Chhath Puja 2026: Dates, Nahay Khay, Kharna, Sandhya and Usha Arghya Time, Vidhi and Significance

Explore Chhath Puja 2026 dates, Nahay Khay and Kharna rituals, city-wise Sandhya and Usha Arghya timings, puja vidhi, samagri, vrat rules and the festival’s significance in this guide.

Chhath Puja 2026 runs from Friday, 13 November to Monday, 16 November 2026. Sandhya Arghya, the main evening offering, is on Sunday, 15 November, with sunset in Patna at 5:01 PM. Usha Arghya follows at sunrise on Monday, 16 November, at 6:07 AM in Patna.

Chhath is a four-day festival of thanksgiving to Surya, the Sun, and to Chhathi Maiya. It is the great festival of Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Terai of Nepal, and it is kept wherever families from these regions live, from Delhi and Mumbai to cities abroad. This guide gives the verified dates and tithi, the arghya time for 26 cities, the vidhi for each day, the samagri list and the rules of the vrat.

Arghya is offered at local sunset and sunrise, so there is no separate muhurat to calculate. Timings are in Indian Standard Time. The dates, tithi and city timings follow Drik Panchang's Chhath Puja calendar, checked for each city.

Chhath Puja 2026 at a Glance

 

When Is Chhath Puja in 2026?

Chhath is observed on the Shashthi (sixth) tithi of the bright fortnight of Kartik, in the week after Diwali. The word Chhath itself means sixth. In 2026, the Shashthi tithi begins at 11:23 PM on Saturday, 14 November and ends at 2:00 AM on Monday, 16 November. Shashthi is present at sunset on Sunday, 15 November, so the evening arghya is offered that day and the morning arghya on the 16th.

The Government of India's holiday list records Surya Shashthi (Chhath Puja) on Sunday, 15 November 2026. Bihar observes holidays on both 15 and 16 November.

This is Kartik Chhath, the larger of the two Chhath festivals in the year. The other, Chaiti Chhath, falls in the month of Chaitra in spring.

Sandhya Arghya and Usha Arghya Time by City

The evening arghya is offered as the Sun sets and the morning arghya as it rises. The times below are the sunset on 15 November and the sunrise on 16 November for each city.

 

Every city was checked on Drik Panchang for that city. Other sources can differ by a minute or two. Reach the ghat at least half an hour early. The offering begins while the Sun is still above the horizon in the evening and before it appears in the morning.

Drik Panchang gives the same dates for the UK, the UAE, Singapore, Australia, the United States and Canada, with arghya at local sunset and sunrise. In North America, the Shashthi tithi ends a little before sunset on 15 November, so check the dates your local community follows.

The Four Days of Chhath Puja: Vidhi Step by Step

Day 1: Nahay Khay (Friday, 13 November)

Nahay Khay means "bathe and eat". The vrati, the person keeping the fast, bathes in a river or pond or at home with a little Ganga jal added to the water. The house and kitchen are cleaned thoroughly. The vrati then eats one sattvik meal for the day, usually arwa rice, chana dal and lauki, cooked without onion or garlic and seasoned with sendha namak.

Day 2: Kharna (Saturday, 14 November)

On Kharna, also called Lohanda, the vrati fasts through the day without water. After sunset, which is at 5:01 PM in Patna, the prasad of gur ki kheer (rice cooked in milk with jaggery), roti and bananas is offered to the Sun and to Chhathi Maiya. The vrati eats it, and it is shared with family and neighbours. From this meal, the nirjala fast of about 36 hours begins.

Day 3: Sandhya Arghya (Sunday, 15 November)

The day is spent preparing thekua and arranging the offerings in the soop and the daura. In the afternoon, the family carries them to the ghat. The vrati stands in the water facing west and offers arghya of water and milk to the setting Sun while the family holds the soop.

That night many families perform Kosi Bharai at home or at the ghat: five or seven sugarcane stalks are tied into a canopy, and lamps are lit beneath it.

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

The family returns to the ghat before dawn. The vrati stands in the water facing east and offers arghya to the rising Sun, with prayers to Chhathi Maiya for the health of children and the well-being of the family. The fast is then broken, traditionally with a piece of ginger and a sip of water followed by prasad. This is the Parana.

Customs differ between districts and families. Follow the practice your own family keeps.

Chhath Puja Samagri and Prasad List

1. A bamboo soop (winnowing tray) and a daura or dala (basket) to carry the offerings

2. Thekua, made of wheat flour, jaggery and ghee, and kasar, the rice-flour laddu

3. Sugarcane stalks with their leaves

4. A coconut, a bunch of bananas and seasonal fruit such as sweet lime, pomelo, apple and water chestnut

5. Sweet potato, radish, ginger and turmeric with their leaves

6. Earthen diyas, ghee and wicks

7. A lota, milk and Ganga jal for the arghya

8. Sindoor, akshat, paan, supari and flowers

9. New clothes for the vrati

Chhath Vrat Rules

1. The food and prasad are strictly sattvik. Onion, garlic and ordinary salt are not used.

2. Prasad is cooked in a clean kitchen, traditionally on a clay stove with mango wood, and nobody tastes it before the arghya.

3. The vrati sleeps on the floor on a blanket or mat during the festival.

4. The fast from Kharna night to the morning arghya is kept without food or water.

5. Men and women can both keep the vrat. In many families, it passes from one generation to the next.

6. People go barefoot at the ghat, and the offerings are carried with care.

A fast of this length is demanding. Anyone who is pregnant, nursing, elderly, diabetic, unwell or on regular medication should speak to a doctor first. Families commonly allow a lighter observance in such cases, and another member of the family may offer the arghya on the vrati's behalf.

