Chhath Puja 2026: Dates, Arghya Time & Samagri List

Chhath Puja 2026 is observed over four days, from Friday, 13 November to Monday, 16 November. The evening arghya to the setting sun is on Sunday, 15 November, and the morning arghya to the rising sun is on Monday, 16 November.

• Day 1, Nahay Khay: Friday, 13 November
• Day 2, Kharna: Saturday, 14 November
• Day 3, Sandhya Arghya: Sunday, 15 November, at sunset
• Day 4, Usha Arghya and parana: Monday, 16 November, at sunrise

Sunset on 15 November, for Sandhya Arghya:

• Patna: 5:00 pm
• New Delhi: 5:27 pm
• Mumbai: 6:00 pm

Sunrise on 16 November, for Usha Arghya:

• Patna: 6:07 am
• New Delhi: 6:44 am
• Mumbai: 6:46 am

Kartik Shukla Shashthi, the tithi of Chhath, runs from 11:25 pm on 14 November to 2:01 am on 16 November. Sunrise and sunset change by location, so check the time for your own ghat in a local panchang or our daily panchang, and reach the ghat early.

Chhath is the worship of Surya, the Sun, and of Chhathi Maiya, revered as the goddess who protects children and the family. It is celebrated with deep devotion in Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh, and by families from these regions across India and abroad. Chhath comes about a week after Diwali, on the Shashthi (sixth day) of Kartik Shukla Paksha.

What makes Chhath unusual is that there is no idol and often no priest. The vrati, the person keeping the vrat (most often a woman, though many men keep it too), stands in water and offers arghya directly to the setting and the rising sun. The prasad is made at home with great care for purity, and the whole family and neighbourhood join in cleaning the ghat, carrying the baskets and singing the traditional Chhath songs.

Families keep the vrat to give thanks and to pray for the health and long life of their children and the wellbeing of the household. Many take a mannat, a vow, and keep Chhath for a set number of years.

Day 1, Nahay Khay (13 November): the house is cleaned, and the vrati bathes, ideally in a river or pond, or at home. A single satvik meal is eaten, traditionally rice, chana dal and lauki (bottle gourd), cooked without onion or garlic.

Day 2, Kharna (14 November): the vrati fasts through the day. In the evening, kheer made with jaggery and rice, along with roti, is cooked, often on a clay stove with mango wood. It is offered first and then eaten by the vrati as the only meal. After Kharna the nirjala fast begins, traditionally lasting about 36 hours, until the morning arghya.

Day 3, Sandhya Arghya (15 November): the family prepares thekua and the other prasad through the day and arranges it in bamboo soop and daura. In the late afternoon everyone walks to the ghat. As the sun sets, the vrati stands in water and offers arghya with water and milk, holding the soop filled with prasad. In some families the night is spent in kosi, where lamps are lit under a canopy of sugarcane at home or at the ghat.

Day 4, Usha Arghya (16 November): the family returns to the ghat before dawn. The vrati offers arghya to the rising sun and prays, then breaks the fast (parana) with prasad and water, and shares the prasad with everyone.

• Bamboo soop (winnowing trays) and daura (baskets), one set for each vrati
• Thekua made with wheat flour, jaggery and ghee, and rice-flour laddoo (kasar)
• Sugarcane stalks with their leaves
• Coconut, preferably with water inside
• A bunch of bananas
• Seasonal fruits such as sweet lime, singhara (water chestnut) and other local fruits
• Fresh turmeric and ginger plants with leaves
• Clay diyas, ghee, cotton wicks and incense
• Milk and water in a lota or brass vessel for arghya
• Sindoor, roli, akshat and flowers
• New or freshly washed clothes for the vrati
• A clean cloth to cover the baskets on the way to the ghat

Chhath is known for its strict care around purity. These are customs families follow, and they vary:

• The prasad is cooked at home in clean or new utensils, often on a clay stove, and nobody tastes it before it is offered
• Onion, garlic and non-vegetarian food are kept out of the kitchen during the four days
• The vrati usually sleeps on the floor and keeps the mind on prayer
• The house and the path to the ghat are cleaned, often by the whole family and neighbours together
• Wheat and other grains for the prasad are washed and dried with care so that birds and dust do not touch them

A health note: a 36-hour nirjala fast is hard on the body. If you are pregnant, diabetic, elderly, on regular medication or unwell, speak to your doctor before keeping it. Tradition itself allows a lighter vrat, and in many families one member keeps the full fast while others help.

Chhath ghats are crowded, especially at sunset on the third day and before dawn on the fourth.

• Go early, and agree on a meeting point in case the family gets separated
• Keep children close and away from deep water; enter only knee-deep or waist-deep water at marked, safe spots
• Help elderly vratis in and out of the water, since steps and banks can be slippery
• Carry warm clothes for the pre-dawn arghya in mid-November
• Keep diyas away from clothes and hair, especially in a crowd
• Follow the instructions of local volunteers and the police at big ghats

Many families living away from rivers now offer arghya at a building's pond, a community ghat set up by residents, or a clean tub of water on the terrace. The vrati stands in the water, faces the sun and offers arghya in the same way. What matters in tradition is the offering to the setting and rising sun with a pure heart.

If you cannot keep the vrat this year, you can still offer a prayer to Surya. One option is a Surya Archana at our verified temple in Delhi, which includes the Aditya Hridayam path, jal arpan to Surya and an offering of red flowers and wheat. It takes about 30 minutes, and you receive photo proof and a completion certificate by email, typically within 24 hours. At the time of writing it costs ₹499. To be clear, it is a way to offer prayers when you cannot keep the vrat; it is not a substitute for Chhath itself. Many families also sing the Surya Dev aarti or chant the Gayatri Mantra at sunrise.

Chhath follows Diwali by a week; our Diwali 2026 guide lists the dates of all five Diwali days.