 "Chhath celebrated with fervour in Jharkhand, CM offers prayers in Ranchi")
The four-day Chhath festival concluded in Jharkhand on Monday morning after the offering of 'Usha Arghya'.
A sea of humanity thronged various water bodies across the state to pay obeisance to the rising sun.
Amid playing of devotional songs and bursting of firecrackers, devotees marched towards rivers, rivulets, lakes and ponds where they performed the rituals.
Apart from common people, politicians also congregated at different water bodies to offer 'Arghya' to the Sun God.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren, along with his wife Kalpana and two sons, offered prayers at Ranchi's Hatnia pond on Sunday evening, while his predecessor Raghubar Das prayed at Suryadham in Jamshedpur.
Former chief minister Babulal Marandi also offered prayers.
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"Chhath Puja is the worship of nature god. It is a great example of dedication, faith and cleanliness. I bow my head to this great tradition.
I pray to Chhathi Maiya to bless everyone with happiness and good health," Soren said.
This year, water level in various water bodies was higher as compared to previous years. The administrations of different districts had made elaborate safety arrangements for devotees such as erecting barricades at vulnerable ponds and rivers and marking danger zones.
The Ranchi district administration had deployed teams of NDRF at Kanke Dam, Bada Talab, Button Talab and Dhuwa Dam to deal with any crisis situation.
An official in the Ranchi administration said that the festival passed off peacefully in the state capital with no untoward incident being reported.
Many devotees also performed the rituals in makeshift ponds on rooftops due to factors such as long distance to the water bodies, pollution and age.
"We observed the rituals in an artificial water tank on the rooftop, mainly due to the distance of our home from the nearest water body," said Rajendra Mahot, a resident of Ranchi.
Anil Singh, another devotee, said, "For the last three years, we have been performing the rituals in a small makeshift pond on rooftop due to increasing pollution level in ponds of Ranchi."
In Palamu's Koel River, thousands of devotees observed the rituals in the last two days.
Palamu Deputy Commissioner A Dodde said the festival passed off peacefully in the district.
"In a bid to make the festival safe and secure, we had made several arrangements, including deployment of divers in different water bodies," he said.
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