Chhath Puja 2026 runs from Friday 13 November to Monday 16 November. The sandhya arghya to the setting sun is on Sunday 15 November (sunset in Patna 5:01 PM) and the usha arghya to the rising sun is on Monday 16 November (sunrise in Patna 6:07 AM).
The exact arghya time is simply sunset and sunrise at your own ghat, so it changes from city to city. Below are the four days, the tithi rule, a sunset and sunrise table starting with Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh, and why the sun at your ghat may not match the printed minute exactly.
The four days of Chhath 2026
| Day | Date | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Nahay Khay | Friday 13 November | Bath in the river or at home, a single sattvik meal (traditionally kaddu-bhaat and chana dal) |
| Kharna (Lohanda) | Saturday 14 November | Day-long fast; in the evening gur ki kheer and roti are offered and taken as prasad, then the long nirjala fast begins |
| Sandhya arghya | Sunday 15 November | Arghya to the setting sun from the ghat |
| Usha arghya | Monday 16 November | Arghya to the rising sun, then parana (breaking the fast) |
The tithi rule: why the evening arghya is on 15 November
Chhath is Surya Shashthi, the sixth day of the bright half of Kartika. The evening arghya is offered on the Shashthi that prevails at sunset, and the morning arghya follows at the next sunrise.
In 2026, Kartika Shukla Shashthi begins at 11:24 PM on Saturday 14 November and ends at 2:01 AM on Monday 16 November. The sunset of 14 November comes before Shashthi starts, and Shashthi is over before the sun sets on 16 November, so the only sunset within Shashthi is that of Sunday 15 November. The usha arghya is therefore at sunrise on Monday 16 November, and the two days before fall into place: Kharna on Panchami (14 November, when Panchami runs until 11:24 PM) and Nahay Khay on 13 November.
This year every city in India keeps the same dates. Only the clock times differ.
Arghya times 2026: sunset on 15 November, sunrise on 16 November
All times IST, computed for each city's own coordinates. Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern UP come first, then the cities where many families from Purvanchal now live.
Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh
| City | Sandhya arghya (sunset, Sun 15 Nov) | Usha arghya (sunrise, Mon 16 Nov) |
|---|---|---|
| Patna | 5:01 PM | 6:07 AM |
| Gaya | 5:02 PM | 6:06 AM |
| Muzaffarpur | 4:59 PM | 6:07 AM |
| Bhagalpur | 4:54 PM | 5:59 AM |
| Ranchi | 5:03 PM | 6:03 AM |
| Varanasi | 5:09 PM | 6:15 AM |
| Gorakhpur | 5:06 PM | 6:16 AM |
| Prayagraj | 5:14 PM | 6:20 AM |
| Lucknow | 5:15 PM | 6:26 AM |
| Kanpur | 5:18 PM | 6:28 AM |
Metros and other cities
| City | Sandhya arghya (sunset, Sun 15 Nov) | Usha arghya (sunrise, Mon 16 Nov) |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi | 5:27 PM | 6:44 AM |
| Kolkata | 4:52 PM | 5:49 AM |
| Mumbai | 6:00 PM | 6:46 AM |
| Pune | 5:57 PM | 6:41 AM |
| Ahmedabad | 5:55 PM | 6:53 AM |
| Bengaluru | 5:50 PM | 6:18 AM |
| Hyderabad | 5:40 PM | 6:21 AM |
| Chennai | 5:39 PM | 6:07 AM |
| Jaipur | 5:36 PM | 6:47 AM |
| Bhopal | 5:35 PM | 6:34 AM |
| Chandigarh | 5:25 PM | 6:49 AM |
| Guwahati | 4:33 PM | 5:42 AM |
| Dehradun | 5:21 PM | 6:44 AM |
| Agra | 5:26 PM | 6:38 AM |
| Amritsar | 5:31 PM | 6:59 AM |
| Srinagar | 5:27 PM | 7:04 AM |
A few patterns stand out. Bhagalpur, the furthest east of the Bihar cities here, sees sunset 7 minutes before Patna and sunrise 8 minutes earlier. Kolkata's ghats offer the evening arghya at 4:52 PM, more than an hour before Mumbai's at 6:00 PM. For families in Delhi, the evening arghya is 26 minutes later than in Patna and the morning one 37 minutes later.
If your town is not listed, the Chhath Puja page gives sunset and sunrise for any place in India, and the daily panchang has them too: Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur, Ranchi, Varanasi, Gorakhpur.
How sunrise and sunset are defined
The times above follow the same definition as our panchang. Sunset is the moment the upper edge (upper limb) of the sun touches a flat, open horizon, with standard atmospheric refraction applied. Refraction matters because the air bends sunlight over the horizon, so the sun is still visible for a short while after it has geometrically dropped below it, and appears a little before it has geometrically risen.
Sunrise is defined the same way, at the moment the upper edge first appears. This is the standard used by almanacs and observatories, and it is why our sunrise and sunset can differ by a minute or so from a source that times the sun's centre instead.
Why your ghat may see it a little differently
A ghat is not a flat, open horizon, and that is fine. A few things can move the moment you actually see the sun:
- The far bank and the trees. On a wide river like the Ganga at Patna, the western horizon in the evening is fairly open, so what you see is close to the printed time. At a pond, canal or a ghat with a high far bank, trees or buildings, the sun disappears behind them before the printed sunset and appears above them after the printed sunrise.
- Haze and mist. November mornings in the Gangetic plain are often hazy. The sun may be up by the clock but only become visible as a red disc some minutes later.
- Your exact spot. Across one city the difference is small, but a village well to the east or west of the city sees the sun noticeably earlier or later, as the table shows between Bhagalpur and Patna. For a village ghat, choose the nearest town on the festival page.
Tradition here is practical. Vratis stand in the water and offer arghya as the sun goes down and as it comes up, and many ghats follow the local announcement or the elders. The printed time tells you when to be in position; the sun itself, and your family's custom, decide the moment.
Chhath and the rest of the season
Chhath comes six days after Diwali, which falls on 8 November this year; our post on the Diwali 2026 Lakshmi Puja muhurat has the puja times. Four days after the usha arghya comes Dev Uthani Ekadashi on 20 November, which ends Chaturmas and reopens the wedding season; see Dev Uthani Ekadashi 2026.
The spring Chhath, Chaiti Chhath, follows the same pattern in the month of Chaitra; its dates are on the Chaiti Chhath page.
Try it yourself
Open the free Chhath Puja page and choose your city or the nearest town to your ghat for the four dates and the exact sunset and sunrise. The daily panchang shows the same times with tithi, nakshatra and Rahu kaal for any day.