Chhath Puja 2026 Date, Nahay Khay, Arghya Timings and Rituals

As the evening light turns copper over the riverbank, rows of devotees stand waist-deep in the water, their hands raised towards a sun that is slowly slipping below the horizon. On the steps behind them, bamboo baskets hold thekua, bananas, coconuts and stalks of sugarcane, each arranged with the kind of care that comes from years of repetition. Nobody hurries. This is Chhath, and few festivals in the Hindu calendar feel quite so quiet, so deliberate or so rooted in the open air.

Chhath is devoted to Surya Dev, the Sun God, and to Chhathi Maiya, a goddess associated with the wellbeing of children and families. What sets it apart is that prayers are offered to the setting Sun as well as the rising one. Spread over four days, the observance moves from purification to fasting to offerings at the water's edge, and it draws in entire households and neighbourhoods. This guide to Chhath Puja 2026 walks through the dates, timings, rituals and meaning of the festival, day by day.

Chhath Puja 2026: Date and Four-Day Festival Calendar

Chhath Puja 2026 will be observed from Friday, 13 November, to Monday, 16 November. Each of the four days has its own purpose, and the rituals follow a fixed order: cleansing first, then discipline, then the two Arghya offerings that form the heart of the festival.

Chhath falls on the Shashthi tithi of the Shukla Paksha in the month of Kartika, which is why it comes six days after Diwali. The same Shukla Shashthi is also when Skanda Sashti is observed in the bright fortnight, so the two share a tithi this year. Chhath, however, has its own distinct rituals and the two should not be confused.

Chhath Puja 2026: Sunrise, Sunset and Arghya Timings

Because the Arghya offerings are timed to the Sun itself, sunrise and sunset matter more here than at almost any other festival. The table below gives approximate timings for New Delhi.

These are New Delhi figures and should not be treated as universal. Sunrise and sunset shift by several minutes between Patna, Ranchi, Varanasi, Mumbai or any other city, and devotees abroad will have entirely different times. Anyone planning to stand at the ghat should check the local panchang and local sunrise and sunset data for their own city.

The Four Days of Chhath Puja 2026: Rituals and Their Significance

Day 1: Nahay Khay – Friday, 13 November 2026

The festival begins not at the riverbank but at home. On the first morning, devotees take a ritual bath, traditionally in a river or another suitable waterbody, and the house is cleaned thoroughly. Floors are washed, kitchens are scrubbed and utensils are set aside for the festival's cooking alone.

The name Nahay Khay simply means bathe and eat. Once purified, the devotee prepares and eats a simple vegetarian meal, traditionally rice, dal and bottle gourd, cooked without the usual flavourings associated with everyday meals. The restraint is deliberate. Nahay Khay sets the tone for everything that follows: cleanliness, discipline and a shift in attention from the ordinary to the devotional.

Day 2: Kharna / Lohanda – Saturday, 14 November 2026

The second day is the quietest. Devotees fast through the day, and the household moves around them with a certain hush. By evening, after sunset, the prayers begin and the Kharna prasad is prepared: kheer made with jaggery and rice, served alongside roti.

The food is first offered, and only then does the devotee break the day's fast and eat. Family and neighbours are often invited to share the prasad afterwards. Kharna also marks the start of the main Nirjala fast, a stretch of roughly 36 hours without food or water that continues through Sandhya Arghya and ends only after Usha Arghya on the fourth morning. Kharna is, in effect, the last meal before the hardest part of the observance, which is why it is treated as a stage of preparation as much as devotion.

Fasting practices are personal, and not every devotee follows them identically. Those with health concerns should think carefully about what is right for them, and should speak to a doctor where necessary.

Day 3: Sandhya Arghya – Sunday, 15 November 2026

The third day is the one most people picture when they think of Chhath. From mid-afternoon, families make their way to riverbanks, ponds and designated ghats. The offerings travel in bamboo baskets called soop, often carried on the head or shoulders by male members of the family, with thekua, seasonal fruits, coconuts and sugarcane arranged inside. Songs drift across the water, lamps are lit along the steps, and the crowd grows steadily as the light fades.

As the Sun nears the horizon, devotees enter the water and stand facing it. Arghya, traditionally a mixture of water and milk, is offered to the setting Sun, while the baskets are raised or held towards it. The approximate sunset time in New Delhi on this day is 5:28 PM.

