Chhath Puja 2026 — Dates, Arghya Timings & Significance

Chhath Puja 2026 spans four days: November 13–16, 2026 — observed in the Kartik month after Diwali, honoring Chhathi Maiya (the sixth form of Devi) and Lord Surya (the Sun). The festival's two most sacred moments are the Sandhya Arghya (evening Sun offering): sunset on November 15 at approximately 17:28 IST in New Delhi (Patna 17:01, Varanasi 17:10), and the Usha Arghya (morning Sun offering): sunrise on November 16 at approximately 06:44 IST in New Delhi (Patna 06:07, Varanasi 06:16). Devotees stand in river or pond water and offer water (arghya) to the Sun at both its setting and rising — one of the very few Vedic rituals where the Sun is worshipped at both twilight transitions.

Chhath Puja is the only major Hindu festival that worships the setting Sun (Sandhya Surya) as the primary deity form — not the rising Sun. The Rig Veda's Khila section specifically prescribes worship of the Sun at dusk as the most powerful solar invocation, because the setting Sun demonstrates the ultimate generosity: continuing to give light even as it departs.

Reviewed by Dr. Meenakshi Sharma, M.A. Sanskrit & Vedic Studies, Varanasi, with 20+ years of practice in Vedic festival traditions.

Understand how the Sun's placement in your chart affects vitality, father relationships, and career authority with the free birth chart calculator.

Chhath Puja 2026 runs across four days in Kartik month, in the week after Diwali:

Day | Date | Ritual

1. Day 1 | November 13 (Friday) | Nahay Khay — ritual bath, one meal
2. Day 2 | November 14 (Saturday) | Kharna — day-long fast, evening feast
3. Day 3 | November 15 (Sunday) | Sandhya Arghya — sunset offering (~17:28 IST Delhi)
4. Day 4 | November 16 (Monday) | Usha Arghya — sunrise offering (~06:44 IST Delhi), fast broken

Chhath falls on Kartik Shukla Shashthi (the 6th day of the bright fortnight) — Chhath literally means "sixth" in the local dialect. It is one of 4 days after Diwali (Diwali = Amavasya/new moon; Chhath = 6th bright fortnight day = approximately 6 days later).

Year | Sandhya Arghya | Usha Arghya

1. 2024 | November 7 (Thursday) | November 8 (Friday)
2. 2025 | October 27 (Monday) | October 28 (Tuesday)
3. 2026 | November 15 (Sunday) | November 16 (Monday)
4. 2027 | November 4 (Thursday) | November 5 (Friday)

The two critical moments of Chhath Puja 2026:

Sandhya Arghya (November 15, Sunday): Sunset in New Delhi at approximately 17:28 IST. Devotees enter the water before sunset and offer arghya as the Sun touches the horizon.

Usha Arghya (November 16, Monday): Sunrise in New Delhi at approximately 06:44 IST. Devotees return to the water before sunrise and offer arghya as the Sun rises.

Chhath Puja 2026 Arghya Timings by City

City | Sandhya Arghya (Nov 15 Sunset) | Usha Arghya (Nov 16 Sunrise)

1. New Delhi | 17:28 IST | 06:44 IST
2. Patna | 17:01 IST | 06:07 IST
3. Varanasi | 17:10 IST | 06:16 IST
4. Arghya moments are your city's exact sunset and sunrise — verify at drikpanchang.com.

Arghya must be offered at the exact moment of sunset/sunrise. Verify local timings at drikpanchang.com or local panchanga.

Chhath Puja is the most rigorous personal vow (vrat) in Hinduism — the devotee fasts for 36+ hours (from Kharna morning to Usha Arghya morning), stands in water twice for the arghya offerings, and maintains complete purity (separate bed, no contact with others) throughout. The significance operates at multiple levels:

Solar worship: The Sun (Surya) is the most visible and verifiable cosmic power — the source of all life, heat, light, and photosynthesis. Chhath's solar worship is direct Vedic sun-worship in its most ancient, unmediated form — no idol, no temple required. The devotee herself becomes the priest, the riverbank becomes the temple, and the Sun is the deity directly present.

Chhathi Maiya: The 6th day after birth is called Chhath in Bihar and UP — the day when Chhathi Maiya (the sixth goddess, connected to Shashthi Devi, protector of children) visits the newborn. Chhath Puja's river-worship on Kartik Shashthi is the annual renewal of the devotee's relationship with Chhathi Maiya, thanking her for protecting children and granting boons for the family's health and fertility.

