JANAKPURDHAM, Nov. 20 -- The festival of purity, goodwill and faith, Chhath is being observed with high regard and much fanfare on Friday.

Chhath is a festival mainly dedicated to the Sun God. It is a cultural and religious festival that indicates human civilization and an occasion for expressing gratitude to nature.

The sun is especially worshiped amidst various rituals and by making different kinds of offerings. The main rituals of the festival, observed in succession in a period of four days, include the arba-arbain, kharana, offering argha to the setting sun and offering argha to the rising sun. The arba-arbain ritual is observed on the first day (Chaturthi) was on Wednesday this year. This ritual is also called nahaya-khaya.

The d...