Why honour a setting Sun? Many traditions worship only the rising Sun, but Chhath gives equal weight to both ends of the day. The ritual is often read as an expression of gratitude for the force that sustains life, offered not just when it arrives in full strength but also as it departs. Devotees then return home, and the night is spent in prayer and preparation for the dawn.

Day 4: Usha Arghya and Parana – Monday, 16 November 2026

The final day begins in darkness. Long before dawn, families return to the ghats, wrapped in shawls against the November chill, and wait in the water for the first light. When the Sun finally appears, with sunrise at roughly 6:44 AM in New Delhi, Arghya is offered to Surya Dev, and prayers are addressed to Chhathi Maiya as well.

After the morning rituals, the Nirjala fast comes to an end. Parana is the moment devotees break their fast, first with prasad and then with a meal shared among family and neighbours. Thekua and fruit are passed around, and the ghats take on a lighter mood. There is relief in it, certainly, but also a deep sense of gratitude and togetherness that comes from four days observed in common.

Chhath Puja Offerings: Thekua, Fruits and Traditional Prasad

The offerings are central to Chhath, and they are prepared with unusual care, usually at home and by the devotees themselves.

• Thekua: The signature offering of the festival, thekua is a crisp, deep-fried sweet made from wheat flour, jaggery and ghee. It is traditionally made at home, and often pressed with wooden moulds that leave a distinctive pattern.

• Coconuts and bananas: Whole coconuts and bunches of bananas sit in the bamboo baskets alongside other offerings.

• Sugarcane: Tall stalks of sugarcane are a familiar sight at the ghats and are traditionally part of the Chhath offerings.

• Seasonal fruits: A variety of fruits available at this time of year are included in the puja.

• Kharna prasad: Jaggery kheer and roti, prepared on the second day and shared after the evening offering.

After the rituals, this food is distributed as prasad, which is why so much of it is prepared with sharing in mind. What matters here is less the recipe than the spirit in which it is made: purity of preparation and generosity in giving.

Why Is Chhath Puja Celebrated? Significance of the Festival

It is tempting to describe Chhath as a fasting festival, but that captures only part of it. Several ideas run through the four days.

• Worship of Surya Dev. The Sun is associated with light, energy, health and the continuation of life itself, and Chhath turns that association into a direct, face-to-face act of thanks.

• Devotion to Chhathi Maiya. Chhathi Maiya is honoured alongside the Sun, and is closely linked in popular devotion with the protection and wellbeing of children and families.

• Respect for nature. The festival is celebrated in the open, in rivers and ponds, with water, sunlight and simple natural offerings. Few rituals place the devotee so literally within the natural world.

• Discipline and devotion. Cleanliness, restraint in food, fasting and long hours of prayer are all part of the observance, and together they shape it as a practice of self-discipline.

• Community and family. Cooking, carrying baskets, cleaning ghats and sharing prasad are rarely solitary tasks. Chhath draws families, neighbours and entire communities into a shared effort, which is a large part of why it is so deeply loved across Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and beyond.

Four Days of Faith, Discipline and Gratitude

On the final morning, as the first sunlight touches the surface of the river and devotees raise their offerings one last time, the long preparation of the previous days finally makes sense. Chhath Puja 2026 brings together devotion, self-discipline, respect for nature and family tradition across four carefully observed days, and it asks for patience in return. Those who stand at the ghat that morning will carry its quiet with them well after the crowds have gone home.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. When is Chhath Puja in 2026?

Chhath Puja 2026 will be observed from Friday, 13 November, to Monday, 16 November 2026.

Q2. What are the four days of Chhath Puja 2026?

The four days are Nahay Khay on 13 November, Kharna (Lohanda) on 14 November, Sandhya Arghya on 15 November and Usha Arghya with Parana on 16 November.

Q3. What are the Sandhya Arghya and Usha Arghya timings in 2026?

In New Delhi, sunset on 15 November is approximately 5:28 PM, and sunrise on 16 November is approximately 6:44 AM. Timings differ by city, so please check the local panchang.

Q4. What is prepared and offered during Chhath Puja?

Common offerings include thekua, coconuts, bananas, sugarcane and seasonal fruits, arranged in bamboo baskets. Jaggery kheer and roti are the traditional Kharna prasad on the second day.

Q5. How long is the Nirjala fast observed during Chhath Puja?

The Nirjala fast lasts roughly 36 hours, beginning after Kharna and continuing until after Usha Arghya on the fourth morning. Practices vary among devotees, and those with health concerns should seek advice before fasting.