RAS question
Chhath Puja 2025 celebrations, beginning on 25 October, honour which deity?
Correct answer: (B) Sun God Surya and Chhathi Maiya.
Chhath Puja honours the Sun God Surya and Chhathi Maiya through a four-day observance that includes fasting, ritual bathing and Arghya offerings.
Explanation
Chhath Puja 2025 is a four-day Hindu festival beginning on 25 October and dedicated to the Sun God Surya and Chhathi Maiya. The official Bihar Tourism page supports the core ritual logic: Chhath, also known as Surya Shashti, is marked by bathing, abstinence, ritual purity and a strict four-day observance. Its distinctive feature is worship of both the setting sun and the rising sun, with devotees offering Arghya at riverbanks in the evening and again before sunrise on the final day. These details explain why the answer is not a general Hindu deity, but specifically the Sun-centred worship of Surya, paired with Chhathi Maiya.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Lord Shiva is not the deity honoured in Chhath Puja, and Bihar Tourism frames Chhath around Surya Shashti and offerings to the sun.
- (C) Lord Vishnu is not linked to the four-day Chhath observance or to Bihar Tourism's description of the rituals.
- (D) Goddess Durga is associated with other festival contexts, while Chhath Puja and Bihar Tourism point to sun worship through Arghya and Surya Shashti.
Concept
This tests the festivals and cultural practices segment of the Rajasthan/RAS culture syllabus, especially the ability to match major observances with their presiding deity and ritual markers. Such questions recur because examiners often check whether candidates know the cultural meaning of a festival, not just its date.