Guide: Chhath Puja 2026 runs from Friday, 13 November to Monday, 16 November. The main day is Sunday, 15 November, when devotees offer water to the setting sun. The fast ends on Monday morning, with the offering to the rising sun.
Updated: 10 November 2026, 11:00 IST
Quick Read
- Four days: Nahay Khay on Fri, 13 Nov; Kharna on Sat, 14 Nov; Sandhya Arghya on Sun, 15 Nov; Usha Arghya and Parana on Mon, 16 Nov.
- Sandhya Arghya is at sunset on 15 Nov — 5:01 pm in Patna, 5:28 pm in Delhi. Usha Arghya is at sunrise on 16 Nov — 6:07 am in Patna, 6:44 am in Delhi.
- The fast runs about 36 hours with no water after Kharna. It ends only after the morning arghya on Monday.
Chhath is one of the biggest festivals of Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal. It is also now a big festival in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and every city where families from Bihar and eastern UP live. Lakhs of people will gather at riverbanks, ponds, and ghats over these four days. The festival starts in three days, on Friday, 13 November.
Note on the dates: a few websites list Chhath as 14–17 November. That is wrong. Drik Panchang, the calendar most panchangs follow, puts the four days at 13–16 November. Prokerala gives the same four days. The Economic Times confirms the same dates. The reason for the mix-up is the tithi, the lunar day. Shashthi tithi, the main day, starts late on Saturday night, 14 November, at 11:23 pm, and runs till 2:00 am on Monday, 16 November. So the evening offering falls on Sunday, 15 November, and the morning offering on Monday, 16 November.
The four days, one by one
Chhath runs over four days, each with its own name and its own job. Here is the full schedule:
| Day | Date | Ritual | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Fri, 13 Nov | Nahay Khay | Holy bath, home cleaned, one simple meal |
| Day 2 | Sat, 14 Nov | Kharna (Lohanda) | Day fast, broken at sunset with kheer and roti |
| Day 3 | Sun, 15 Nov | Sandhya Arghya | Evening offering to the setting sun — the main day |
| Day 4 | Mon, 16 Nov | Usha Arghya and Parana | Morning offering to the rising sun, then the fast ends |
Day 1, Nahay Khay, means “bath and eat”. The devotee, called the vratin, takes a holy bath in a river or pond, or at home if no river is near. The house and kitchen are cleaned. The day’s meal is simple and satvik — no onion, no garlic, no non-veg. The classic dish is kaddu-bhaat: bottle gourd (lauki) cooked with rice and chana dal. This meal marks the start of purity for the four days. From here on, the kitchen is kept clean and the food is cooked with care.
Day 2, Kharna, is also called Lohanda. The vratin fasts through the whole day, without food and without water. In the evening, after sunset, jaggery kheer called rasiyao and rotis are cooked and first offered to the Sun. Then the family eats the prasad together. The moment the Kharna prasad is eaten, the long fast begins. It is a nirjala fast — no food, no water — and it runs about 36 hours, till Monday morning.
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Sandhya Arghya: the main day
Day 3 is the heart of Chhath. Families carry the soop and daura — bamboo baskets filled with thekua, fruits, sugarcane, coconut, and diyas — to the riverbank or ghat. The vratin stands in the water, often knee-deep, and offers arghya to the setting sun. Arghya is water poured from a small brass pot, or lota, while facing the sun. Songs are sung. The whole ghat glows with diyas as the sun goes down.
The offering is made at sunset, so the time changes by city. There is no single all-India time. You must use your own city’s sunset. Here are the timings from Drik Panchang, as quoted by Hindutone:
| City | Sandhya Arghya (sunset, Sun 15 Nov) | Usha Arghya (sunrise, Mon 16 Nov) |
|---|---|---|
| Patna | 5:01 pm | 6:07 am |
| Delhi | 5:28 pm | 6:44 am |
| Mumbai | 6:00 pm | 6:46 am |
| Kolkata | 4:53 pm | 5:50 am |
| Varanasi | 5:10 pm | 6:16 am |
| Ranchi | 5:04 pm | 6:03 am |
Reach the ghat early. Families in Patna are told to be there by 3:30 pm on the 15th, because the vratin stands in the water well before sunset. For the morning arghya, devotees are in the river in the dark from about 5 am, and offer the moment the sun shows. Local panchang times can differ by a few minutes from these figures, so check your own panchang if your family follows one.
Usha Arghya: the fast ends
Day 4 starts before dawn. The family returns to the ghat in the dark. The vratin stands in the water again and offers arghya to the rising sun. This is Usha Arghya. After the offering, the fast is broken. This breaking of the fast is called parana. The vratin first takes a little water and ginger, then the prasad — thekua and fruits that were offered. The prasad is then shared with the whole family and neighbours.
