Chhath Puja 2026: Date, Vidhi & Four-Day Rituals

Last updated: 21 October 2026 · By Acharya Alok Pandit, Divine Hindu, Jayanagar 3rd Block East, Bengaluru 560011 · ~27 min read

When is Chhath Puja 2026? Dates, tithis and the 36-hour fast

Chhath Puja 2026 is a four-day festival from Friday, 13 November to Monday, 16 November 2026, on Kartik Shukla Chaturthi to Saptami. It is also written Chhath Pooja, छठ पूजा in Hindi and ছট পূজা in Bengali.

The tithi boundaries that decide these dates are below. The Shashthi times are the ones almanacs print; Chaturthi, Panchami and Saptami boundaries are from our own ephemeris.

The Drik Panchang page for Chhath prints Shashthi from 25:53 on 14 November to 28:30 on 15 November in Malaysian time (UTC+8). That is the same instant as 11:23 PM and 2:00 AM IST, so there is no disagreement, only a time-zone conversion.

The fast is called 36 hours because it runs from the end of the Kharna meal, soon after sunset on Saturday 14 November, to the Parana after the sunrise offering on Monday 16 November. That is a little over 36 hours in most Indian cities. Chhath is observed a few days after Diwali, which is on Sunday 8 November 2026, and it falls later than in some recent years because 2026 carries an extra month; our Adhik Maas 2026 guide explains why.

What are the Chhath Puja 2026 sunset and sunrise times in your city?

Sandhya Arghya is offered at sunset on Sunday, 15 November 2026, and Usha Arghya at sunrise on Monday, 16 November 2026. Sunset is about 5:01 PM in Patna, 5:28 PM in New Delhi, 6:00 PM in Mumbai and 4:53 PM in Kolkata.

These are sunrise and sunset times, not a muhurat. No almanac we checked prescribes a separate clock-time window for arghya. The offering is made as the Sun touches the horizon, and families usually arrive at the ghat well before sunset, so use the time below as the moment to be standing in the water, not the time to leave home.

We calculated every figure with the Swiss Ephemeris, with the Sun's upper edge at the horizon and standard refraction, for the centre of each city. Along a river bank, or where buildings and trees block the horizon, the Sun can seem to rise or set a few minutes off these figures.

How do our times compare with other almanacs?

Our times agree with the other almanacs to within one or two minutes. The gap comes from the exact coordinates used for a city and from rounding, not from a different method.

ShubhPanchang prints a sunset of 5:58 PM and a sunrise of 6:50 AM without naming a city, so we did not use it for any place. For a village or a particular ghat, use the Drik Panchang or Prokerala location search, or the sunrise time on a local newspaper's panchang.

What happens on each of the four days of Chhath Puja?

Chhath has four days: Nahay Khay, Kharna, Sandhya Arghya and Usha Arghya. Each has a fixed purpose, and the festival is kept without a priest and without a prescribed mantra.

Day 1 — Nahay Khay (Friday, 13 November 2026)

Nahay Khay means "bathe and eat". The Vratti bathes in a river, a pond or with clean water at home, puts on fresh clothes, and the house is cleaned from the kitchen outward. One satvik meal is eaten, traditionally arwa (unpolished) rice, chana dal and a lauki sabzi cooked without onion or garlic, using sendha namak in place of ordinary salt. The family usually eats the same food, and the Vratti eats last. From this day the kitchen is kept ritually pure.

Day 2 — Kharna or Lohanda (Saturday, 14 November 2026)

Kharna is the day-long fast broken after sunset, which is about 5:01 PM in Patna and 5:28 PM in Delhi. The Vratti fasts through the day without water, and after the evening puja eats kheer made from jaggery and arwa rice, with roti or puri and a banana, offered first to Surya Dev and Chhathi Maiya. Neighbours and relatives are invited to share the prasad. When the Vratti finishes this meal, the 36-hour nirjala fast begins: no food and no water until the sunrise arghya.

Day 3 — Sandhya Arghya (Sunday, 15 November 2026)

Sandhya Arghya is the main day. The morning goes into making thekua and arranging the offerings. By afternoon the family carries the loaded soop and daura to the ghat, often on the head. That basket is called a dala across much of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, which is why the festival is also known as Dala Chhath. The Vratti stands in the water facing west and offers arghya, water and milk poured from a lota, to the setting Sun while holding up the soop of fruit and prasad. At night many families perform Kosi bharai, lighting earthen lamps under a canopy of sugarcane stalks, and keep a vigil singing Chhath geet. Our guides to lamp significance and ghee versus oil diyas cover the lamps.

