{"id":187,"date":"2026-11-02T15:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T09:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/?p=187"},"modified":"2026-11-02T17:05:32","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:35:32","slug":"chhath-puja-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/chhath-puja-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Chhath Puja 2026: Exact Arghya Time for Your City, Complete 4-Day Vidhi and Prasad List"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chhath Puja 2026 begins with Nahay Khay on <strong>Friday, 13 November<\/strong> and ends with the Usha Arghya at sunrise on <strong>Monday, 16 November<\/strong>. The main evening offering to the setting Sun, Sandhya Arghya, falls on <strong>Sunday, 15 November<\/strong>. In Patna the Sun sets at <strong>5:01 PM<\/strong> that evening and rises at <strong>6:07 AM<\/strong> the next morning; in Delhi the times are 5:27 PM and 6:44 AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This guide gives the arghya times for 28 cities, from Bihar and Jharkhand towns to Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, explains what happens on each of the four days and why the dates fall where they do, and lists what goes in the soop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#calendar\">Chhath Puja 2026 calendar<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#arghya-time\">Sandhya and Usha Arghya time in 28 cities<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#four-days\">The four days of Chhath, step by step<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#soop\">What goes in the soop and daura<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#story\">Who is Chhathi Maiya? The stories<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#ghat-tips\">Practical tips for the ghat<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#faq\">Frequently asked questions<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"calendar\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chhath Puja 2026 calendar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Day<\/th><th>Date<\/th><th>Tithi<\/th><th>What happens<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Nahay Khay<\/td><td>Fri 13 Nov<\/td><td>Chaturthi<\/td><td>Holy bath, house cleaned, one sattvic meal of kaddu-bhaat and chana dal<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Kharna (Lohanda)<\/td><td>Sat 14 Nov<\/td><td>Panchami<\/td><td>Fast all day; after sunset, kheer of jaggery and rice with roti is offered and eaten; the 36-hour nirjala fast begins<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sandhya Arghya<\/td><td>Sun 15 Nov<\/td><td>Shashthi<\/td><td>Offering to the setting Sun from the water at the ghat<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Usha Arghya and parana<\/td><td>Mon 16 Nov<\/td><td>Saptami<\/td><td>Offering to the rising Sun, then the fast is broken<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chhath is fixed by the tithi, Kartik Shukla Shashthi. In 2026 Chaturthi is present at sunrise on 13 November, Panchami on 14 November, and Shashthi begins at 11:24 PM on 14 November and lasts until 2:02 AM on 16 November, covering the whole of the 15th. Saptami follows, so the dawn of 16 November is the Usha Arghya. In Patna the Kharna offering is made after sunset at 5:01 PM on 14 November, and in Delhi after 5:28 PM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a fitting coincidence this year. On the evening of 16 November, a few hours after the last arghya, the Sun moves from Libra, where it is weak, into Scorpio. Vrishchik Sankranti, the Sun&#8217;s change of sign, falls on the same day the Sun-worship festival ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"arghya-time\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chhath Puja 2026 Sandhya and Usha Arghya time in 28 cities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The arghya is offered as the Sun touches the horizon in the evening and as it appears in the morning. Reach the ghat 30 to 45 minutes early, because by the time of sunset you should already be standing in the water with the soop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>City<\/th><th>Sandhya Arghya, sunset 15 Nov<\/th><th>Usha Arghya, sunrise 16 Nov<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Patna<\/td><td>5:01 PM<\/td><td>6:07 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Gaya<\/td><td>5:03 PM<\/td><td>6:07 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Muzaffarpur<\/td><td>4:59 PM<\/td><td>6:07 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Bhagalpur<\/td><td>4:54 PM<\/td><td>5:59 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Darbhanga<\/td><td>4:57 PM<\/td><td>6:05 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Purnia<\/td><td>4:51 PM<\/td><td>5:58 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Begusarai<\/td><td>4:57 PM<\/td><td>6:03 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ranchi<\/td><td>5:04 PM<\/td><td>6:03 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Jamshedpur<\/td><td>5:01 PM<\/td><td>5:59 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Dhanbad<\/td><td>4:58 PM<\/td><td>5:59 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Varanasi<\/td><td>5:10 PM<\/td><td>6:15 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Gorakhpur<\/td><td>5:06 PM<\/td><td>6:16 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Prayagraj<\/td><td>5:14 PM<\/td><td>6:20 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Lucknow<\/td><td>5:15 PM<\/td><td>6:26 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Delhi<\/td><td>5:27 PM<\/td><td>6:44 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Noida<\/td><td>5:27 PM<\/td><td>6:43 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Chandigarh<\/td><td>5:25 PM<\/td><td>6:50 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Kolkata<\/td><td>4:53 PM<\/td><td>5:49 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Guwahati<\/td><td>4:33 PM<\/td><td>5:42 