patna the fourday chhath festival began with nahaykhay on friday with thousands of devotees thronging ganga ghats here to take bath and offer prayers to the rising sun before preparing the traditional foodafter taking dip in the holy water devotees returned home with ganga water to prepare the food with the use of kaddu bottle gourd chana dal and rice some were seen preparing the prasad at the ghats itself the devotees especially women in colorful attire were seen washing the rice and lentils in groups and cooking prasad in brass utensils on earthen stoves using dry mango woodanita devi 56 a chhath vrati who was fetching water at gandhi ghat she was finally able to perform the rituals of nahaykhay at the ghat after two years devotees carry water in brass pot from ganga ghat after bathing in the river in the morning i performed surya namaskar salutation to thank the sun god and seek his blessing tomorrow is an important day when the 36hourlong fast will begin after eating kharna prasad which is cooked in holy water she saidevery ritual during the chhath festival has its own significance and it should be done in a proper manner after taking holy dip in the river vratis wear new set of clothes and apply long thick yellow sindoor vermillion from nose to head it is considered a symbol of good luck said kamini gupta 43 a resident of lohanipur who performed the rituals at patna law college ghatlaxmi pandey a resident of rajeev nagar said after eating prasad of kaddurice vratis do not eat or drink anything till kharna it is also important for us to cook prasad in traditional manner by using earthen stove brass pot and mango wood the prasad is cooked by the vratis only we perform chhath rituals in group and collect water from digha ghat this year the preparations at the ghat are really good despite the rising water level in the river she saidlike laxmi many devotees admired the efforts of the district administration in making the ghats ready for chhath puja one sneha shubh said adequate number of changing rooms has been made with drinking water and urinal facilities at the ghat the ghat looks clean and tidy she addedafter the completion of the days rituals the district officials oversaw final preparations at the ghatsmeanwhile fruit and vegetable markets in the city remained packed with the shoppers making lastminute purchases for the chhath pujathe markets were flooded with fruits like guava apple custard coconut sugar cane banana orange apple raddsih pineapple and pomelo puja items such as suthanim betel leaves chunri dhoop akshat dala daura soop and supari were also purchased by the peoplesantosh kumar a fruit seller at kankarbagh said oranges and bananas have been brought from nagpur more fruits will reach on saturday morning we have different varieties of apples ranging from rs 100 to rs 280 a kg oranges are available at rs 5080 per kg banana at rs 70