The morning is also when the blessings are given. Elders put sindoor on the vratin’s forehead. People touch the feet of the vratin and ask for blessings. The festival ends with the family walking home together, carrying the empty baskets back.
What Chhath means
Chhath is a festival of the Sun. Devotees pray to Surya, the Sun god, and to Chhathi Maiya, the goddess of the festival. The Sun is thanked for life, for crops, and for health. People pray for the long life of their children and for the well-being of the family. The fast is kept most often by mothers, for their children. It is also kept by people who have made a wish, a mannat, and by those giving thanks after a wish came true.
Tradition links the festival to old stories. One story says Draupadi and the Pandavas kept this fast during their exile. Another says Karna, the son of the Sun god, first offered arghya to the sun. These are stories of faith, told in families, not history as a textbook would record it. What is certain is that the festival is old, and that it has grown far beyond Bihar. It is now marked in Delhi’s Yamuna ghats, in Mumbai, in Kolkata, and by the diaspora abroad.
What to carry: the samagri list
Families start the shopping a few days early. Here is the list, grouped by when you need it:
For the kitchen, from Day 1: rice, chana dal, bottle gourd (lauki) for kaddu-bhaat, jaggery and rice for the Kharna kheer, wheat flour and jaggery for thekua, ghee, and rock salt. For the baskets: a bamboo soop and a daura, seasonal fruits — banana, apple, coconut, sugarcane stalks, and singhara if you can find it — plus thekua, diyas, cotton wicks, incense, kumkum, sindoor, and a brass lota for the arghya water.
For the ghat: a clean cloth to sit on, a change of clothes, and a bag for the prasad to carry home. If you are going with elders or small children, carry water for them — the vratin fasts, but the rest of the family does not have to. Keep the baskets covered on the way, and keep the prasad untouched by shoes or by anything unclean. That is the rule every family follows, and it is the one rule no one argues about.
Also read: Govardhan Puja 10 Nov: timings, rituals, story
Going to the ghat: a few plain tips
Crowds at the big ghats are huge. Patna’s ghats, Delhi’s Yamuna bank, and the ghats of Varanasi and Ranchi will be packed on Sunday evening and Monday morning. Go early, and fix a meeting point with your family in case phones do not work in the crowd. Keep children close. The riverbank is slippery, and the water is cold in November. Wear footwear you can slip off fast, and carry the soop with both hands.
Check your city’s ghat rules before you go. Some cities set up artificial ponds for Chhath, and some ghats have fixed entry and exit points. Delhi sets up ghats along the Yamuna and at many ponds across the city. If you are not sure where your nearest ghat is, ask in your colony group a day early, not on the day itself.
One more thing. The fast is hard. Thirty-six hours without water is not for everyone. People with diabetes, blood pressure trouble, or any illness should talk to a doctor before keeping it. Pregnant women and old people are usually told to keep a lighter fast, or to skip the nirjala part. The festival honours the Sun. It does not ask anyone to risk their health.
FAQ
When is Chhath Puja in 2026?
Chhath runs from Friday, 13 November to Monday, 16 November 2026. Nahay Khay is on the 13th, Kharna on the 14th, Sandhya Arghya on the 15th, and Usha Arghya with Parana on the 16th.
What time is Sandhya Arghya on 15 November?
It is at sunset, so it changes by city. In Patna it is 5:01 pm, in Delhi 5:28 pm, in Mumbai 6:00 pm, and in Kolkata 4:53 pm. Usha Arghya on 16 November is at sunrise: 6:07 am in Patna and 6:44 am in Delhi.
How long is the Chhath fast?
About 36 hours with no food and no water. It starts after the Kharna prasad on Saturday evening, 14 November, and ends after the Usha Arghya on Monday morning, 16 November.
Also read: Ayodhya lights 30 lakh diyas for Diwali 2026
Sources
- Hindutone — Chhath Puja 2026: dates, arghya time & vidhi (Drik Panchang figures, updated 21 Oct 2026)
- Devaastha — Chhath Puja 2026: dates, 4-day vidhi and significance (updated 22 Oct 2026)
- Economic Times — Nahay Khay 2026: date, kaddu-bhaat recipe, traditional food rules and Chhath Puja rituals (9 Nov 2026)
- Vedantu — Chhath Puja 2026 date: Nahay Khay, Kharna & arghya timings
Sasanka Sekhar Pradhan is the founder of India Presents, an India-focused news site. He covers daily box-office trackers, India news, economy explainers, sports previews and festival guides — in simple English, so readers across India can follow fast-moving stories without jargon. His focus is what a story means for the reader: the number that matters, the source behind it, and what happens next. India Presents publishes daily, with day-trackers updated as new figures come in.
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