Chhath Puja: A Complete Guide to Bihar's Four-Day Festival of Faith, Nature and Gratitude

Every year, a few days after Diwali, something quiet and remarkable happens along the rivers, ponds and canals of Bihar. Families walk to the water's edge at dusk carrying bamboo baskets, and stand facing the setting sun. The next morning, before dawn, they return to do the same for the rising sun.

This is Chhath Puja, one of the most distinctive festivals in India. Its central rituals take place outdoors, at the water's edge, facing the sun. What it asks for is discipline, community and a deep sense of thanks. If you have only seen it in news photos or heard the songs drifting from a neighbour's home, this guide is for you.

What is Chhath Puja? Chhath Puja is a four-day festival dedicated to Surya, the Sun, and to Chhathi Maiya, a goddess whom many traditions identify with Usha, the dawn. Devotees thank the Sun for sustaining life and pray for the health and well-being of their families and children. It is celebrated most widely in Bihar, and also in Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Nepal, and by families from these regions who now live in cities across India and abroad.

Chhath is linked to the Hindi word for "sixth". The main rituals fall on Shashthi, the sixth day of the bright half of the Hindu month of Kartik, which is why the festival sits where it does on the calendar.

A few things set the festival apart. The person who keeps the fast, often called a vrati, observes a demanding fast of roughly 36 hours without water. The central rituals happen outdoors, standing in water. And the offerings are simple, seasonal and homemade. Several accounts are told about the festival's origins. Some point to hymns to Surya in the Rigveda; others link it to stories from the Mahabharata or the Ramayana. There is no single agreed origin, and many families simply say it is a tradition they were born into. This guide describes how Chhath is observed today without claiming to settle where it began.

Chhath Puja 2026 dates Chhath Puja 2026 falls from Friday, 13 November to Monday, 16 November 2026. The dates follow the Hindu lunar calendar (Panchang), so they shift each year on the Gregorian calendar.

Day 1 Nahay Khay Friday, 13 November

Day 2 Kharna Saturday, 14 November

Day 3 Sandhya Arghya (evening offering) Sunday, 15 November Shashthi

Day 4 Usha Arghya (morning offering) and parana Monday, 16 November Saptami

Offering times depend on your location, because they are tied to local sunset and sunrise. One Panchang source gives approximate times for Patna of about 5:01 PM on 15 November for Sandhya Arghya and about 6:07 AM on 16 November for Usha Arghya. For any other city, check your local sunrise and sunset, or ask the family or organisers hosting you.

The four days of Chhath Puja rituals

Day 1: Nahay Khay ("bathe and eat")

The festival begins with purification. The vrati bathes, often in the Ganga or a nearby river or pond, and the home is cleaned thoroughly. Water is brought home for cooking, and the family prepares a simple, pure meal. Traditionally this includes kaddu (bottle gourd or pumpkin) cooked without onion or garlic, along with rice and chana dal.

Day 2: Kharna

On the second day the vrati fasts through the day. In the evening, after worshipping the sun, they eat rasiao kheer, a rice pudding sweetened with jaggery, along with rotis. This meal is shared as prasad with family and neighbours. It is the last food and water the vrati will have for about 36 hours.

Day 3: Sandhya Arghya (the evening offering)

This is the heart of the festival. The vrati and family prepare the offerings at home, then walk together to the ghat, the riverbank or pond. The vrati stands in the water holding a soop (a bamboo winnowing basket) filled with prasad, fruits and lit diyas, and offers arghya, an offering of water and prayers, to the setting sun. After dark, lit clay diyas are offered at the water as well.

Day 4: Usha Arghya (the morning offering) and parana

Before sunrise, families return to the water. The vrati offers arghya to the rising sun, and then breaks the fast, a step called parana. Prasad is shared widely with family and neighbours. Thekua and the traditional foods of Chhath

If Chhath has a signature taste, it is thekua, a crisp, golden, deep-fried sweet made from wheat flour, jaggery and ghee. It is often pressed with a wooden mould to leave a carved pattern. Food writers describe it as the heart of the festival's prasad, and it is one of the main items placed in the soop offered to the Sun.

Other foods that appear across the four days include:

Rasiao kheer, the jaggery rice pudding eaten on Kharna

Kaddu ki sabzi, a pumpkin dish cooked without onion or garlic

Chana dal and rice, cooked simply with ghee

Seasonal fruit, such as bananas, along with sugarcane and sweet potato

Coconut and rice-flour ladoos, in some households

Many families follow strict rules of purity while cooking Chhath food, so each household's practice differs. If you are invited to help in a kitchen, ask first and follow your host's lead.

