LUCKNOW: The four-day Chhath puja starts four days after Diwali . This year, the first day of the celebrations will begin on Sunday with the 'nahaye-khaye' ritual when devotees will take a dip in the Gomti river . Devotees prepared 'prasad' made of wheat.Authorities were busy finalizing the preparations at Gomti ghats in the city as a sea of devotees will offer 'arghya' (obeisance) to the setting sun on Tuesday.The puja is organised in the city at four main ghats of Gomti - Jhulelal ghat, Lakshman mela ghat, Kudiaghat and Mankameshwar ghat, some devotees will perform the puja at their house or nearby parks."Around 10 lakh devotees are expected to perform puja at Lakshman ghat. Due to a small area alotted to us, women observing fast will perform puja at homes or nearby parks," said Prabhunath Rai, president of Akhil Bhartiya Bhojpuri Samaj.Everything is in the final stage and ghats will be ready by Saturday night as Chhath Puja celebrations will start from Sunday," said Rai. "About 15 ghats in the city will perform Chhath rituals starting from Sunday," said LMC commissioner Indramani Tripathi. "We have been organising the puja in the city since the last 35 years. This year more than 100 folk singers and 10 Bhojpuri artists will be present as part of the celebration, including Malini Awasthi and Suresh Kushwaha."Ritual of nahaye-khaye is a symbol of purity and strict discipline, the first day of Chhath when we take a bath in the holy river and clean ourselves before preparing food. On Tuesday, main offering, 'arghya', will be given to the Sun god on the river banks," said Aarti Jha, a devotee of the puja.

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