Can Chhath Puja Be Done at Home?

Yes. Where there is no river or pond nearby, families set up a tub, a small pool or a tank on the terrace or in the courtyard and stand in it to offer arghya. Many city authorities also build temporary ghats and ponds for the festival. What matters is that the vrati stands in clean water and faces the Sun at the right time.

Why Chhath Puja Is Celebrated

Chhath gives thanks to the Sun as the source of life on earth. It is the rare festival in which the setting Sun is honoured before the rising Sun. There is no idol and no priest. The vrati makes the offering directly.

The festival also honours Chhathi Maiya, identified with Shashthi Devi, the goddess who protects children. In folk tradition, she is the sister of Surya. This is why most prayers at Chhath are for the health and long life of children.

Tradition links the vrat to several stories. Sita is said to have kept it with Lord Rama after their return to Ayodhya. In the Mahabharata tradition, Karna, the son of Surya, offered arghya standing in water each day, and Draupadi kept the vrat for the Pandavas. The Puranas tell of King Priyavrata, whose child was restored to life by Shashthi Devi.

Where Chhath Is Celebrated

Bihar: The ghats of the Ganga in Patna, and the Sun temple at Deo in Aurangabad district, draw the largest gatherings.

Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh: Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Varanasi and Gorakhpur all hold large observances.

Nepal: Chhath is a major festival across the Madhesh and the Terai.

Delhi NCR and Mumbai: Ghats along the Yamuna, temporary ponds across the NCR and Mumbai's beaches fill with families from the east.

Abroad: Communities in Mauritius, the Gulf, the UK and North America keep the festival at lakes, beaches and pools.

In July 2026, the Bihar chapter of INTACH, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, said it had prepared a dossier to propose Chhath for UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage, as ETV Bharat reported.

Chhath Puja 2026: An Astrological Note

In jyotish, the Sun stands for the soul, vitality, the father, and one's standing in the world. During Kartik, the Sun passes through Libra (Tula), the sign in which it is considered weakest, and tradition sees the worship of Chhath as a way of strengthening it. In 2026, the evening arghya falls on a Sunday, the Sun's own day, with the Moon in Uttara Ashadha, a nakshatra ruled by the Sun.

These are traditional associations. How the Sun is placed in your own chart is a separate question, which a kundli analysis answers. Remedies such as gemstones should follow from that reading, as our guide on which gemstone to wear explains.

Personal Guidance for the Year Ahead

Chhath closes the festival season that began with Sharad Navratri. If you would like to understand what the coming year holds for your health, family and work, Dr. Sanjay Sethi offers astrology consultations and numerology readings.

Book a personal consultation with Dr. Sanjay Sethi

Frequently Asked Questions About Chhath Puja 2026

1. When is Chhath Puja in 2026?

Chhath Puja 2026 is from Friday, 13 November to Monday, 16 November. The main day, with Sandhya Arghya, is Sunday, 15 November 2026. Usha Arghya and Parana are on Monday, 16 November.

2. When are Nahay Khay and Kharna in 2026?

Nahay Khay is on Friday, 13 November 2026, and Kharna is on Saturday, 14 November 2026. The 36-hour nirjala fast begins after the Kharna prasad on the evening of the 14th.

3. What time is Sandhya Arghya on 15 November 2026?

Sandhya Arghya is offered at sunset. On 15 November 2026, the Sun sets at 5:01 PM in Patna, 5:04 PM in Ranchi, 5:10 PM in Varanasi, 5:28 PM in New Delhi, 4:53 PM in Kolkata and 6:00 PM in Mumbai.

4. What time is Usha Arghya on 16 November 2026?

Usha Arghya is offered at sunrise. On 16 November 2026, the Sun rises at 6:07 AM in Patna, 6:03 AM in Ranchi, 6:16 AM in Varanasi, 6:44 AM in New Delhi, 5:50 AM in Kolkata and 6:46 AM in Mumbai.

5. How long is the Chhath fast?

The nirjala fast lasts about 36 hours. It begins after the Kharna prasad on the evening of Saturday, 14 November and ends with the Parana after Usha Arghya on the morning of Monday, 16 November.

6. Why is the setting Sun worshipped in Chhath Puja?

Chhath gives thanks to the Sun at the end of the day as well as at its beginning. Offering arghya to the setting Sun first, and to the rising Sun the next morning, expresses gratitude for the whole cycle of light that sustains life.

7. Who is Chhathi Maiya?

Chhathi Maiya is identified with Shashthi Devi, the goddess who protects children, and folk tradition regards her as the sister of Surya. Devotees pray to her for the health and long life of their children.

8. Can men keep the Chhath vrat?

Yes. Most vratis are women, but many men keep the vrat as well, and the rules are the same for both.

9. Can Chhath Puja be done at home?

Yes. Families without access to a river or pond stand in a tub, a small pool or a terrace tank filled with clean water and offer arghya facing the Sun at sunset and sunrise.

10. What is offered in Chhath Puja?

The main prasad is thekua, made of wheat flour, jaggery and ghee. The soop also holds sugarcane, coconut, bananas, seasonal fruit and kasar. The arghya itself is of water and milk.

11. Is Chhath Puja a public holiday in 2026?

Bihar observes holidays on Sunday, 15 November and Monday, 16 November 2026. The Government of India lists Surya Shashthi on 15 November as a restricted holiday. Other states notify their own holidays.

12. How many days after Diwali is Chhath Puja in 2026?

Diwali is on Sunday, 8 November 2026. Chhath begins five days later with Nahay Khay on 13 November, and the main day, 15 November, is a week after Diwali.

 

Dates and timings may vary by location and tradition. Please follow your family custom or priest where their guidance differs. Nothing here is medical advice.