Chhath is as much heard as seen. Folk songs, sung in Bhojpuri, Maithili and Magahi, accompany every stage, from preparing the offerings to standing at the ghat at dawn. The late Sharda Sinha, widely known as the "Bihar Kokila", is remembered for songs that many families play every year. Among them are Pahile Pahil Chhathi Maiya, about the nerves and devotion of keeping Chhath for the first time, and Uthau Suruj Bhail Bihan, which welcomes the rising sun. The offerings are deliberately simple. The soop and other bamboo baskets carry fruit, sugarcane, thekua and diyas. Bamboo, clay and seasonal produce are all local materials, which is part of why the festival feels rooted in the place where it is kept.

The festival is also a community effort. Relatives travel home to join the family, and prasad is shared freely. Many families return to their home town for Chhath every year, which is why railway stations in Bihar and across north India are famously busy in the days around it. Why Chhath Puja is different from other Indian festivals

Many of the things that make Chhath stand out are the things it leaves out: Worship of the Sun itself. The central offerings are made outdoors to the sun, rather than in front of an idol in a temple. The rising and the setting sun. Few festivals honour both ends of the day in this way. Rigorous discipline. The multi-day fast, with about 36 hours without water at its centre, is demanding and taken seriously. Simple, seasonal offerings. Fruit, sugarcane, thekua and diyas are carried in bamboo baskets, and families prepare the food themselves. Rituals at the water. Devotees stand in a river, pond or other water body to make the offering. Chhath in Bihar's villages and in cities In Bihar's villages and towns, the ghat is often a river, pond or canal close to home. Families walk there together, carrying the offerings, for the evening and morning prayers. In cities, the celebration travels with the people who have moved there. City administrations in places such as Delhi arrange designated ghats, often with temporary ponds, tents and lighting, so that families without access to a river can still keep the festival. Delhi's government, for example, has declared a holiday for the festival. The setting is different, but the essentials remain the same: the fast, the offerings, the songs and the shared sunrise. It is worth remembering that both are real and valid. A rural ghat is not "more authentic" than a city one, and a city celebration is not a diluted version of it. Both are the same festival kept by the same families.

How to experience Chhath respectfully if you are not from Bihar Chhath is a living religious practice, not a performance. A few simple habits go a long way: Come by invitation, or go as a quiet observer. If you have a friend, colleague or neighbour who keeps Chhath, accept an invitation if they offer one. Otherwise, observe from a respectful distance. Ask before taking photographs. The vrati standing in the water is in prayer. Do not photograph them, or anyone else, without permission, and avoid flash. Do not touch the offerings. The soop, the prasad and the diyas are sacred. Wait to be offered prasad, and accept it with thanks. Follow your host's guidance. Families have their own rules on purity, clothing and where to stand. Ask rather than assume. Dress simply and modestly, and keep your voice low near the water. Leave the ghat clean. Carry away your own litter. Learn before you go. Read about the four days, try some folk songs, and ask questions with genuine curiosity. If you cannot be there in person, you can still take part by learning the traditions, listening to the music, and thanking a friend who is fasting for sharing the festival with you. Frequently asked questions

When is Chhath Puja in 2026?

Chhath Puja 2026 runs from Friday, 13 November to Monday, 16 November. Nahay Khay is on 13 November, Kharna on 14 November, Sandhya Arghya on 15 November and Usha Arghya on 16 November. What are the four days of Chhath Puja called? They are Nahay Khay, Kharna, Sandhya Arghya and Usha Arghya. Each is described in the guide above.

Who is worshipped during Chhath?

Surya, the Sun, and Chhathi Maiya, whom many traditions identify with Usha, the dawn.

Why do devotees fast for 36 hours?

The fast after Kharna is part of the discipline of the festival and is understood as devotion and thanks. It is a personal act of faith, and each family explains it in its own way. What is thekua and why is it important? Thekua is a deep-fried sweet of wheat flour, jaggery and ghee. It is one of the main prasad offerings placed in the soop and has become closely associated with the festival.

Can non-Biharis or non-Hindus attend Chhath celebrations?

Many ghats are public spaces and visitors are generally welcome to observe quietly, though practices vary by place and family. The respectful approach is to ask, follow local guidance and treat the occasion as a prayer, not an attraction.

Is Chhath only celebrated in Bihar? No. It is also widely observed in Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Nepal, and in cities across India and abroad wherever families from these regions live. Explore culture beyond the calendar

Festivals like Chhath remind us that some of the richest experiences are shared, local and made by people. If you enjoy learning about India through its traditions, food and community gatherings, you can discover cultural experiences near you on Accessly, from workshops and food walks to local gatherings hosted by the people who know them best.