India GOChhath Puja: where to see the sun offerings and how to behave
Standing in the river to greet the rising sun
Chhath Puja is a four-day worship of Surya, the sun, and of Chhathi Maiya, kept mainly by families from Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Its two great moments happen at the water: at sunset on the third day and before dawn on the fourth, people who have fasted for about 36 hours stand in a river or pond and offer the sun bamboo trays of fruit and thekua. In 2026 Chhath runs 13–16 November, with the sunset offering on Sunday 15 November; in 2027 it falls on 2–5 November.
An ancient four-day worship of the Sun God on the riverbanks of Bihar and the east
Kartik Shukla Shashthi, the sixth lunar day after the Kartik new moon. The central government's restricted list (issued around July of the year before) and the Bihar holiday list confirm it.
The legend
Legend says that after returning to Ayodhya, Rama and Sita fast and pray to the Sun on the sixth day after Deepavali.
Sita performs the rite to Surya and is blessed: she will bear two sons, Lava and Kusha.
Another tradition recalls Kunti, whose son Karna was born of the Sun god after she kept this rite.
Beside Surya his sister, Chhathi Maiya, is honoured: she is asked for long life and good health for children.
So on the sixth day of Kartika people stand waist-deep in the river, offering to the setting sun and, next morning, to the rising one.
Meaning
Bihar
For Chhath, people from Bihar come home from all over the country, and Patna's Ganga ghats fill with families carrying baskets of offerings.
Big cities
People from Bihar and the east keep Chhath at the rivers and ponds of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Worldwide
Chhath is kept abroad too: in the US, the UK, Mauritius and Singapore.
Men
The fast is kept mostly by women, but the festival does not divide people: men keep the vow too.
Customs
🛁 Nahay Khay
Day one: a ritual bath and a single pure, simple meal.
🍚 Kharna
Day two: not a drop of water until evening, then rasiaav, jaggery rice pudding, with flatbread.
🌇 Sunset offering
At sunset people stand in the water and offer the sun bamboo baskets of thekua, coconuts, bananas and sugarcane.
🎋 Sugarcane canopy
Five to seven sugarcane stalks are tied into a canopy, with lamps burning and offerings laid beneath.
🌄 Dawn offering
At dawn the offerings go to the rising sun, and only then does the waterless fast of about 36 hours end.
What people eat
🍪 Thekua
crisp biscuits of flour, jaggery and ghee
🍚 Rasiaav
rice pudding with jaggery, the Kharna evening meal
🎋 Cane and fruit
sugarcane, sweet lime, coconut and bananas in a bamboo basket
Words of the festival
छठ
Chhath
"sixth": the festival of the month's sixth day
अर्घ्य
arghya
an offering made to the sun from the water
खरना
kharna
the second day, a waterless fast until evening
छठी मैया
Chhathi Maiya
the festival's goddess, Surya's sister, protector of children
True or myth
✅ True. It falls on the sixth day of the bright half of Kartika, hence the name: chhath means sixth.
❌ Myth. There is also a spring Chhath in the month of Chaitra, though the autumn one is far bigger.
✅ True. Everything is strictly vegetarian and cooked without salt, onion or garlic.
Where to celebrate
Varanasi
For two tides of light, at sunset on the main day and before dawn the next morning, the entire Varanasi riverfront stops being a walkway and becomes standing room, first for the setting sun and then for the rising one.
Delhi
By sheer count Delhi's Chhath is vast: well over a thousand ghats, most built for the week, along both banks of the Yamuna from Palla to Okhla and out into parks and ponds across the city.
Kolkata
Kolkata's Chhath is spread thin on purpose: a court-backed order keeps it off the city's two big lakes, so it runs instead along the Hooghly ghats and across dozens of purpose-built artificial ponds in the…
What you actually see
For a visitor, Chhath is two short windows of light. The first two days, Nahay Khay and Kharna, happen at home: kitchens scrubbed, a single pure meal, then a fast without water. What you notice in the streets is preparation: markets piled with sugarcane, coconuts and bamboo trays, ghats swept and decorated.
On the third afternoon, Sandhya Arghya, families walk to the water carrying the trays. The vratis, the people keeping the fast (mostly women, but men keep it too), wade in waist-deep and face west as the sun goes down, while the family stands behind them on the steps. There are no idols and no priests in charge, only people and the sun, and folk songs to Chhathi Maiya carry over the water. Many families stay on the ghat for part of the night.
The fourth morning, Usha Arghya, is the one to see. The ghats fill again in the dark, lamps burn under canopies of sugarcane, and everyone waits for the first edge of the sun. When it clears the horizon the offerings go up, the fast ends, and thekua and fruit are passed around to anyone nearby.
Where to see Chhath
Chhath happens wherever people from Bihar and the east live, but the scale and the access differ a lot.
