Celebrate Chhath Puja 2026: Step-By-Step Rituals and Essentials

The Chhath Puja festival is about ordinary moments made sacred - sweeping the floors before dawn, tying a cloth over the basket, tasting kheer that reminds you of home. It’s families walking to the water together, steady and quiet, trusting the sun will meet them at the edge of the ghat. The Chhath Puja celebration doesn’t ask for noise or display, it is about care, clean surroundings, mindful fasting, and a thank you offered with both hands.

This guide keeps everything simple and real. We will explain the four days in plain words, show what to carry (soop, Thekua, fruits, sugarcane), and note when to leave for the ghat so you are on time for Sandhya and Usha Arghya.

And, if you are lining up the rest of your festive seasons, our handpicked events and festivals will help you plan what’s next. Let the Chhath Puja festival be calm, clean and heartfelt this year.

Chhath Puja is a four-day Hindu festival dedicated to the Sun God (Surya) and Chhathi Maiya, celebrated mainly in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Nepal’s Madhesh region. The Chhath Puja celebration is about gratitude for life, health and harvest and it’s known for its simplicity, discipline and cleanliness.

DAY 1: Nahay Khay: A ritual bath and a simple satvik meal to begin purification.

DAY 2: A strict fast ends after sunset with jaggery kheer/roti offered first to the deity, then shared.

DAY 3: Sandhya Arghya: Devotees keep a nirjala fast and offer arghya to the setting sun at a river/pond/ghat.

Day 4: Usha Arghya: Offerings to the rising sun, then the fast is broken with prasad.

You can definitely look out for more on the significance of Chhath Pujaand how is it celebrated.

Festival window: Saturday, 25 Oct 2026 - Tuesday, 28 Oct 2026

• DAY 1- Nahay Khay (Chathurthi): Sat, 25 Oct 2026 - Ritual Bath, satvik meal starts the vrat.
• DAY 2- Kharna/Lohanda (Panchami): Sun, 26 Oct 2026 - evening kheer/roti prasad, vow for nirjala fast begins.
• DAY 3- Sandhya Arghya (Shashthi/Main Chhath): Mon, 27 Oct 2026 - offerings to the setting sun (main public puja day).
• DAY 4- Usha Arghya and Parana (Saptami/Ashtami morning): Tue, 28 Oct 2026 - offerings to the rising sun, fast completion.

Suggested read: Durga Puja Pandals in Delhi

Before You Start (1-2 days prior)

• Cleanse and prep: Clean the home and kitchen, keep a separate, satvik (pure) cooking area.
• Pooja samagri checklist: Wheat flour, jaggery, rice, milk, ghee, fruits, sugarcane, turmeric, ginger, Thekua ingredients, bamboo soop, clay/metal kalash, incense, diya, new cloth.

DAY 1 - Nahay Khay (Purification)

• Ritual bath at a clean water source or home.
• Simple satvik meal, taken once, marking the start of the vrat.
• Begin cleanliness, discipline, and truthfulness - core values of the Chhath festival.

DAY 2 - Kharna (Lohanda)

• Fast through the day, preparing a pure kitchen for prasad.
• Sunset offering: cook gud ki kheer, roti/malpua, and offer to the deity first.
• Break the fast with prasad, then begin the nirjala fast that continues until DAY 4 Morning.

DAY 3 - Sandhya Arghya (Evening Offering)

• Assemble the soop/daura: Fruits, Thekua, coconut, betel leaves, diya, incense, and the arghya.
• Proceed to the ghat before sunset, stand in the water if safe and permitted.
• Offer arghya to the setting sun - raise the kalash, pour water slowly while praying for well-being and gratitude.
• Bhajans and community: keep the area clean, help elders and children.

DAY 4 - Usha Arghya & Parana (Morning Offerings and Fast Completion)

• Reach before dawn with prasad and arghya.
• Offering arghya to the rising sun completes the core worship.
• Parana (ending the fast) - return home, pray to Chhathi Maiya, and share prasad with family and neighbours.

• A heartfelt thank you to the sun and Chhathi Maiya - faith practiced with simple, clean Chhath Puja rituals.
• Brings people together, families and neighbours share space, prasad and help at the ghat.
• Fasting, early mornings and mindful cooking keep the focus on gratitude.
• From Bihar - UP - Jharkhand to big cities and the diaspora - the Chhath festival keeps culture alive, affordable, and inclusive.

Families thank the Sun (Surya) and Chhathi Maiya for health and harvest. Over four days, they keep a clean, disciplined fast, offer water at sunset (Sandhya Arghya) and at sunrise (Usha Arghya), then share prasad. It’s a quiet, family-led tradition of gratitude and care for nature.

Delhi

• Go to these ghats: ITO Yamuna Ghat, Chhat Maiya Surya Ghat (Burari), Kudesia Ghat (Kashmere Gate), Wazirabad Bridge Ghat, Kalindi Kunj Ghat
• Timings (Delhi) for Chhath Puja: Sunset October 27 - 5:14 PM, sunrise Oct 28 - 5:49 AM.

Mumbai

• Popular sites for Chhath Puja: Juhu Beach, Versova Beach, Dadar Chowpatty, Aksa Beach, Powai Lake.
• Timings (Mumbai) for Chhath Puja: Sunset Oct 27 - 6:08 PM, Sunrise Oct 28 - 6:37 AM

Kolkata

• Popular sites for Chhath Puja: Prinsep Ghat, plus KMDA/KMC temporary and permanent ghats across Kasba-Jadavpur-Patuli.
• Timings (Kolkata) for Chhath Puja: Sunset Oct 27 - 5:02 PM, Sunrise Oct 28 - 5:38 AM

Lucknow

• Popular sites for Chhath Puja: Laxman Mela Ground, Jhulelal Ghat, other Gomti riverfront ghats set up by LMC/AIBS
• Timings (Lucknow) for Chhath Puja: Sunset Oct 27 - 5:28 PM, Sunrise Oct 28 - 6:11 AM

Kathmandu Valley

• Popular sites for Chhath Puja: Kamal Pokhari, Gaurighat-Guhyeshwari Stretch on Bagmati, Banshi Ghat, Koteshwor confluence.
• Timings (Kathmandu) for Chhath Puja: Sunset Oct 27 - 5:24 AM, Sunrise Oct 28 - 6:10 AM

• You should arrive 60-90 minutes before sunset/sunrise to secure space near the waterline.
• You must follow local advisories, some ghats may be marked unsafe each year after inspections.