Chhath Puja

Kundli.me · Festivals Worship of the Sun god Surya. 15 November 2026 · 15 days to go 👉

15 November 2026

When is it? Sunday 15 days to go The date follows the tithi in the panchang; when a tithi shortens or lengthens, some places keep the festival a day earlier or later.

Why it is celebrated Chhath is the vrat kept for Surya and for Chhathi Maiya on Kartik Shukla Shashthi — chhath simply means “the sixth”, the sixth tithi of the bright fortnight of Kartik.

The story and belief Chhathi Maiya is the deity of childhood and of the sixth day — the same sixth day after a birth on which many families in this belt still hold the chhathi ceremony for a newborn.

The story and belief · continued She is spoken of as the sister of Surya, which is why one vrat serves both: the arghya goes to the Sun, the prayer goes to her, and what is asked for is almost always the health and long life of children.

The story and belief · continued Anyone who has stood at a ghat has heard it in the songs — the folk repertoire of Chhath is enormous, sung by women without instruments, and it is closer to the heart of the festival than any written text.

Main rituals • Prepare the prasad yourself • Load the daura and the soop • Walk to the ghat barefoot • Stand in the water and offer • Kosi bharai The vidhi below is the shape kept in most households along the Bihar and eastern UP belt.

Across India • Bihar — the Ganga ghats of Patna, the Punpun, the Sone and every village pond. • Jharkhand and the Mithila region — Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Darbhanga, Madhubani. • Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Surat, Ludhiana — artificial ghats built by the municipality or by community groups on the Yamuna, at lakes, on beaches and in park tanks. Customs differ from home to home and region to region; these are the main forms, not a rule everywhere.

Often asked How long is the Chhath fast, and is it really without water? Yes — the central fast is nirjala, without food or water, and it runs from the Kharna meal on the evening of the second day to the parana after Usha Arghya on the fourth morning, which is roughly thirty-six hours.

Often asked · answer continued The first day’s Nahay-Khay meal and the Kharna prasad are the only two things the vrati eats across the four days.

Key facts

Chhath Puja Full span — Four days — Nahay-Khay, Kharna, Sandhya Arghya, Usha Arghya Tithi — Kartik Shukla Shashthi is the Chhath tithi Read the full guide

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