With offering to sun and breaking of fast, "Chhath" formally ends in Nepal

Kathmandu [Nepal], Nov 3 (ANI): Bamboo woven traditional basket "Dhakri" full of fruits and delicacies were kept prepared beside ponds and other water sources on the occasion of "Chhath".
People faced the setting sun on Saturday evening and the rising sun on Sunday morning and offered baskets, marking the end of the four-day festival of Chhath.
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari too performed rituals during Chhathpuja in Kathmandu on Sunday.
Earlier on Sunday, the devotees offered these to setting sun and stayed awake whole night near the water bodies singing hymns glorifying "Chatthi Maiya".
Chhath, the festival of benediction to Lord "Surya" - the sun, starts from the day of Karthik Shukla Chathurthi and ends on Shukla Saptami, according to the lunar calendar.
"Thekuwa", "Khajuri" and "Kasar" along with varieties of fruits, flowers and dry fruits are there in the basket popularly known as "Dhakri".
"The first day is 'Nuwa Khane' when we take a bath and eat sacred foods without onion and garlic. On the second day, we eat roti and rice-pudding. The third day is ghat and we don't eat anything...performing puja," Reena Rauniyar, one of the devotees who came to Kamal Pokhari in Nepali capital Kathmandu told ANI.
The festival concluded on Sunday with the offering of delicacies to the rising sun. Arrangements were made for the devotees residing in Kathmandu who celebrate Chhath.
Gaurighat, Kamal Pokhari, Bagmati River are major place in Kathmandu where devotees gathered to celebrate Chhath.
Devotees especially take the fast and worship sun for long lives and well being of their family members, also that their wishes come true.
"Chhatthi Maiya is very gracious; whatever we wish for would come true by her grace. Whatever we wish for and pray for it, she will grant it," another devotee Sabitri Rauniyar said.
Chhath, which was especially celebrated by elders or people from southern regions of Nepal in past now have been able to drag the attention of the people from other regions and communities.
The festival marked in the Southern Plains of Nepal especially in the Mithilanchal, the ancestral state of Goddess Sita has lately attracted the people from the hills.
The trend of celebrating the festival of Chhath is believed to have started in the Hilly regions of Nepal after the political change of 1990 when the democracy got restored in the Himalayan Nation. (ANI)