Chhath Puja 2026 Date: Nahay Khay, Kharna, Sandhya and Usha Arghya

Chhath Puja 2026 begins on Friday, 13 November and ends at sunrise on Monday, 16 November, with the main evening offering to the setting sun on Sunday, 15 November. It is one of the strictest observances in Hindu tradition: a four-day worship of Surya, the sun god, and Chhathi Maiya, kept mostly by women for the health and long life of their families. This guide covers the Chhath Puja 2026 date for each day and what happens on it. For the festival’s background, see our Chhath Puja page.

Chhath Puja 2026 date: the four days at a glance

• Day 1, Friday 13 November: Nahay Khay. Bathing and a single pure meal.
• Day 2, Saturday 14 November: Kharna. A day-long fast broken at sunset with kheer.
• Day 3, Sunday 15 November: Sandhya Arghya. Offering to the setting sun at a river or pond.
• Day 4, Monday 16 November: Usha Arghya. Offering to the rising sun, then the fast is broken.

Chhath falls on the sixth day (Shashthi) of the bright half of Kartik, six days after Diwali. Sunrise and sunset times vary by city, so check a local panchang for the exact moment of each arghya.

Day 1: Nahay Khay

“Nahay khay” means “bathe and eat”. The vratis, those keeping the vow, bathe in a river or at home, clean the house thoroughly, and eat one sattvic meal, usually rice, chana dal and lauki (bottle gourd) cooked without onion or garlic, often on a clay stove with mango wood. From this day the household follows strict rules of purity.

Day 2: Kharna

On Kharna, the vratis fast all day without water. At sunset they offer and then eat kheer made with jaggery and rice, along with rotis, and share this prasad with family and neighbours. After this meal begins the hardest part of the vow: a nirjala fast, without food or water, of about 36 hours that lasts until the morning of day four.

Day 3: Sandhya Arghya

On the evening of 15 November, families walk to a riverbank, pond or a specially built water tank, carrying bamboo baskets (soop and daura) filled with thekua, sugarcane, coconut, banana, citrus and other seasonal fruits. Standing waist-deep in water, the vratis offer arghya to the setting sun as folk songs of Chhath are sung. This is the only major Hindu festival in which the setting sun is worshipped.

Day 4: Usha Arghya and parana

Before dawn on 16 November, the families return to the water and wait for sunrise. As Surya rises, the vratis make the final arghya and pray to Chhathi Maiya. They then break the fast, a rite called parana, usually with ginger, water and prasad, and distribute thekua to everyone present.

The meaning of Chhath

Chhath honours the sun as the source of life and health, and tradition links it to several stories: Karna, the son of Surya, offering daily prayers standing in water (Surya and the birth of Karna), and Sita and Draupadi keeping the vrat in popular retellings. Whatever the story, the heart of the festival is gratitude, discipline and purity, observed with no priest required: each family stands directly before the sun. Read the vrat katha in the story of Chhathi Maiya.