CM Bhagwant Mann extends Chhath Puja wishes, hails Punjab's unity
Synopsis
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann marked Chhath Puja 2026 with greetings in Punjabi to devotees worldwide, highlighting the state's tradition of celebrating every festival with brotherhood and goodwill.
Key Takeaways
Bhagwant Mann posted Chhath Puja greetings on 15 November 2026 , wishing communities in India and abroad.
He described Chhath Puja as a sacred festival of Sun God worship and gratitude to nature.
Mann called Punjab the 'land of Gurus and Peers' where every festival is celebrated with mutual brotherhood.
His prayer called for the festival to bring happiness, peace, and prosperity to all.
The message reflects Indian leaders' established practice of using festival greetings to underscore secular and communal-harmony values.
On the occasion of Chhath Puja 2026, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann extended heartfelt greetings to devotees across India and abroad, calling the festival a sacred celebration of Sun God worship and gratitude to nature. The message, posted on Sunday, 15 November 2026, wove together the spirit of the festival and Punjab's enduring tradition of communal harmony.
Writing in Punjabi, Mann offered hardik shubhkamnawan (heartfelt good wishes) to all communities observing the festival, saying: 'Punjab is the land of Gurus and Peers, where every festival is celebrated with mutual brotherhood and goodwill.' He concluded with a prayer that the festival bring sukh, shanti te khushali — happiness, peace, and prosperity — to everyone's life.
Chhath Puja and its reach beyond Bihar and UP
Chhath Puja is one of the most rigorous and spiritually significant festivals in the Hindu calendar, observed primarily by communities with roots in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It involves a four-day ritual of fasting, standing in water at sunrise and sunset, and offering prayers to Surya Dev — the Sun God — and to Chhathi Maiya. As millions from these states have migrated to cities and states across India, the festival's footprint has grown well beyond its traditional heartland.
Punjab's secular identity and the annual festival cycle
Mann's message fits a deliberate public posture that Punjab governments have long maintained: that the state's identity as the dharti of Gurus and Peers makes it a natural home for every community's celebrations, whether Hindu, Sikh, or others. Indian state leaders routinely issue festival greetings to reinforce social cohesion, but Mann's framing — invoking brotherhood alongside a specifically Bihari-UP diaspora festival — signals an inclusive outreach that cuts across regional and community lines.
The gesture also carries a quiet political dimension: Punjab's large migrant worker population from eastern India is both a civic constituency and a cultural presence that leaders across parties have sought to acknowledge in recent years.
As the sun dips toward its winter arc and devotees across the country carry their soop and offerings to riverbanks, Mann's words land as a reminder that festivals of gratitude travel far beyond the borders where they were born — and that in Punjab, the welcome mat has long been out.
Point of View
But the framing matters as much as the gesture. By anchoring his Chhath Puja message in Punjab's Guru-Peer identity, Mann aligns a festival rooted in Bihar-UP traditions with his state's own pluralist self-image — a soft but deliberate move in a state with a significant eastern-Indian migrant labour presence. For the AAP, which governs both Punjab and has roots in Delhi's Purvanchali-heavy electorate, such messaging reinforces a pan-India, community-bridging identity. It costs little and signals much.
NationPress
15 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Bhagwant Mann say about Chhath Puja 2026?
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann extended heartfelt greetings to all Chhath Puja devotees in India and abroad on 15 November 2026, calling it a sacred festival of Sun God worship and praying it brings happiness, peace, and prosperity to everyone.
What is Chhath Puja and who celebrates it?
Chhath Puja is a four-day Hindu festival dedicated to worshipping the Sun God and Chhathi Maiya. It is primarily observed by communities from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and their diaspora across India and the world.
Why did Bhagwant Mann mention Punjab as the land of Gurus and Peers?
Mann used the phrase to highlight Punjab's long tradition of inter-community harmony, emphasising that the state celebrates every festival — whether Sikh, Hindu, or others — with brotherhood and goodwill.
Is Chhath Puja celebrated in Punjab?
While Chhath Puja is not traditionally a Punjabi festival, it is observed by migrant communities from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh living in Punjab, and CM Mann's message acknowledged devotees across the state and globally.
Which party does Bhagwant Mann belong to?
Bhagwant Mann is a leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and has served as the Chief Minister of Punjab since March 2022.
