Chhath Parva is a religious festival that worships the sun and holy rivers. It is celebrated mostly in the Terai region of Nepal and occurs after the end of a popular festival of lights of Hindus – Tihar. It is an annual festival that takes place in October or November depending upon the lunar calendar. The festival is for two days and is mainly popular in cities like Janakpur and Birjung.

The festival attracts thousands of pilgrims to the holy temple of Goddess Janaki in Janakpur. It is also quite popular in Kathmandu along with cities of the Terai region. People gather along the banks of rivers like Bagmati. The objective of the prayers and puja is to achieve spiritual and physical purity.

Devotees from here and India gather mainly at Janakpur to worship Goddess Janaki in Janakpur and take ritual baths in the sacred pond or river. People clean their houses, mainly kitchen, and prepare several offerings that include Thekuwa (wheat biscuits), Khajuri, laddu, etc. The offerings also include several types of fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Most of them perform fast which ends on the last day after worshipping the rising sun from the river. On the first day, devotees worship the setting sun, gather at the banks of the river, and make offerings to the sun and the river. Lighted oil-wick lamps and some offerings are let go in the river.

People decorate their space in the river bank with colors, lights, and flowers. It is a beautiful sight to see as everyone decorates their space, and as a whole, the entire bank looks marvelous. Even non-religious people or tourists gather at the banks to see the devotees worshipping. Several food items and goods are sold for the visitors and the bankside feels like a fare. On the next day, the same process of worshipping repeats to the rising sun, and after the puja is over, people break their fast.

The festival marks purity, goodwill, and faith and is celebrated by the majority of people in Nepal and India. Public holidays are allocated to this festival and are also a good time for the reunion of families, and relatives.