Top Six Ways How We Use the Sun in Our Daily Lives
Chhath Puja, or praying on the sixth day, is a Hindu festival celebrated in India since many years. The festival is more popularly celebrated in eastern to south-eastern India especially in Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh. It is also popularly celebrated in Nepal in recent times. The Chhath puja prayers are all dedicated to the Sun God, Surya.
The essence of the Chhath puja is to express gratitude and thankfulness to the sun for bestowing all the so many bounties of life on planet earth. It is therefore believed that any wish that one makes during the celebration of the Chhath puja is granted by the Sun God. The festival is an overall and focused celebration of all that we receive from the Sun, and it is really a Solar Festival! In recent times, the importance of the Sun has been even more in focus, with India spearheading the International Solar Alliance.
We bring you top six ways how we use the sun in our daily lives, for you to appreciate the sun even more during the Chhath Solar Festival.
1. Drying clothes, or drying anything under the sun
This one’s the most simple and basic. All of us use the sun on a daily basis to dry our clothes. Imagine if this service of the sun is no longer available! Clothes is only one of the many things that are dried under the sun. The tasty aam paapad or mango pickle that you last ate was most likely dried in the sun before it became a delicacy.
2. Solar Photovoltaic
Solar panels are found everywhere these days, and there are some around you most likely. Solar panels are also being promoted by the Government of India and there is some percentage of solar energy in your daily consumption of electricity. Solar Photovoltaic or Solar PV is the technology of using solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity. If you see a solar panel, don’t be surprised to find that they all point in the southern direction, which is the best way to capture maximum sunlight in the northern hemisphere.
3. Fossil Fuels
We knew you will not be convinced that you are using Solar PV – electricity in your daily life. So, it is not just Solar PV electricity but any electricity that you are using comes directly from the sun. This includes fossil fuel such as coal and petroleum, which are essentially solar energy captured by plants and animals millions of years ago, and stored deep in the earth’s crust. And if you are still worried you do not benefit from Solar PV, here’s where you can buy a solar panel based light and mobile charger for your home.
4. Vitamin D
You obtain most of your Vitamin D from sunlight exposure. Vitamin D helps regulate the balance of calcium and phosphate in the body. Vitamin D is essential for keeping bones, teeth and muscles healthy. Its deficiency leads to bone deformities in children and adults. While there is debate on what is the best time to soak yourself in the sun to obtain Vitamin D, it is certainly something that is required to be done.
5. All the food that you eat
We knew it will not be easy for you to believe that most of your Vitamin D comes from soaking yourself in the sun. It is not just Vitamin D, but each and every food item that you consume that comes directly from the sun. Sunlight is the essential component for green plants who carry out photosynthesis and convert sunlight into organic matter or food that you eat. Your breakfast, lunch, dinner and even that evening snack comes from the sun who needs to be thanked!
6. All the water that you drink
Water is a basic human requirement and life cannot thrive without daily consumption of water. By now it should come as no surprise to you that all the water that you consume is made available only because of the sun. The sun is responsible for powering the hydrological cycle through evaporation of surface water bodies. It is this circulation of water in the biosphere which takes away the waste water water you generated and keeps sending you clean water to drink.
BONUS benefit:
Surya Namaskar not only is your daily prayer offering, it also keep you healthy and disciplined.
Sun is the ultimate source of all energy, all power and all mighty! Praying to the sun is thus praying for human welfare and prosperity!
