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Three people died in separate road accidents in Sunsari Thursday night. The deceased have been identified as Tej Narayan Sah (45) of Itahari-17, Geevan Raut (27) of Barahchhetra-8 and Gulab Mehata (35) of Supaul Banauli Panchayat, India. Sah died when a motorcycle (Pradesh 1-02-043 P 9087) heading towards east from west hit a cart at Pakali of Itahari-17 along the East-West highway. Bike Bikram Khadka (45) of Belbari-8, Morang was injured in the accident and he is being treated at the Biratnagar-based Neuro Hospital. Similarly, Raut, who was severely injured when an unidentified motorbike hit his bicycle along the Duahabi-Inaruwa road section in Inaruwa-5, breathed his last in the course of treatment at the District Hospital, Inaruwa. Police said that they are searching for the motorcycle. Likewise, Mehata, who was critically injured when a car (Ga 3 Cha 5576) hit a bicycle at Bhokraha Narsingh Rural Municipality-4, died while undergoing treatment at the District Hospital Inaruwa, DSP Raj Kumar Rai said. Police said that they have impounded the car and arrested its driver for investigation.

Two persons were found dead in East Nawalparasi on Thursday. Sanjay Kumalm (25) of Bulingtar Rural Municipality-6 was found dead near his house. According to Jayram Onta, Inspector at the the Area Police Office, Dedhgaun, said that they are looking into the case. Meanwhile, a nonagenarian was found drowned in the Narayani river at Gaindakot Municipality-1. The deceased has been identified as Tanknath Kandel (93) of Gaundakot-1, Inspector at the Area Police Office Gaindakot Prasthant Shrestha said.

The demand for earthen pots has been growing with the approaching Chhath festival. Along with the domestic clay pots, various articles required for the festival manufactured in India are also making in-roads in the Nepali market. The earthen pots manufactured in India are doing brisk business in the bordering towns while the domestically produced ones are selling in greater numbers in the inner markets. The sale of clay pots has seen a rise in Janakpurdham, Mahendranagar Sakhuwa, Dhalkebar, Bateshwor, Dharapani, Birendrabazar, Sabaila, the main square at Sahidnagar and Hatiya, among the main markets of Dhanusha. With the increasing demand for clay pots in the market, the potters have become busy like the bees. The demand for earthen pots is high during the cultural festivals as Chhath due to the tradition of mostly using the clay pots for various cultural rituals. It is considered auspicious to conduct the rituals using the fresh clay pots. "The sale of clay articles like lamp, dhakana, chaumukhe deep, pala, images of elephants has increased at various places and the bordering towns for the imminent Chhath festival," said Bishnu Lal Pandit, a pottery trader of Haraiya, Kshireshwornath Municipality-4. As he said, making clay pots was their main means of subsistence in the past. But these days their traditional profession has been displaced with the increasing use of plastic and metal pots. Kamal Pandit, a potter at Sakhuwa, Kshireshwornath Municipality-6, complained that their traditional profession is under threat in recent years due to the growing use of plastic and metal pots. The festival period is the only time for local potters to earn whatever income for the whole year. A set of earthen pots for the Chhath festival costs between Rs 200 to Rs 300, said Kanhaiya Pandit from Janakpurdham. A majority of the local communities whose traditional profession is pottery making are abandoning this profession as it is not profitable. So, the traditional pottery making business is under threat.

The Chhath festival fervor has gripped the Mithila region including Mahottari with the festival formally commencing from today. People's mobility has increased in and around the region ahead of the four-day grand festival where the 'Sun God' is worshiped with devotion. The devotees begin the festival from today onward by observing the 'Nahay Khay' rituals. They observed the 'Araba Arabain' in the morning today ahead of the festival which requires giving up impure food such as boiled rice, millet, lentil and meat on the third day of Kartik Shukla, the waxing moon in the month of Kartik as per the lunar calendar. There is a tradition that the fasting starts on the third day after consuming a regular meal. But this year, the day falls today due to the merging of 'tithis' as per the astrological calculations. Songs are being chanted signifying the Sun God and Chhathi Devi (Goddess) in the Mithila region. Devotees commented that they are free to celebrate the Chhath festival this time with the declines in the cases of coronavirus. The celebrations were muted in the last two years due to the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic, devotees recalled, adding now they are excited to mark the grand festival without hesitation. With the advent of the Chhath, the Mithila-based ponds and river premises having religious importance are ornately decorated. Though there is a traditional belief that devotees, irrespective of gender, can observe fasting in the Chhath, mostly women are seen observing the fast and worshiping the Sun God. Today marks the beginning of the Chhath celebrations with the devotees taking holy dip and only eating pure food items with a resolution for rigorous fasting. The festival is dedicated to the Sun God, with offerings made to the rising and setting Sun. It is observed for four days, from Kartik Shukala Chaturthi to Kartik Shukla Saptami as per the lunar calendar. It usually falls between October and November in the Gregorian calendar. The Sun, considered as the God of energy and of the life-force, is worshiped during the Chhath festival wishing for the well-being, prosperity and progress. The rituals associated with the Chhath festival include taking holy bath, fasting and worshiping the Sun for a long time and offering 'prasad' and 'argha' (curd) to the rising and setting Sun. Chhath is a festival of bathing and worshiping that follows a period of abstinence and segregation of the worshiper from the main household for four days. During this period, the worshiper observes purity and sleeps on the floor on a single blanket. The devotees offer their prayers to the setting sun, and then the rising sun in celebrating its glory as the cycle of birth starts with death. It is seen as the most glorious form of Sun worship.