India GOChhath Puja in Delhi
Standing in the river to greet the rising sun
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.
Where to watch
Bhola Ghat, Kalindi Kunj: the largest expected gathering in the 2025 Delhi Traffic Police advisory, 250,000–300,000 people, on the Yamuna in the south-east near Okhla. Free, no ticket. Magenta Line to Okhla Vihar or Jasola Vihar Shaheen Bagh, then walk; Khadar Kalindi Kunj Road is restricted on the offering days.
ITO Yamuna Ghat: the central Yamuna ghat, long established and heavily used, close to the city centre. Free. Violet Line to ITO or Blue Line to Indraprastha; central road diversions apply.
Vasudev Ghat: a redeveloped Yamuna ghat near ISBT Kashmere Gate that the Delhi government treats as a showpiece riverfront, home of the regular Yamuna Aarti, inspected ahead of the 2025 Chhath preparations. Free. Metro to Kashmere Gate (Red, Yellow and Violet Lines), then a short ride.
Kudesia Ghat, Kashmere Gate: a Delhi government ghat with built platforms and river access, named in the Chhath traffic advisory. Free. Kashmere Gate metro interchange.
Shyam Ghat and Shani Mandir Ghat, Jagatpur: north Delhi Yamuna ghats; Shyam Ghat was flagged for over 100,000 people in the 2025 advisory. Free. Road access via Jagatpur; roads around Wazirabad are restricted.
Gandhi Nagar and Geeta Colony ghats: east-bank ghats run by puja committees (the Gandhi Nagar Chhath Poojan Samiti Naav Ghat by the Old Iron Bridge, the Purvanchal Nav Nirman Sangthan Ghat and Satyamev Jayate Ghat near Geeta Colony), each expecting around 45,000 people in 2025. Free. The Shantivan loop and the Laxmi Nagar–Kailash Nagar road close during the offering windows.
Wazirabad Bridge Ghat: a northern Yamuna ghat named in the traffic advisory and in Chhath listings. Free. Approach roads towards Sonia Vihar are diverted on the offering days.
Ghats away from the river: most of Delhi's ghats are not on the Yamuna at all. Parks and tanks are built out for the week in every district: Surya Upasana Park in Dabri, Vishwas Park in Raja Puri, Chhath Puja Park in Mangolpuri, Bhalswa Lake, Asthal Mandir in Sangam Vihar, the UP-Bihar Ekta Maha Manch site near Majlis Park metro. Free, neighbourhood-scale, and far easier to reach and stand at than the big Yamuna ghats.
🎟 Free viewing
- Bhola Ghat, Kalindi Kunj, for the largest single gathering
- ITO Yamuna Ghat, the central and most accessible river ghat
- Vasudev Ghat near ISBT Kashmere Gate, a redeveloped riverfront site
- Kudesia Ghat, Kashmere Gate
- Shyam Ghat and Shani Mandir Ghat at Jagatpur, north Delhi
- The Gandhi Nagar and Geeta Colony committee ghats on the east bank
- Any neighbourhood ghat built for the week, such as Surya Upasana Park (Dabri), Vishwas Park (Raja Puri), Chhath Puja Park (Mangolpuri), Bhalswa Lake or the Majlis Park site: the ritual is easier to follow there than in a six-figure crowd
🗓 Programme
Nahay Khay (Kartika Shukla Chaturthi)
Households that keep the vrat bathe in the river or a clean water body, put on fresh clothes and cook one sattvik meal, usually lauki (bottle gourd) with rice and chana dal. The house and the path down to the water are cleaned. This is the last ordinary meal before the fast.
Homes across the city; the Yamuna ghats and the temporary ghats are still being built
Kharna (Kartika Shukla Panchami)
A day-long fast is broken after sunset with gur ki kheer (rice cooked in jaggery) and roti, eaten in silence. The moment that plate is finished the nirjala fast starts: roughly 36 hours with neither food nor water, ending only after the dawn offering on day 4.
Homes and neighbourhood courtyards; puja committees finish tents, lighting and sound at the ghats
Sandhya Arghya (Kartika Shukla Shashthi), main day
Families move to the ghats in large processions, many walking the last stretch. Road restrictions bite from mid-afternoon: in 2025 the Delhi Traffic Police barred commercial vehicles on the GT Road stretch between Shastri Park and Yudhishthir Setu from 17:00 to 19:00 and closed the Shantivan loop and the Laxmi Nagar-Kailash Nagar road from 17:00 to 18:00.
Across both Yamuna banks and hundreds of neighbourhood sites
Sandhya Arghya (Kartika Shukla Shashthi), main day
The offering to the setting sun, made standing in the Yamuna or in a constructed tank, facing west.
Bhola Ghat (Kalindi Kunj), Shyam Ghat (Jagatpur), the Naav Ghat by the Old Iron Bridge and Satyamev Jayate Ghat (Geeta Colony)
Sandhya Arghya (Kartika Shukla Shashthi), main day
Puja committees run lighting, sound and cultural programmes at the larger ghats; many families stay at the ghat through the night.
The 17 government-built model ghats along the Yamuna carry tents, electricity, sanitation and toilets.
Usha Arghya (Kartika Shukla Saptami)
Reaching the ghat. The 2025 advisory closed roads again in the pre-dawn window: commercial vehicles off the GT Road stretch and the Gandhi Nagar closures both ran roughly 05:00 to 07:00.
Same ghat as the evening before
Usha Arghya (Kartika Shukla Saptami)
The dawn offering to the rising sun, ending the roughly 36-hour nirjala fast with paran. The sun rises later in Delhi than in Varanasi or Kolkata, which makes the pre-dawn start the least punishing here.
All ghats
Usha Arghya (Kartika Shukla Saptami)
The ghats empty and the city's return flow begins. The Delhi Metro has run early: in 2025 services started at 05:15 instead of 06:00 from New Delhi (Yellow Line) and Anand Vihar ISBT (Blue and Pink Lines) for five days, with extra trips added.
New Delhi and Anand Vihar metro and railway stations