About Chhath Puja
Chhath is the most loved festival of Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Terai of Nepal. It falls six days after Diwali, in the bright half of Kartik, and is devoted to Surya, the sun, and to Chhathi Maiya, honoured as a mother who watches over children and the family. Wherever families from these regions have settled, from Delhi and Mumbai to cities abroad, Chhath is kept on riverbanks, by ponds and even at tanks built on rooftops.
The festival runs over four days. On the first day, Nahay Khay, the vrati bathes, cleans the home and eats one simple sattvik meal, usually lauki with chana dal and rice. On the second day, Kharna, the vrati fasts through the day and breaks the fast in the evening with rasiya, a kheer made with jaggery, and roti, which is then shared as prasad. After Kharna, many keep a long fast without water, about 36 hours, until the morning arghya. Those who are unwell, pregnant, elderly or young often keep a gentler form with water or fruit, and that is fully in the spirit of the day.
The third day is Sandhya Arghya. Families walk to the ghat carrying soop and bamboo baskets filled with thekua, fruits, sugarcane and coconut, and the vrati stands in the water to offer arghya to the setting sun. On the fourth morning, Usha Arghya, everyone gathers again before dawn, arghya is offered to the rising sun, and the fast ends with prasad shared among family and neighbours.
Chhath is known for its care and cleanliness: food cooked at home, swept ghats, earthen lamps and the folk songs women sing on the way to the water. It is kept as a time to thank the sun for life and light. Each family follows the customs it has inherited, so the offerings and small rituals differ from home to home. The page lists all four days, with sunset and sunrise for the two arghya days worked out for your city.
