Festival · 2026
Chhath Puja 2026 — Sunday, 15 November 2026
Chhath Puja is a four-day festival of the Sun and Chhathi Maiya, ending with offerings to the setting and the rising sun from riverbanks and ponds.
In 2026
Sunday, 15 November 2026
- Tithi
- Shukla Shashthi (Shukla): 14 Nov, 11:24 PM – 16 Nov, 2:01 AM
- Lunar month
- Kartika
- Sunrise / sunset
- 6:43 AM / 5:27 PM
- Sandhya arghya (sunset)
- 5:27 PM
- Usha arghya (sunrise)
- 16 Nov, 6:44 AM
- Nahay Khay: 13 November 2026
- Kharna: 14 November 2026
- Usha arghya (sunrise): 16 November 2026
Rule: Kartika Shukla Shashthi prevailing at sunset, when the evening arghya is offered; the morning arghya is at the next sunrise.
In 2027
Thursday, 4 November 2027
- Tithi
- Shukla Shashthi (Shukla): 3 Nov, 7:32 PM – 4 Nov, 9:38 PM
- Lunar month
- Kartika
- Sunrise / sunset
- 6:34 AM / 5:34 PM
- Sandhya arghya (sunset)
- 5:34 PM
- Usha arghya (sunrise)
- 5 Nov, 6:35 AM
- Nahay Khay: 2 November 2027
- Kharna: 3 November 2027
- Usha arghya (sunrise): 5 November 2027
Rule: Kartika 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 Chhath Puja?
Chhath Puja is dedicated to Surya, the Sun, and to Chhathi Maiya, revered as his sister and as a mother goddess who protects children. The main day is Shashthi, the sixth day of the waxing moon of Kartika, six days after Diwali. It is the great festival of Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Nepal Terai, and is now kept wherever families from these regions live, in India and abroad.
The observance is old and spare: no idol and no priest are required, only the vrati, the water and the sun. Tradition links it to Karna, son of Surya, who stood in water offering prayers each day, to Draupadi and the Pandavas, and to Sita, who is said to have kept the vrat after returning to Ayodhya. Devotees believe the fast brings wellbeing to the family, and it is also an offering of thanks for the harvest.
What makes Chhath distinct is its discipline and its community. Vratis, most often women though men keep it too, fast for about thirty-six hours without water. Whole neighbourhoods clean the ghats, carry the offerings in bamboo baskets and sing the folk songs of Chhath at dusk and before dawn. Offering to the setting sun as well as the rising sun is itself a quiet teaching: both ends of the day deserve thanks.
How it is observed
- Day one, nahay-khay: the vrati bathes, ideally in a river, and eats one pure meal, often rice, chana dal and bottle gourd.
- Day two, kharna: a fast through the day, broken in the evening with jaggery kheer and roti, after which the long fast without water begins.
- Day three, sandhya arghya: at sunset, standing in water, the vrati offers arghya to the setting sun with baskets of thekua, fruit and sugarcane.
- Day four, usha arghya: arghya is offered to the rising sun at dawn, and the fast is then broken.
- The offerings — thekua, rice laddoos, bananas, coconut, sugarcane — are carried in bamboo soop and daura.
- Families sing Chhath geet, the whole community cleans and decorates the ghats, and those who cannot fast take part by helping the vratis.
How the date is fixed
Chhath Puja is Kartika Shukla Shashthi. Since the main offering is made to the setting sun, our engine keeps it on the day Shashthi prevails at sunset, the day of the sandhya arghya. The usha arghya is at sunrise the next morning. Nahay-khay is two days before the sandhya arghya and kharna the day before, so all four days follow from the Shashthi date.
Where practice differs
Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Nepal Terai are the heartland, and customs vary from family to family, such as what is cooked for kharna. A smaller Chaiti Chhath is kept in the bright half of Chaitra, in spring. Among families living far from these regions, ponds in parks and artificial ghats often take the place of rivers.
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 are the four days of Chhath Puja?
Nahay-khay, kharna, the sandhya arghya on Shashthi evening, and the usha arghya at the next sunrise.
What is the difference between sandhya arghya and usha arghya?
Sandhya arghya is offered to the setting sun on Shashthi; usha arghya is offered to the rising sun the next morning, after which the fast ends.
Is the Chhath fast kept without water?
Traditionally yes, from after kharna until the usha arghya, about thirty-six hours. Those who cannot fast take part by helping the vratis.