Day 4 — Usha Arghya and Parana (Monday, 16 November 2026)

Usha Arghya is the offering to the rising Sun. The family returns to the ghat before dawn, the Vratti stands in the water facing east, and arghya is offered at sunrise, about 6:07 AM in Patna and 6:44 AM in New Delhi. Prayers are made for the health and long life of children and family, prasad is shared, and the Vratti breaks the fast, the Parana, usually with ginger, water and a little prasad rather than a heavy meal.

What is the meaning and significance of Chhath Puja?

Chhath Puja is a festival of thanksgiving to Surya Dev, the Sun, and to Chhathi Maiya, who is traditionally identified with Shashthi Devi, the protector of children. It is believed to be kept in gratitude for light, life and the well-being of the family.

It is among the most physically demanding vratas, involving a waterless fast, standing in water and offering arghya to both the setting and the rising Sun, a tribute to the Sun in all its phases. Offerings such as thekua, fruit, sugarcane and coconut are prepared in scrupulously clean surroundings, and strict cleanliness is observed throughout.

Why is arghya offered to Surya Dev and Chhathi Maiya?

Surya Dev is worshipped as the visible, daily source of light, warmth and food, and Chhath is essentially thanksgiving rather than a request. Chhathi Maiya is traditionally identified with Shashthi Devi, who is worshipped on the sixth day after a child's birth and, in folk tradition, is described as Surya's sister. Most Chhath prayers are made for the health and long life of children and the family.

The Shashthi Devi episode is told in the Prakriti Khanda of the Brahmavaivarta Purana, chapter 43, where King Priyavrata praises the goddess and is said to receive a son; the hymn attributed to him is catalogued at verses 58 to 66 by Sanskrit Documents. Other traditions link the vrat to Karna, the son of Surya, who is said to have stood in water each day offering arghya; to Draupadi and the Pandavas; and, in Ramayana-linked accounts, to Sita, as Wikipedia's Chhath article summarises. These are traditional accounts handed down by the community, not fixed historical record, and Chhath as practised today is a folk observance that no single text prescribes in full.

Why is Chhath called Chhath, Chatti, Dala Chhath and Surya Shashthi?

The name Chhath comes from the Hindi word for sixth, because the main offering is made on Shashthi, the sixth tithi of Kartik Shukla Paksha. In Bhojpuri and Magahi speech the goddess is called Chhatti, so many families say Chatti Puja. Surya Shashthi names the sun-worship on that tithi, and Dala Chhath or Dala Puja names the dala, the basket carried to the ghat.

In Nepal the festival is called Chhath Parva. All of these names describe the same four days.

How strict is the Chhath vrat, and who can keep it?

Chhath is among the strictest vratas still widely kept, and the fast, which is without food and water, lasts roughly 36 hours. The household keeps purity rules alongside it: the Vratti sleeps on the floor on a blanket, cooking is done in a scrubbed kitchen, often on a mud chulha fired with mango wood, onion, garlic and ordinary salt are avoided, nobody tastes the prasad while it is made, and everyone at the ghat goes barefoot. Where a wish is believed to have been fulfilled, many Vrattis cover the last stretch to the ghat by prostrating full-length at every step, called dandvat pranam.

Please speak to your doctor before fasting if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, elderly, unwell, diabetic or on any medication. A waterless fast of this length is demanding. Many families keep a shortened or fruit-and-water vrat instead, or let a family member complete the arghya on their behalf, and the tradition makes room for that.

The person keeping the fast is the Vratti, also called a parvaitin. Most Vrattis are women, often the mother or the senior woman of the household, but many men keep Chhath too. The vrat is often taken as a vow and then continued year after year or passed to the next generation. Everyone else supports: grinding the wheat, shaping thekua, carrying the daura and guarding the lamps through the night.

What are the rules and etiquette at the Chhath ghat?

The basic rules at a Chhath ghat are to go barefoot, to avoid touching other families' offerings, to keep the water clean and to follow the barricades. The ghat on Sandhya Arghya evening is crowded, wet and covered in offerings laid on the ground, and a handful of conventions are observed almost everywhere.

