At the banks of Dindoli's Chhath Sarovar in Surat, thousands of devotees gathered for one of Gujarat's most spirited Chhath Puja celebrations — and Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Paatil was there among them, offering blessings to fasting devotees, organisers, and pilgrims at the festival's auspicious entry into its latest edition.

Paatil shared a glimpse of his participation on X, writing in Hindi: 'Chhath Sarovar mein mangal pravesh kar rahe Chhath Puja Mahotsav mein upasthit hokar sabhi vratiyon, aayojakon evam shraddhaluon ko mangalkamnaen pradan ki' — ('Attended the Chhath Puja festival making its auspicious entry at Chhath Sarovar, and extended my best wishes to all the fasting devotees, organisers, and believers'). The post was accompanied by a video capturing the occasion.

Chhath in Gujarat: How Surat Became a Festival Heartland

Chhath Puja is traditionally the heartland festival of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — a multi-day observance of austere fasting, ritual bathing, and offerings to the Sun God and Chhathi Maiya at rivers and water bodies at dawn and dusk. But migration has carried it far beyond its eastern-state origins. Surat, home to one of India's largest concentrations of migrant workers from Bihar and eastern UP — many employed in its diamond-polishing and textile industries — has organically grown into a thriving Chhath destination.

The Dindoli neighbourhood's dedicated Chhath Sarovar stands as a testament to that transplanted devotion: a purpose-designated water body that hosts one of the city's most prominent annual celebrations. Festivals like this one have become civic landmarks in Surat, drawing participants not just from the migrant community but from the broader city.

A Senior BJP Figure in a Festival Crowd

Paatil is no stranger to the pulse of Surat. As former Gujarat BJP state president and a veteran of Surat's political landscape, his presence at community celebrations carries both cultural and political resonance. Indian ministers regularly attend regional religious festivals as part of public engagement — but for a Cabinet minister to show up at a Chhath event in Gujarat underlines how mainstream the festival has become in the state's social calendar.

The gesture lands at a moment when Chhath Puja observances across non-traditional states have drawn growing official attention — from dedicated ghats to civic infrastructure at water bodies. Whether Dindoli's Sarovar sees any infrastructure attention from the Jal Shakti ministry's agenda remains to be tracked.