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Chhath Puja 2026: The Four Days, Arghya Timings and What the Festival Asks
Chhath Puja 2026: The Four Days, Arghya Timings and What the Festival Asks
Chhath Puja 2026 centres on Sunday, 15 November, the evening of Sandhya Arghya. The four-day observance begins with Nahay Khay on Friday, 13 November and closes with Usha Arghya at sunrise on Monday, 16 November.
It is among the most demanding observances in the Hindu calendar, involving a fast of roughly thirty-six hours without food or water, and it is performed without priests, without idols, and without any intermediary at all.
Chhath Puja 2026: The Four Days
Day 1, Nahay Khay: Friday, 13 November
Day 2, Kharna or Lohanda: Saturday, 14 November
Day 3, Sandhya Arghya: Sunday, 15 November
Day 4, Usha Arghya and Paran: Monday, 16 November
Arghya timings follow local sunset and sunrise, so check for your own city. Confirm the sequence against a local panchang, as the first two days occasionally shift by a day between calendars.
What Chhath Is
Chhath is offered to Surya, the sun, and to Chhathi Maiya, worshipped as his sister and as the protector of children.
What distinguishes it from almost every other Hindu observance is what it lacks. There is no priest. There is no idol. There is no temple. The devotee stands in water facing the sun and makes the offering directly, and the entire ritual is conducted by the family, with the vratti, the person keeping the fast, at its centre.
It is also one of the few major festivals that honours the setting sun before the rising one, offering arghya at dusk on the third day and at dawn on the fourth. The reading usually given is that gratitude is owed to what is departing as much as to what is arriving.
The observance is strongest in Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh, and travels with those communities, which is why riverbanks and artificial ghats in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Surat fill on these evenings.
Day One: Nahay Khay
The vratti bathes, traditionally in a river, and the house is cleaned thoroughly. From this point the kitchen is kept under strict purity, with the vratti’s food cooked separately, often on a mud stove with mango wood.
One satvik meal is eaten: typically kaddu bhaat, bottle gourd with rice and chana dal, cooked without onion, garlic or ordinary salt, using sendha namak instead.
Day Two: Kharna
The vratti fasts through the entire day without water, breaking it only after sunset.
The evening meal is rasiao kheer, made with jaggery rather than sugar, along with roti and fruit. It is offered to Chhathi Maiya first, then eaten by the vratti, then distributed as prasad to family and neighbours.
The moment this meal ends, the nirjala fast begins, and it will continue for roughly thirty-six hours until Usha Arghya on the fourth morning.
Day Three: Sandhya Arghya
This is the day the festival is known for.
Through the day, thekua is prepared: the wheat-and-jaggery sweet that is Chhath’s signature offering. The soop, a bamboo winnowing tray, is arranged with thekua, sugarcane, coconut, banana, seasonal fruit, and the earthen lamps.
In the afternoon the family walks to the ghat, singing Chhath geet, among the most recognisable folk music in India. The vratti enters the water and stands facing the setting sun.
Arghya is offered as the sun descends: water poured from a vessel toward it, with the soop raised in offering. Lamps are lit and set afloat. Families remain at the ghat afterwards, and many keep vigil through the night.
Day Four: Usha Arghya and Paran
Before dawn the family returns to the ghat. The vratti enters the water again and waits, and as the sun rises the second arghya is offered.
The fast is then broken with the prasad, ginger and water. This is paran, and it closes an observance of roughly thirty-six hours without food or water.
The thekua and fruit are distributed widely afterwards, and receiving Chhath prasad is regarded as a blessing in itself.
The Rules of the Vrat
Chhath is kept with a strictness unusual even among Hindu fasts.
The vratti sleeps on the floor for the duration, usually on a single blanket. Stitched clothing is avoided during the rituals, with women wearing unstitched saris and men dhotis. Nothing offered is tasted before it is given. The kitchen is kept entirely separate. No leather is worn, and footwear is not used near the ghat.
Men keep the fast as well as women, though the majority of vrattis are women, and many families have someone who has kept it every year for decades.
A plain note on health, since the fast is genuinely demanding. Thirty-six hours without water is beyond what many bodies handle safely, particularly for anyone pregnant, diabetic, elderly or managing a medical condition. Families commonly arrange for someone else to keep the vrat on the household’s behalf in such cases, and that substitution is entirely within the tradition. Consult a doctor if there is any doubt.
If You Are Attending as a Guest
A few points of courtesy for anyone invited to a Chhath ghat.
Remove footwear well before approaching the water. Do not touch the soop or any prepared offering. Do not eat or drink in the ritual area while the vratti is fasting. Photography is generally accepted at public ghats, but ask before photographing a family closely.
Accepting prasad when it is offered is the right response, and refusing it is not.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Chhath Puja 2026?
The main day, Sandhya Arghya, falls on Sunday, 15 November 2026. The four-day observance runs from Nahay Khay on Friday, 13 November through Usha Arghya on Monday, 16 November. Confirm the sequence with a local panchang.
What are the four days of Chhath Puja?
Nahay Khay, when the vratti bathes and eats one satvik meal. Kharna, a day-long waterless fast broken after sunset with rasiao kheer. Sandhya Arghya, the evening offering to the setting sun. Usha Arghya, the dawn offering to the rising sun, after which the fast is broken.
How long is the Chhath fast?
Roughly thirty-six hours without food or water, from the end of the Kharna meal on the second evening until paran after Usha Arghya on the fourth morning.
Why is the setting sun worshipped before the rising sun?
Chhath is among the few observances that offers arghya to the setting sun first, on the third evening, before the rising sun on the fourth morning. The reading usually given is that gratitude is owed to what is departing as much as to what is arriving.
What is offered in the Chhath soop?
Thekua, the wheat and jaggery sweet specific to the festival, along with sugarcane, coconut, banana, seasonal fruit and earthen lamps, arranged in a bamboo winnowing tray.
Can men keep the Chhath vrat?
Yes. Men keep the fast as well as women, though the majority of vrattis are women. Families may also arrange for another member to keep it on the household’s behalf where health makes it unsuitable.
Standing in Water, Facing the Sun
Chhath needs no temple, no priest and no idol. A river or a made ghat, a bamboo tray, some wheat and jaggery, and a family that walks down to the water together twice in twelve hours.
Our Diwali 2026 guide covers the festival that precedes it, and the Bestu Varas guide covers the Gujarati observances of the same week.
Ritual practices vary by region, community and family; follow your own household tradition where it differs. The Chhath vrat is physically demanding. Anyone pregnant, elderly, diabetic or managing a medical condition should consult a doctor, and arranging for another family member to keep the vrat is an accepted practice.