• Go barefoot from where the ghat begins, and leave leather behind: shoes, belts and bags.
• Watch where you step. Soop, daura, sugarcane and fruit are placed on the ground. Walk around them, never across them.
• Do not touch another family's offerings, soop or lota, and do not taste any prasad before the arghya is complete.
• Keep the water clean. No soap, shampoo or oil in the river or pond, and no plastic or thermocol among the offerings. Carry your waste back; our guide to disposing of puja items covers flowers and nirmalya.
• Arrive early to claim and clean your family's patch, and set out the sugarcane and lamps before the crowd builds.
• Stay in shallow water. Arghya is offered standing at most waist-deep. Currents are stronger than they look, and children should never be in the water unsupervised.
• Follow the barricades and volunteers. Municipal bodies mark safe zones and deep-water limits at major ghats; treat the markings as binding.
• Dress modestly. The Vratti's clothes are often new and, by custom, unstitched. Keep phones and loud music away from families mid-arghya.

Can Chhath Puja be done at home or without a river?

Yes. A clean pond, tank, rooftop drum or even a filled tub at home is widely accepted where no river is at hand, and the same rules of cleanliness apply. In the tradition it is the devotion, not the size of the water body, that is weighed.

Families who cannot travel to the family village often keep Chhath in a city flat with a tub on the terrace or at a community pond arranged by a local samiti. If you cannot be present at all, our notes on remote sankalp and paroksha seva explain how families arrange an offering on their behalf.

What should a first-time Vratti know before keeping the Chhath vrat?

A first-time Vratti should speak to a doctor first, learn the sequence beside someone who has kept it, and remember that a shortened vrat is accepted. Chhath is usually taken as a vow and then continued, so the decision matters as much as the preparation.

• Speak to your doctor first. About 36 hours without food or water, plus long spells standing in cold water, is demanding. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, elderly, diabetic, hypertensive, prone to fainting or on regular medication, get medical advice before you commit and follow it.
• You do not have to keep the strictest version. A vrat kept within your capacity is not a lesser vrat.
• Do not do it alone the first year. Chhath has no priest and no prescribed mantra, so the knowledge passes by watching.
• Prepare the kitchen days ahead. Scrub it before Nahay Khay, set aside new or puja-only vessels, and stock sendha namak, arwa rice and jaggery.
• Arrange helpers early. Someone has to shape and fry the thekua, carry the daura and mind the lamps.
• Practise the load. A full soop is heavier than it looks and is raised overhead during arghya.
• Plan for the cold. November mornings are cold and the water is colder. Carry dry clothes and something warm for after Usha Arghya.
• Break the fast gently. Parana is traditionally ginger, water and a little prasad. Rehydrate slowly.
• Stop if your body tells you to. Dizziness, chest pain, confusion or fainting are reasons to break the fast and seek medical help at once. No tradition asks for harm.

Is Chhath Puja on the same dates in the USA, UK, Gulf, Singapore and Australia?

In the UK, the Gulf, Singapore, Nepal, Mauritius and Australia, Chhath Puja 2026 falls on the same dates as in India: Sandhya Arghya on Sunday 15 November and Usha Arghya on Monday 16 November. In the United States and Canada, Shashthi ends before Sunday's local sunset, so the date is open to two readings.

The reason is the clock. Shashthi ends at 2:01 AM IST on Monday, which is 8:31 PM UTC on Sunday. For anyone in Asia, Europe, Africa or Australia that moment falls after Sunday's local sunset. For anyone in North America it falls in the afternoon, before sunset.

For the American and Canadian cities, the sunset rule puts Sandhya Arghya on Saturday 14 November, when Shashthi has already begun, with Usha Arghya on Sunday morning. That would also move Kharna to Friday 13 November and Nahay Khay to Thursday 12 November, to keep the four days consecutive. Many North American communities instead follow the India dates, and a local Bihari samaj or temple committee usually publishes one calendar for the whole community.

These diaspora figures are our own calculation and we could not match them to a second almanac for North America, so please treat the Saturday-versus-Sunday question as one to settle with your local temple or purohit. In Sydney, Shashthi is still current at Monday sunrise (it ends at 7:31 AM AEDT), which does not change the day: Usha Arghya is the sunrise after Sandhya Arghya. Our Dev Uthani Ekadashi guide uses the same approach for its overseas dates.

Which days are public holidays for Chhath Puja 2026?