River as sacred space: The Rig Veda specifies that the Sun's power is most accessible at the river's edge at dusk and dawn — the two Sandhya (twilight) moments. Chhath's 36-hour ritual recreates the Vedic Sandhya worship in its fullest form.

Day 1 — Nahay Khay (November 13, Friday): The devotee (vrati) takes a ritual bath in a river or pond before sunrise. The home and puja space are thoroughly cleaned. One complete meal is eaten — traditionally arwa chawal (unpolished rice) with chana dal and lauki (bottle gourd) sabzi. No garlic, onion, or non-vegetarian food. This is the last meal before the 36-hour fast begins.

Day 2 — Kharna (November 14, Saturday): A day-long fast without water. At sunset, a feast is prepared: kheer (rice pudding cooked in milk with jaggery), roti of wheat flour or rice flour, and fresh fruits. The vrati eats this meal as puja prasad after sunset — and then begins the main fast that extends through both arghya offerings.

Day 3 — Sandhya Arghya (November 15, Sunday, ~17:28 IST Delhi): The vrati goes to the river with offerings in bamboo baskets (daura or soop): sugarcane stalks, seasonal fruits (thekua, ginger, turmeric with leaves, coconut, banana), thekua (wheat-jaggery fried sweet), and malpua (fried pancake). Standing in the water, the vrati offers water to the setting Sun with joined palms while family members blow conch shells and sing Chhath songs (parani geet). The offering is made as the Sun's lower rim touches the horizon.

Day 4 — Usha Arghya (November 16, Monday, ~06:44 IST Delhi): The vrati returns to the river before sunrise and offers the morning arghya as the Sun rises. Conch shells, lamps, and Chhath songs accompany the offering. After the Sun has fully risen and the arghya is complete, the vrati breaks the fast — typically with ginger water (adrak ka sharbat) offered by family members, followed by the prasad (thekua, fruits, kheer).

Traditional Chhath offerings and prasad:

• Thekua (Khajuria in UP): The signature Chhath food — wheat flour, jaggery, and ghee fried in a specific pattern on wooden molds. Thekua is the primary offering in the bamboo baskets
• Kheer: Rice cooked in milk with raw jaggery (not refined sugar) — served as Kharna meal prasad
• Sugarcane: Fresh sugarcane stalks are offered to the Sun as the sugar-producing plant powered by solar energy
• Ginger with leaves and turmeric root with leaves: Offered whole in the bamboo basket — their root-and-leaf form represents the complete plant
• Coconut: Offered as a symbol of the head (ego) surrendered to the Sun
• Lauki (bottle gourd): The first Nahay Khay meal vegetable — a sattvic vegetable considered pure for Chhath

No salt is used in Chhath offerings. All preparations use rock salt (sendha namak) only.

Chhath Puja's Sandhya Arghya falls on November 15, 2026 — with the Sun in the last degrees of Libra (its debilitation sign). Offering water to the debilitated Sun at Sandhya (the Sun's weakest moment in its daily cycle) is one of the most powerful solar remedies in Vedic tradition: the Sun receives the maximum benefit from worship precisely when it is at its most vulnerable position (debilitation in Libra + setting at dusk).

In Jyotish, those with:

• Weak Sun in the birth chart (Sun debilitated, combust, or in 6th/8th/12th house)
• Father relationship difficulties
• Career authority issues
• Poor eyesight or heart conditions (Sun rules these)

...receive maximum benefit from completing the Chhath Puja 36-hour vrat in 2026. The Sandhya Arghya to the setting Sun in Libra is a precise remedial prescription for Sun weakness.

Check your Sun's strength and its house placement with the birth chart calculator to understand how Chhath Puja 2026 affects your solar energy.

• Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern UP: The heartland of Chhath — rivers like the Ganga, Son, Punpun, and Falgu see millions of devotees. Patna's Gandhi Ghat on Chhath evening is one of the largest religious gatherings in India
• Delhi: The Yamuna River and numerous city ponds host massive Chhath celebrations — the largest Chhath outside Bihar
• Mumbai: Juhu Beach and Aksa Beach serve the large Bihari and UP communities in Mumbai; the ocean arghya is accepted as equivalent to river arghya
• Worldwide: Chhath Puja is observed by Indian diaspora communities wherever there is a significant Bihar or UP population — including Mauritius, Fiji, the Caribbean (where Bihari indentured laborers settled in the 19th century), and major cities in Europe and North America

Chhath Puja is a gazetted public holiday in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh. It is a restricted (optional) holiday in Delhi NCR, Maharashtra, and most other states with large migrant populations. The Government of India declared Chhath a national holiday in 2023 for central government employees.