Chhath Puja 2026: dates and arghya times

Chhath Puja is a four-day festival of the Sun God, Surya, and Chhathi Maiya, observed in Kartika on Shukla Shashthi, mainly in Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Terai of Nepal, and by families from these regions across India and abroad. Devotees, most often women, keep a strict fast without water and offer arghya to the setting Sun on Shashthi evening and to the rising Sun the next morning, standing in a river or pond.

The days follow the tithi: Nahay Khay on Chaturthi, Kharna on Panchami, Sandhya Arghya at sunset on Shashthi and Usha Arghya at sunrise on Saptami. The arghya is offered to the Sun as it sets and as it rises, so the times that matter are the local sunset and sunrise, which this page gives for each city. Families reach the ghat well before sunset and before dawn.

Shukla Shashthi runs from 11:13 pm, 14 Nov to 1:50 am, 16 Nov (Indian Standard Time).

Sunset and sunrise are calculated for each city's coordinates and are usually within a minute of printed panchangs. They are for a clear, level horizon, so at a ghat with trees or buildings to the west the Sun disappears a little earlier; arrive well before the time shown. Cities outside India show their local date and time. Shashthi tithi timing is approximate, usually within about 30 minutes.