At the sacred riverbank in Khatima, Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami stood among hundreds of chhath vratis (fasting devotees) on Sunday, 15 November 2026, offering arghya — a ritual water offering — to the Sun God and joining a celebration that cuts to the heart of Uttarakhand's migrant identity.

Dhami attended the Chhath Mahaparv organised by the Purvanchal Seva Samiti in Khatima, where he also formally inaugurated the beautification work at the local Chhath Puja ghat. He performed the traditional rituals with full observance — 'vidhi-vidhan se pooja-archana' — and personally met and greeted the fasting devotees and assembled worshippers, extending his heartfelt wishes for the festival.

Purvanchal at the Heart of Udham Singh Nagar

Udham Singh Nagar is one of Uttarakhand's most demographically distinct districts, home to a large and established migrant community that traces its roots to Bihar and the eastern stretches of Uttar Pradesh — the Purvanchal belt. The Purvanchal Seva Samiti, which organised the event, exists precisely to serve and celebrate this community, keeping its traditions alive hundreds of kilometres from their origin.

Chhath Puja — dedicated to Suryadev, the Sun God — is among the most demanding of Hindu festivals, requiring multi-day fasting, riverbank vigils at dusk and dawn, and strict ritual purity. That the state's Chief Minister chose to perform the rituals alongside devotees rather than merely preside over the event carries a pointed signal of solidarity.

Ghat Beautification as Infrastructure of Faith

The inauguration of the Chhath Puja ghat beautification project in Khatima is consistent with a broader pattern of local infrastructure being directed at religious-cultural sites in districts reshaped by migration. Well-maintained, accessible ghats are not ceremonial extras — for a festival where devotees stand in water at dawn offering prayers, they are basic safety and dignity infrastructure.

Uttarakhand's Chief Ministers have made outreach to Purvanchal communities at Chhath time something of a tradition, recognising that these communities form a significant part of the state's social fabric, especially in the Terai districts. Dhami's personal participation — right down to performing the water offering — fits squarely within that arc, while the ghat project gives the visit a tangible, lasting deliverable beyond the ceremonial.

When a Chief Minister takes off his shoes at the ghat edge and cups river water toward the sun alongside ordinary fasting devotees, the politics dissolve into the ritual — and Khatima's Purvanchal community gets both a refurbished ghat and an unmistakable acknowledgement that their festival belongs to Uttarakhand's public life.