Festival · 2027

Chaiti Chhath 2027 — Monday, 12 April 2027

Chaiti Chhath is the spring observance of Chhath, a four-day worship of the Sun and Chhathi Maiya that ends with offerings to the setting and the rising Sun.

In 2026

Tuesday, 24 March 2026

Tithi: Shukla Shashthi: 23 Mar, 6:38 PM – 24 Mar, 4:08 PM
Lunar month: Chaitra
Sunrise / sunset: 6:20 AM / 6:34 PM
Sandhya arghya (sunset): 6:34 PM
Usha arghya (sunrise): 25 Mar, 6:19 AM

Nahay Khay: 22 March 2026
Kharna: 23 March 2026
Usha arghya (sunrise): 25 March 2026

Rule: Chaitra Shukla Shashthi prevailing at sunset, when the evening arghya is offered; the morning arghya is at the next sunrise.

In 2027

Monday, 12 April 2027

Tithi: Shukla Shashthi: 11 Apr, 9:39 PM – 12 Apr, 7:35 PM
Lunar month: Chaitra
Sunrise / sunset: 5:59 AM / 6:45 PM
Sandhya arghya (sunset): 6:45 PM
Usha arghya (sunrise): 13 Apr, 5:58 AM

Nahay Khay: 10 April 2027
Kharna: 11 April 2027
Usha arghya (sunrise): 13 April 2027

Rule: Chaitra Shukla Shashthi prevailing at sunset, when the evening arghya is offered; the morning arghya is at the next sunrise.

Times follow New Delhi’s sunrise and sunset. In other cities the muhurat shifts by some minutes, and occasionally the day by one. Full festival calendar

What is Chaiti Chhath?

Chhath is kept twice a year. The larger observance comes in Kartika, a few days after Diwali, and the smaller one in Chaitra, in spring, which is why it is called Chaiti Chhath. Both follow the same pattern and centre on the same day, the Shashthi or sixth day of the bright fortnight, from which the name Chhath comes. Chaiti Chhath usually falls a few days before Ram Navami, in the middle of Chaitra Navratri.

Chhath is a worship of Surya, the Sun, as the visible source of life, health and the harvest, together with Chhathi Maiya, the mother goddess of the festival, whom many identify with Shashthi Devi, the protector of children known from the Puranas. Folk tradition in Bihar tells many stories about its origin: that Sita kept the fast after returning to Ayodhya, that Draupadi kept it during the exile of the Pandavas, and that Karna, the son of Surya, offered water to the Sun every day while standing in a river. These stories are held in songs and memory rather than in a single scripture, and the practice itself is older than any one telling of it.

What sets Chhath apart is its discipline and its simplicity. There is no image and no priest is needed. The person keeping the vow, called the vrati or parvaitin, most often a woman but also men, bathes, cooks without onion or garlic, and after the kharna meal keeps a fast of about thirty-six hours without food or water. On the evening of Shashthi, the vrati stands in a river or pond and offers arghya, water or milk with offerings in a bamboo basket, to the setting Sun. At dawn the next day the offering is made again to the rising Sun, and the fast ends.

Chaiti Chhath is kept by fewer people than Kartik Chhath, partly because the spring heat makes the waterless fast harder. Many who keep it do so to fulfil a vow, a mannat, made for a child’s health, a recovery or a wish granted, and some families keep both Chhaths every year. The ghats are quieter than in autumn, but the songs, the baskets of thekua and fruit, and the moment when the whole family stands facing the Sun are the same.

How it is observed

Nahay-khay on the first day: a bath, cleaning of the house and a single simple meal, often rice, lentils and bottle gourd, cooked without onion or garlic.
Kharna on the second day: a fast through the day, ended in the evening with kheer of rice and jaggery and roti, shared as prasad, after which the waterless fast begins.
Preparing thekua, fruit, sugarcane and other offerings, arranged in bamboo baskets called soop and daura.
The sandhya arghya on Shashthi evening: standing in a river or pond and offering water and the baskets to the setting Sun.
The usha arghya the next morning to the rising Sun, after which the vrati breaks the fast with prasad.
Singing Chhath songs in Bhojpuri, Maithili and Magahi at home and on the way to the ghat.

How the date is fixed

Chaiti Chhath is fixed by Chaitra Shukla Shashthi, the sixth lunar day of the bright half of Chaitra. Our calendar takes the day on which Shashthi prevails at sunset, because the main offering, the evening arghya to the setting Sun, is made then. The morning arghya is at sunrise on the following day. Counting back, nahay-khay is two days before the evening arghya and kharna is one day before it. The dates and the sunset and sunrise times above are worked out this way for the place you choose, so that you can see the arghya times for your own town.

Where practice differs

Chaiti Chhath is kept mainly in Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh, and in the Terai of Nepal, as well as by families from these regions in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and abroad. It is observed on a smaller scale than Kartik Chhath, and public ghats are prepared on a lighter scale. The month is Chaitra in both northern and amanta calendars, since the festival falls in the bright half. Local almanacs in Mithila and Magadh fix the days by the same Shashthi, though sunset and sunrise times naturally differ from place to place, which is why the arghya times shown above depend on your location.

Dates and times are computed by our own engine (sunrise, tithi and kalas for New Delhi, Lahiri ayanamsa). In another city, or in an almanac of another tradition, the day can differ by one — follow your family’s tradition.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between Chaiti Chhath and Kartik Chhath?

Both follow the same four days and the same worship of the Sun and Chhathi Maiya. Kartik Chhath, after Diwali, is much larger and more widely kept; Chaiti Chhath, in spring, is smaller and is often kept by those who have made a vow or who keep both every year.

What is kharna in Chhath?

Kharna is the second day. The vrati fasts through the day and in the evening prepares and eats kheer of rice and jaggery with roti, which is also shared as prasad. After kharna the waterless fast of about thirty-six hours begins.

Why is arghya offered to both the setting and the rising Sun?

Chhath honours the Sun in both its setting and its rising, giving thanks at the close of one day and greeting the next. Tradition often links the evening and morning offerings with Pratyusha and Usha, the last and first light, which folk belief regards as consorts of Surya.

Can men keep the Chhath fast?

Yes. Women keep the vow most often, but many men keep it too, and the whole family takes part in the preparations, the carrying of the baskets and the offerings at the ghat.