worshipping families were accompanied by bands playing martial music as they proceeded to offer arghya. The devotees drank a sip of water or tea to break their fast at the puja venue before returning home to partake of food and drink. The puja venues became deserted as the morning progressed.

It was then time for clean-up activities at the ghats across the city. Workers and volunteers started cleaning up the litter at the puja venues from Uzan Bazar to Bhootnath and elsewhere in the city. Chhath organising committees deployed workers and volunteers to take down the temporary decorative structures and pandals.