Celebrating 'chhath puja' the e-way!

Jamshedpur: 'Chhath puja', the largest festival of Bihar, has now taken an e-turn with many devouts from across the country availing the 'prashad' from a website.

Comprising 'thekuas', apples and 'kaju barfi' the 'chhath prashad' would be delivered at homes through online orders from www.bhojpuria.com, a premier portal for Bhojpuri-speaking populace of the country.

Besides, e-greetings are also being delivered.

"Hundreds of persons from across the country have already booked their 'prashad' with us," said Sudhir Kumar, director of the website.

They claim to have distributed 'prashad' through couriers to over a 1000 devotees last year.

"The basic purpose of this initiative is to give a platform to celebrate the festival for those living away. This will help us retain our culture and heritage and pass it on to the next generation," he said.

Celebrated with deep religious fervour across Bihar, Jharkhand, parts of Uttar Pradesh and among Bihari migrants from all over the country, the four-day 'chhath' began on Wednesday evening.

The portal is also publishing customs, photographs and blogs relating to the festival on its associate website www.jaibhojpuri.com.

Apart from students of IIMs, IITs and XLRI, NRIs from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are also showing interest in celebrating the festival online, Kumar said.