Patna
Chhath at river scale. The Ganga runs the length of the city, and the administration turns the riverfront into one continuous ritual site: in 2025 it prepared 109 ghats inside the city and closed the ones the river had made unsafe. People from Bihar come home from all over India for these days, so rooms go early. The ghat list and traffic plan are published about a week before.
Varanasi
At sunset and again before dawn the whole riverfront from Assi to Dashashwamedh becomes standing room; more than 300,000 people were reported in 2025. Assi Ghat, broad and facing the sunrise across open water, is the most named Chhath site and the one ghat a vehicle can get near. If the named ghats are full, walk north along the steps from Assi until the crowd thins.
Delhi
Vast by count: well over a thousand ghats, most built for the week, along the Yamuna and in parks and ponds across the city. The big river ghats draw six-figure crowds (Bhola Ghat at Kalindi Kunj expected 250,000–300,000 in 2025); a neighbourhood ghat is far easier to reach and to follow. Chhath is a public holiday in Delhi. Ghats, metro lines and road closures: [Chhath Puja in Delhi](/en/festivals/chhath-puja/delhi/).
Kolkata
Spread thin on purpose. A National Green Tribunal order, upheld by the Supreme Court, keeps Chhath off Rabindra Sarobar and Subhas Sarobar, and the gates of both lakes are locked and policed. The festival runs instead along the Hooghly ghats, Babughat on Strand Road above all, and at purpose-built ponds in the neighbourhoods; the civic bodies publish the list just before the festival.
✅ Etiquette and safety
Chhath is open to anyone who comes quietly, but it is someone else's vow, not a show. You are a witness.
- Keep out of the water — Never enter the water near the worshippers, and keep your distance from the vratis. Watch from the upper steps.
- Photos with restraint — These are intimate moments after a 36-hour fast. Photograph from a distance, skip the flash, and ask before close-ups.
- Accept prasad — Thekua and fruit from the offerings are shared widely. If someone offers you prasad (blessed food), take it with the right hand and thank them.
- Crowd and steps — Ghat steps get wet and packed in the dark. Wear shoes with grip you can slip off, keep to the barricaded walking routes, and agree a meeting point above the ghat.
- Respect closures — Some ghats are closed because the river has made them unsafe, and in Kolkata the two big lakes are closed by court order. Stay outside the barricades.
👣 Booking ahead
Chhath is one of the biggest homecomings of the Indian year. Rooms are rarely the problem outside Patna and Varanasi; trains are.
- Trains on day one
Indian Railways opens reserved seats 60 days before travel, and on the Delhi–Bihar, Delhi–eastern UP and Kolkata–Varanasi routes they go on the opening morning. For foreign nationals: the Foreign Tourist Quota opens 365 days ahead.
- Rooms
Varanasi: book together with the train, 60 days out. In 2026 Dev Deepawali falls on 24 November, eight days after the dawn offering, and river-view rooms are already climbing in Chhath week. Delhi and Kolkata: a month ahead is comfortable.
- Arrive on Kharna
Come the day before the sunset offering. The steps are still walkable when you choose your spot, Kharna cooking is visible in courtyards, and the pre-dawn start of the last day does not fall on a travel day. In Delhi and Kolkata, ghat lists and road closures appear only days before.
❓ FAQ
When is Chhath Puja in 2026?
13–16 November 2026: Nahay Khay on the 13th, Kharna on the 14th, the sunset offering (Sandhya Arghya) on Sunday the 15th and the dawn offering on the 16th. In 2027 the sunset offering falls on 4 November.
What is Chhath Puja?
A four-day worship of the sun god Surya and Chhathi Maiya, observed mainly in Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Nepal. Its heart is the offering to the setting sun and, next morning, to the rising sun, made from the water after a long fast.
Can tourists attend Chhath Puja?
Yes. The ghats are public and free, and nobody minds respectful onlookers. Watch from the steps, stay out of the water near worshippers and photograph discreetly.
Is there Chhath in spring too?
Yes, Chaiti Chhath in the month of Chaitra, though the autumn festival is far bigger. In 2027 Chaiti Chhath runs 10–13 April.
Which offering is better to see, evening or morning?
Both offerings happen at the riverbank, but the dawn offering is the more powerful: the fast ends, the prasad is shared, and the ghats glow with lamps. Arrive well before first light.
Sources (8)
- DoPT: central government holidays 2026
- Central government holiday list 2027 (DoPT, via CSIR)
- Chhath Puja calendar 2026 (Drik Panchang)
- KMC preparatory measures for Chhath Puja, Millennium Post
- Chhath Puja traffic advisory, Delhi, india.com
- No Chhath Puja at Rabindra Sarobar, The Statesman
- Chhath Puja 2025 arrangements at Varanasi ghats, Amrit Vichar
- Dev Deepavali (Varanasi)