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Raipur<\/td><td>5:22 PM<\/td><td>6:14 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Bhopal<\/td><td>5:35 PM<\/td><td>6:34 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ahmedabad<\/td><td>5:55 PM<\/td><td>6:53 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Surat<\/td><td>5:57 PM<\/td><td>6:49 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Mumbai<\/td><td>6:00 PM<\/td><td>6:46 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Pune<\/td><td>5:57 PM<\/td><td>6:41 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Hyderabad<\/td><td>5:40 PM<\/td><td>6:21 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Bengaluru<\/td><td>5:50 PM<\/td><td>6:18 AM<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Chennai<\/td><td>5:39 PM<\/td><td>6:08 AM<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">All times IST. Sunset and sunrise for the upper edge of the Sun at a flat horizon, calculated for each city with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.astro.com\/swisseph\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Swiss Ephemeris<\/a>. Buildings, haze or a high riverbank can hide the Sun a few minutes earlier.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For sunrise and sunset in any other town, check the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/daily-panchang\">daily Panchang<\/a> for your location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"four-days\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The four days of Chhath, step by step<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Day 1, Nahay Khay (13 November)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Bathe and eat.&#8221; The vrati, the person keeping the fast, bathes in a river or pond, or at home with a few drops of Ganga water, and the house and kitchen are cleaned thoroughly. Only one meal is eaten, cooked in pure ghee on a fresh or cleaned chulha: rice, chana dal and lauki (bottle gourd), usually without onion or garlic and with rock salt. Family members eat after the vrati.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Day 2, Kharna or Lohanda (14 November)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vrati fasts through the day, without water in most families. After sunset, kheer made with rice, milk and jaggery (rasiya), roti or puri and bananas are prepared on a mud stove with mango wood, offered to Chhathi Maiya, and eaten by the vrati in silence and privacy. The prasad is then shared with the family and neighbours. From this meal the vrati keeps a nirjala fast, without food or water, for about 36 hours until the morning of the fourth day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Day 3, Sandhya Arghya (15 November)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The day is spent preparing thekua and the other offerings. In the afternoon the family carries the daura, a bamboo basket loaded with the soops, to the ghat, often with the men carrying it on their heads and the women singing Chhath geet. The vrati stands in the water facing west, holds up the soop, and as the Sun sets, family members pour milk or water as arghya over it. Lamps are lit on the ghat. In many homes a kosi, a canopy of sugarcane stalks with lamps inside, is set up in the courtyard that night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Day 4, Usha Arghya and parana (16 November)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before dawn, families return to the same spot at the ghat, many of them leaving home in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/brahma-muhurta\/\">Brahma Muhurta<\/a>, about an hour and a half before sunrise. The vrati stands in the water facing east and the arghya is offered to the rising Sun. Prayers are said for the family&#8217;s health, children and prosperity, the prasad is distributed, and the vrati breaks the fast with water, ginger, a little jaggery and thekua. The Moon is in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/shravana-nakshatra\/\">Shravana<\/a> at dawn, having passed through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/uttara-ashadha-nakshatra\/\">Uttara Ashadha<\/a>, a nakshatra ruled by the Sun, during the evening arghya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"soop\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What goes in the soop and daura<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The soop is a winnowing tray of woven bamboo, and the daura is the larger basket that carries several soops to the ghat. A typical soop holds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Thekua, the crisp sweet of wheat flour, jaggery and ghee that is the signature prasad of Chhath<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Kasar or laddoos of rice flour and jaggery<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Seasonal fruits: banana bunches, sugarcane, sweet lime, coconut, a large citron (nimbu or gagal), water chestnut (singhara), custard apple and pomegranate<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Root and fresh produce: radish, fresh turmeric and ginger plants with leaves, sweet potato, and a pumpkin or gourd in some families<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Supari, rice, sindoor, a ghee or oil lamp, and a red or yellow cloth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Everything offered is local and seasonal, and much of it is from the new harvest. That is part of the character of Chhath: it has no idol and needs no priest, only the Sun, water and the fruits of the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"story\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who is Chhathi Maiya? The stories behind Chhath<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chhath is offered to Surya, the Sun, and to Chhathi Maiya, who is understood in folk tradition as the Sun&#8217;s sister or as Shashthi Devi, the goddess who protects children. The word Chhath itself comes from shashthi, the sixth day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several