In Bihar, Sunday 15 November and Monday 16 November 2026 are listed as Chhath holidays, and Nepal's government holiday for Chhath Parva is reported for Sunday 15 November. These come from secondary reports of the official notifications, which we could not open ourselves.

If a holiday matters to your travel, check the official gazette or your employer's list. Banks and schools in other states follow their own calendars.

What is the Chhath Puja vidhi, step by step?

The Chhath Puja vidhi runs over four days, from the cleaning of the house on Nahay Khay to the Parana on the fourth morning. This is the traditional sequence families follow.

1. On Nahay Khay (13 November), clean the home from the kitchen outward, bathe in a river or with clean water, and eat one satvik meal.
2. On Kharna (14 November), keep a day-long fast and break it after sunset with kheer, roti and fruit, offered first to Surya Dev and Chhathi Maiya.
3. Through Sunday morning, prepare the prasad, thekua, laddoo, seasonal fruit, sugarcane and coconut, in a pure kitchen, with nobody tasting it.
4. On Sunday afternoon, arrange the offerings in the soop and daura and carry them to the ghat; set out the sugarcane and lamps.
5. At sunset on 15 November, stand in the water facing west and offer arghya of water and milk to the setting Sun, raising the soop.
6. That night, light lamps under the sugarcane canopy (Kosi bharai) and keep a vigil singing Chhath geet.
7. Before dawn on 16 November, return to the ghat, face east and offer arghya at sunrise.
8. Share the prasad and break the fast with ginger, water and a little prasad.

What is the Chhath Puja samagri list?

The core Chhath samagri is a bamboo soop and daura, thekua, sugarcane, seasonal fruit, lamps, a lota, sindoor and new clothes for the Vratti. Most of the produce and the bamboo items are bought fresh from the local market in the days before Nahay Khay.

Nothing on this list is required for the vrat to count. Chhath is a festival where devotion matters more than expense, and many families use the same brass soop and lota for generations.

What is the traditional Chhath prasad?

Thekua, a wheat-and-jaggery sweet fried in ghee, is the signature Chhath prasad. Along with sugarcane, bananas, coconut and seasonal produce, it is offered to Surya Dev and shared among family and neighbours. It is shaped by hand, often pressed with a carved wooden mould, and made only after the kitchen has been scrubbed and the maker has bathed, which is why nobody tastes it before the arghya.

Where is Chhath Puja observed beyond Bihar?

Chhath is most closely associated with Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh, where district administrations prepare the ghats weeks in advance, and it is equally central to the Madhesh and Terai regions of Nepal. Migration has carried it to the ghats of Delhi NCR, artificial ponds and sea-facing ghats in Mumbai, Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal, Chandigarh, Surat and Ahmedabad, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Communities of Indian origin in Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Fiji, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Gulf also observe it, often at a pond, tank or pool where no river is at hand.

Where does Chhath fall in the Kartik festival season?

Chhath is the last of the great festivals that open with Dhanteras, and it ends when the Vratti breaks the fast on Saptami morning. The 2026 sequence is below, and our Kartik month guide lists everything else in the month.

Every date is a tithi-to-date mapping that can shift by a day with a city's sunrise, so confirm against a current panchang. The full year is in our Hindu Festival Calendar 2026.

How we checked these dates and times

We computed the tithi boundaries, sunrise and sunset with the Swiss Ephemeris (Moshier mode) and the Lahiri ayanamsa, then matched the dates and the Shashthi boundaries against Drik Panchang and several other almanacs. Where our figure and an almanac's differ by a minute or two, we print both.

Sources we used:

• Drik Panchang: Chhath Puja date and time, 2026
• HinduTone: Chhath 2026 arghya time city-wise (Drik method)
• PanchangBodh: Chhath Puja 2026
• DekhoPanchang: Chhath Puja 2026
• AstroTalk: Chhath Puja 2026
• ShubhPanchang: Chhath Puja 2026
• Patna Press: Bihar government holiday calendar 2026
• MeroKalam: Chhath Parva schedule, Nepal 2083
• Sanskrit Documents: Priyavrata's Shashthi Devi stotra (Brahmavaivarta Purana, Prakriti Khanda 2.43)
• Wikipedia: Chhath

What comes next after Chhath Puja 2026?

After Chhath, the Kartik calendar moves to Dev Uthani Ekadashi on Friday 20 November for Smarta households and Saturday 21 November for Vaishnavas, followed by Tulsi Vivah. Kartik Purnima brings Dev Diwali and Guru Nanak Jayanti on Tuesday 24 November. For the fasting days that follow, see the Ekadashi 2026 list and the Purnima and Amavasya 2026 dates.

