Surya · Chhathi Maiya
Chhath Puja
The river-bank vrat to the setting and rising sun: austerity as devotion.
Tithi: Kartik Shukla Shashthi
In the simplest words
The strictest sun festival: standing in a river at sunset AND sunrise, offering fruit to Surya, thanking the sun we can actually see.
The story & purpose
Chhath asks what few vrats ask: thirty-six hours without water, standing waist-deep in the river, first for the setting sun and then the rising one. It is gratitude that bows to the sun when it is low, as well as at its noon.
The rest of the story
At its centre is Chhathi Maiya, the sixth-day mother who guards every newborn, and around her a song-canon that needs no loudspeaker to be mighty: 'Kelwa ke paat par' and 'Pahile pahil Chhathi Maiya', carried for decades in Sharda Sinha's voice. From Bihar's ghats the festival has walked with its people, and the same arghya now rises from the Thames, the Hudson, and Dubai Creek.
What is done
Nahay-khay & kharna
Two days of purification and the kharna meal open the vrat.
Sandhya arghya
Evening offerings of thekua and fruit to the setting sun, from the water.
Usha arghya & parana
The dawn arghya closes the fast.
Best timings
Sunset of Shashthi and sunrise of Saptami are the two arghya moments.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition; for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
Chhath has no murti and needs no priest; river, sun, and family suffice.
Bihar's ghats on these evenings are among India's greatest gatherings.
Chhath is kept twice a year: the smaller Chaiti Chhath falls on Chaitra Shukla Shashthi, six days into the spring Navratri.
Mantras of this festival
Note: A few 2026 lists print 18 November; the Shashthi arithmetic from Diwali (8 Nov) supports 15–16 November.