Hyderabad Gears Up For Eco-friendly Chhath Puja
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has designated 42 lakes and water bodies across the city as official Chhath Puja venues, including Baby Pond near Necklace Road, Bathukamma Ghat at Hussainsagar and Saroornagar Lake.
Hyderabad: Hyderabad is gearing up for Chhath Puja, the revered four-day festival dedicated to the Sun God, to be celebrated from October 25 to 28. Thousands of devotees, mainly from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, who have made the city their home, will gather to observe the traditional rituals with devotion and discipline.
Raju Ojha, chairman of the Bihar Samaj Seva Sangh, expressed gratitude to the state administration for its proactive measures. “We thank Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and the Telangana government for making excellent arrangements to ensure that the festival is conducted safely and smoothly,” he said.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has designated 42 lakes and water bodies across the city as official Chhath Puja venues, including Baby Pond near Necklace Road, Bathukamma Ghat at Hussainsagar and Saroornagar Lake. Indira Roy, president of the Brahmarshi Seva Samaj, said, “Hyderabad is proud of its inclusive culture. The government recognises the spiritual and emotional importance of Chhath Puja to thousands of families, and GHMC has ensured all necessary civic facilities to support this sacred tradition.”
Each site has been cleaned and equipped with proper lighting, mobile toilets, drinking water stations, medical aid, police deployment, volunteer support for crowd management, changing rooms and barricades near ritual points. The Telangana state disaster response and fire services department has also been roped in to provide rescue boats and ensure safety during the water rituals.
Chhath Puja is celebrated as a tribute to the Sun God and symbolises gratitude to nature, purity and harmony with the environment. Dr Dev Kumar Pukhraj, a member of the Bihari community in Hyderabad, noted, “This festival promotes environmental awareness. It is entirely eco-friendly—using no plastic—and emphasises cleanliness, with offerings prepared at home.” The observance includes fasting, prayers and offerings to the setting and rising sun (arghya), performed by devotees and their families without priests, reflecting simplicity and spiritual discipline.
Bihari Samaj leader Raghuveer Roy highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently announced efforts to include Chhath Puja—also known as Chhath Mahaparva—in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. He said the Prime Minister, through his Mann Ki Baat radio address, had underscored the festival’s global spiritual and cultural significance. “The grand celebration of Chhath in Hyderabad reflects the city’s vibrant cultural diversity and its spirit of unity in devotion,” Roy added.