Chhat Puja keeps railway station abuzz

As the Diwali festivities got over, the city railway station was teeming today with the heavy rush of passengers. While some passengers, mainly migrant workers, were on the way home to celebrate Chhat Puja — a puja performed six days after Diwali in Bihar and UP, many outsiders were returning to the city after celebrating the festival at home.

It is the busiest day of the season. Platforms were packed by the passengers throughout the day," says Rakesh Chaudhary, a bookstall owner at platform 1. "The rush will last till November 14 because many people will be participating in the Chhat Puja on November 15.

On the way home to Bihar to celebrate Chhat Puja, a group of migrants, who work in a factory in the city, said: "It is a bigger occasion than Diwali, Holi and Dussehra for us. It holds more significance for the people back home."

Most married men were returning home. An essential rite of the festival is that husbands end the fast of their wives after offering special prayers to the rising sun, explained Moti Lal, a resident of UP.