जय छठी मइया · छठ महापर्व
Friday 13 – Monday 16 NovemberHindu Heritage Centre · 6300 Mississauga Rd, Mississauga
Four sacred days of Chhath Mahaparv at our own ghat. Twenty-five thousand Thekua shaped by our own hands. Preeti Bhoj every day, with the whole family seated together. Come home to Chhath.
Our ghat · Hindu Heritage Centre
No one is a guest here. Each one of us is a host. The same hands that shape the Thekua stand in the water at sunrise.
Every Chhath, more than four thousand of us come to the Hindu Heritage Centre from Mississauga, Brampton, Toronto, Oakville, Milton, Burlington, Hamilton and London. Vratis stand in warm water under the Lord Ram statue, children carry daura, and whole families sit together for Preeti Bhoj.
None of it is bought from anyone. We plan it for weeks, make the Prasad through the night, bring soop from Bihar and share the cost among ourselves. That is what BAJCCA is: the Bihar and Jharkhand family in Canada, keeping Chhath Mahaparv as pure and as devoted as our mothers kept it, a long way from home.
What we make together
The making of 25,000 Thekua
Thekua is Chhathi Maiya's Prasad, so it is made with purity and devotion. Mothers who learned it from their mothers and children learning it for the first time sit side by side, and the kadhai does not rest until every Thekua is ready.
In the news
Newspapers back home carried the story of our Chhath: 25,000 Thekua made in a tent in Mississauga, and a ghat full of families far from the Ganga.
Register as a family member
This is our own family's Chhath. We prepare the Prasad together, we serve Preeti Bhoj to one another, and we share it among ourselves. Registering counts you in, so all of us know how many packets and plates to prepare.
Behind the four days
There is no caterer and no hired help. Every part of this sacred vrat is arranged by BAJCCA families who give their evenings, their hands and their savings. This is how we prepare, step by step.
Weeks before Nahay Khay, volunteer families meet and divide the work: the Thekua team, the kitchen, the ghat, Prasad packing, welcome and parking. Each team has its own leads, and every family that wants a role gets one.
Bamboo soop is hard to find in Canada, so we bring it from Bihar for our Vratis, along with the things a proper daura needs.
160 kg of atta, 80 kg of gur and 80 kg of sudh ghee, bought in bulk with money the family pools. Nothing is cut short to save cost.
A tent goes up beside the hall. Long tables for shaping, kadhai after kadhai of ghee, and families taking turns through the night until 25,000 Thekua are ready.
Rows of pools are set up under the Lord Ram statue and filled with hot water, one Vrati to each pool, with lights strung for the evening Arghya.
We cook for every member of the family from Nahay Khay to Usha Arghya, serve one another, and sit together on the floor of the hall.
After Usha Arghya, the Thekua is packed and shared with every registered family, so the blessing reaches homes across the GTA, including those who could not come to the ghat.
When the sun rises over Mississauga, for a moment we are all back on the ghat at home.Usha Arghya · our ghat, Mississauga
All four days, from Nahay Khay
Vratis, elders, children and families who arrived in Canada last month sit together on the floor of the hall. Register, so we prepare enough for every member of the family.
Our ghat
Hot-water pools under the Lord Ram statue, lit through the evening, so every Vrati can stand in water and offer Arghya as at home, even in a Canadian November.
This is our own family's Chhath
Some families give a night in the Thekua tent, some give money, some bring a neighbour who is new to Canada. Every one of these makes Chhath happen.
Count your family in, so we prepare enough Prasad and Bhoj for everyone.
Register now →
Shape Thekua, serve Bhoj, help at the ghat or welcome families at the gate.
Register for Seva →A donation is your opportunity to be part of every Thekua and every plate.
Donate →
A student, a new family in your building, a friend from work. Chhath is better shared.
Register them →
Timings, Prasad pickup, volunteer calls and every BAJCCA event of the year.
Join the group →
Donate · your share in the seva
We prepare the Prasad together, we distribute it together, and we carry the cost together, as one family. Nothing at Chhath is sold. No one who comes to the ghat is a guest; each one of us is a host. A donation is your opportunity to be part of every Thekua shaped and every plate served.
As per the Toronto Panchang
Chhath rituals are completed only at the correct time, so please plan to arrive early, dressed warmly.
Prasadam & Preeti Bhoj from 6:30 PM
Prasadam & Preeti Bhoj from 6:30 PM
Prasadam & Preeti Bhoj from 6:30 PM
Prasadam, Preeti Bhoj & Thekua Prasad afterwards
Questions, answered with stories
The questions we hear every year at the gate, in the tent and on WhatsApp, and the stories behind the answers.
Because every family should take Prasad home, including the ones who could not come to the ghat. The number grew year by year as more families joined, and now it takes 160 kg of atta and a full night in the tent.
We do, together, as one family. We shape the Thekua, cook the Bhoj, serve one another and donate for the ghee, gur, atta, soop and pools. Donation is simply another way to take part. Nobody is charged, and nobody is a guest.
November evenings and mornings in Mississauga are cold. A Vrati should not have to choose between the cold and the ritual, so we fill each pool with hot water, one Vrati to each pool.
From Bihar. Bamboo soop is part of Chhath and hard to find in Canada, so the family brings real soop from Bihar for our Vratis.
A meal of love, shared as Prasad by the whole family on all four days. We sit on the floor of the hall, the way we did at weddings and pujas back home, and nobody asks who you are.
Please do. Many of us remember our first Chhath in Canada, and how much it meant to find a ghat, a Thekua and a familiar song. Bring friends from any background; everyone is welcome.
Register for Prasad on this page. Packets are shared after Usha Arghya on Monday 16 November, and pickup timings are posted in the WhatsApp group.
Register for Seva on this page and choose your team: Thekua making, Prasad packing, Preeti Bhoj kitchen, the ghat or welcome. The Thekua tent always needs more hands, and the stories told there are the best part of Chhath.
Dress warmly in layers for the evening and the 7:18 AM sunrise. Vratis bring their daura; everyone else just brings their family. Hot tea helps.
Yes. Families and businesses sponsor a day of Preeti Bhoj, the ghee for Thekua or the ghat. Write to [email protected] or ask in the WhatsApp group.
The Bihar and Jharkhand Canadian Cultural Association: families from Bihar and Jharkhand living in the GTA, run entirely by volunteers. Chhath Mahaparv is the most sacred time of our year, and through the year we also come together for Holi, picnics and more.
Every photo on this page is kept at full resolution in the BAJCCA photo archive. Tap any photo to see it full size, and ask in the WhatsApp group for your family's photos.
Bihar & Jharkhand Family
Chhath timings, Prasad pickup, volunteer calls, Holi, picnics and every BAJCCA gathering through the year. Scan the code with your phone camera, or tap the button.