stories are told about the festival&#8217;s origin. In one, Sita and Rama kept the fast on their return to Ayodhya. In another, Karna, the son of Surya in the Mahabharata, stood waist-deep in water every day to offer arghya to his father, which is why the vrati stands in water. Draupadi is also said to have kept the Chhath fast to help the Pandavas regain their kingdom. A Puranic story tells of King Priyavrat, who had no children until he worshipped Shashthi Devi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chhath is unusual among Hindu festivals for honouring the setting Sun as well as the rising one. The evening arghya is often explained as gratitude for the day that has passed and the morning one as a prayer for the day to come. It is also one of the few great festivals that is kept just as often by men as by women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chhath in the Kartik festival season<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chhath comes six days after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/diwali-2026-lakshmi-puja-muhurat\/\">Diwali<\/a>, which fell on 8 November this year, and three days after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/govardhan-puja-2026\/\">Govardhan Puja<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/bhai-dooj-2026\/\">Bhai Dooj<\/a>. Dev Uthani Ekadashi follows on 20 November and Kartik Purnima on 24 November. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/november-2026-horoscope\/\">November 2026 horoscope<\/a> lists all of these with the month&#8217;s planetary shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In astrology the Sun stands for health, vitality, the father and authority. A weak Sun in the birth chart is one of the classic reasons astrologers suggest Surya arghya as a daily practice. If you would like to know how the Sun is placed in your own chart, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/free-kundli\">free Kundli<\/a> shows it, and our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/premium-reports\">premium reports<\/a> explain what it means for your career and health periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"ghat-tips\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Practical tips for the ghat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Visit the ghat a day earlier to choose and mark your spot, and check the depth of the water there.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Keep children and elderly family members away from the edge and away from deep water, and keep them close in the crowd.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Mid-November mornings are cold in Bihar and North India. Carry a shawl and dry clothes for the vrati, who stands in the water before dawn.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Carry a torch for the pre-dawn walk and leave early, as roads to large ghats are closed to vehicles.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>If you are in a city without a river, many housing societies and municipal bodies set up artificial ponds; a clean tub on the terrace is accepted by many families too.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Take back the plastic. Chhath is a festival of clean water, and many ghats now run &#8220;no plastic&#8221; drives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"faq\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is Chhath Puja in 2026?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From 13 to 16 November 2026: Nahay Khay on 13 November, Kharna on 14 November, Sandhya Arghya on 15 November and Usha Arghya on 16 November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is the Sandhya Arghya time on 15 November 2026?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sunset is at 5:01 PM in Patna, 5:04 PM in Ranchi, 5:10 PM in Varanasi, 5:27 PM in Delhi, 4:53 PM in Kolkata and 6:00 PM in Mumbai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is the Usha Arghya time on 16 November 2026?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sunrise is at 6:07 AM in Patna, 6:03 AM in Ranchi, 6:15 AM in Varanasi, 6:44 AM in Delhi, 5:49 AM in Kolkata and 6:46 AM in Mumbai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How long is the Chhath fast?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The nirjala fast, without food or water, lasts about 36 hours, from the Kharna meal on the evening of 14 November to the parana after the Usha Arghya on 16 November. Anyone with a health condition should speak to a doctor before keeping it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is there a second Chhath in the year?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes. Chaiti Chhath is kept on Chaitra Shukla Shashthi in March or April with the same rituals, though on a smaller scale than Kartik Chhath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>How these timings were worked out: sunrise, sunset and the Chaturthi to Saptami tithis were calculated by Nakshatra Finder for each city with the Swiss Ephemeris, and checked against published panchang times for Patna and New Delhi. Rituals are described as commonly practised in Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh; family customs differ.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chhath Puja 2026 runs from Nahay Khay on 13 November to Usha Arghya on 16 November. See the sunset and sunrise arghya time for 28 cities including Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Ranchi, Delhi and Mumbai, the four days explained, the soop list and the vidhi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[76,74,59,75],"class_list":["post-187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-festivals","tag-bihar","tag-chhath-puja","tag-festivals","tag-surya-puja"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":349,"href":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions\/349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nakshatrafinder.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}