Keeping the Chhath puja pieces ready

A pooja thali is traditionally used to carry the lota, lamp, flowers and prasad to the ghat and to the home mandir, and many families keep one set aside for the days of the vrat. Our pooja thali collection is one place to look, and the Chhath preparation page lists what to arrange locally, such as the soop, daura, sugarcane and fresh produce.

Frequently Asked Questions about Chhath Puja 2026

When is Chhath Puja in 2026?

Chhath Puja 2026 runs from Friday, 13 November to Monday, 16 November. Sandhya Arghya, the main evening offering, is on Sunday, 15 November, and Usha Arghya on Monday, 16 November. Shashthi tithi runs from 11:24 PM on 14 November to 2:01 AM on 16 November IST.

What are the Nahay Khay and Kharna dates in 2026?

Nahay Khay is on Friday, 13 November 2026 and Kharna is on Saturday, 14 November. Kharna is the day-long fast broken after sunset with kheer and roti, after which the 36-hour nirjala fast begins.

What time is Sandhya Arghya on 15 November 2026?

Sandhya Arghya is offered at sunset on Sunday, 15 November 2026. Sunset is about 5:01 PM in Patna, 5:28 PM in New Delhi, 6:00 PM in Mumbai and 4:53 PM in Kolkata. Almanacs differ by a minute or two, and no separate muhurat is prescribed.

What time is Usha Arghya on 16 November 2026?

Usha Arghya is offered at sunrise on Monday, 16 November 2026. Sunrise is about 6:07 AM in Patna, 6:44 AM in New Delhi, 6:46 AM in Mumbai and 5:50 AM in Kolkata. Families usually reach the ghat before dawn.

What are the four days of Chhath Puja?

The four days are Nahay Khay, Kharna, Sandhya Arghya and Usha Arghya, on Kartik Shukla Chaturthi, Panchami, Shashthi and Saptami. They are a bath and one satvik meal, a fast broken at dusk, then the evening and morning offerings to the Sun.

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

Arghya is offered at both ends of the day to honour Surya Dev in all phases, as thanksgiving for light and life. The Shashthi evening offering is followed by the sunrise offering, which closes the vrat.

How long is the Chhath fast?

The main Chhath vrat is a nirjala fast of roughly 36 hours, from the end of the Kharna meal on 14 November to the Parana after the sunrise arghya on 16 November. It is demanding, so pregnant women, the elderly and anyone with a medical condition should consult a doctor.

What is offered during Chhath Puja?

Devotees offer thekua, fruit, whole sugarcane, coconut and water or milk as arghya, arranged in a bamboo soop and carried in a daura. Banana, sweet lime, singhara, radish and fresh turmeric are common. Nobody tastes the prasad before the arghya.

Is there a public holiday for Chhath Puja 2026?

Bihar's 2026 holiday list shows Chhath holidays on Sunday, 15 and Monday, 16 November, according to ClearTax and BankBazaar. Nepal's Chhath Parva holiday is reported for 15 November. We could not open the official notifications, so check your current list.

Is Chhath Puja on the same dates in the USA, UK and Australia?

In the UK, Gulf, Singapore, Australia and Nepal the dates match India, with Sandhya Arghya on 15 November. In the USA and Canada, Shashthi ends before Sunday's sunset, so the local-sunset rule gives Saturday, 14 November. Many communities follow India's dates, so confirm with your local temple.

Can Chhath Puja be done at home?

Yes. Where no river is available, a clean pond, tank, rooftop drum or filled tub at home is widely accepted, with the same rules of cleanliness. Go barefoot, avoid soap and plastic in the water, and do not touch other families' offerings.

What should a first-time Vratti know?

Speak to a doctor first, learn the sequence beside an experienced family member, and remember that a shortened or fruit-and-water vrat is accepted. Prepare the kitchen and helpers early, break the fast gently, and seek medical help if you feel dizzy or unwell.

This guide is for educational and devotional purposes and reflects traditional practice. Tithi-to-date mapping shifts with sunrise and location, and our sunrise and sunset figures are computed for city centres, so please confirm the 2026 dates and the exact arghya time with a current panchang, your family purohit or your local ghat committee. If you are unwell, pregnant or on medication, take your doctor's advice before fasting.