Pune: Fifteen-year-old Janhavi Kumar received instant fame after she uploaded two Bhojpuri songs on YouTube coinciding with the Chhath Puja. A student of St Helena’s School Janhavi interestingly has no background in Bhojpuri language. She said, “My father had shown me a Bhojpuri song of Kalpana Patori and I got interested in the music. So I decided to try my hand at it.”

Janhavi has been learning music since she became five years old and plays a number of instruments like harmonium, guitar and piano. Her idols are Lata Mangeshkar and Shreya Ghoshal. She aspires to become an IAS officer. Her song based on Chhath Puja has crossed the 1,000-viewer mark and are increasing by each passing minute. 

“Chhath Puja has always been very refreshing for me and fills me with energy and enthusiasm. The most prominent thing about it is that anyone can perform the puja, be it of any caste, creed or race. That’s the beauty of it,” said Janhavi. 

Chhath Puja includes many rituals which are to be followed like fasting, including abstinence from drinking water; holy bathing, offering prayers to the rising and setting Sun and others.