- Reference city
- Delhi (other cities in the table)
- Moon's nakshatra then
- Uttara Ashadha (at about 5:25 pm on 15 November)
What Chhath Puja is
Chhath Puja is kept on Shashthi, the sixth tithi, of the bright fortnight of Kartika, and lasts four days. It is observed most widely in Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Nepal terai, and by communities elsewhere.
The Sun (Surya) and Chhathi Maiya are worshipped, with offerings made to the setting and the rising Sun.
The main day is the one with the evening offering (sandhya arghya) at sunset, so the date follows the Shashthi that is running at sunset. The four days are counted from that day: nahay-khay two days before it, kharna one day before it, the evening offering on the main day and the morning offering (usha arghya) the day after.
How Chhath Puja is commonly observed
- Day 1, nahay-khay: a bath in a river or pond, and one meal of boiled rice and gourd.
- Day 2, kharna: a fast through the day, broken in the evening with kheer and roti.
- Day 3, sandhya arghya: standing in water at sunset, offerings of fruit and thekua to the Sun.
- Day 4, usha arghya: the same offering at sunrise, after which the fast is opened.
- Many devotees keep a long fast during these days, some without water.
These are common practices. Families and regions differ, and none of them is needed to read the date on this page.
The date for 2026, worked out
A tithi is the time in which the Moon gains 12 degrees on the Sun. Shashthi is tithi number 6 of the bright fortnight, when the Moon is 60 to 72 degrees ahead of the Sun. By the chart engine it begins 14 November at about 11:25 pm and ends 16 November at about 2:00 am, Indian time.
The main rite is at sunset, so the day is the one on which the tithi is running when the Sun sets. Delhi's sunrise, sunset and the rule's moment are below.
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Sunset, Delhi | Shashthi covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 14 November 2026 | 6:42 am | 5:28 pm | 5:28 pm | not running |
| Sunday, 15 November 2026 | 6:43 am | 5:27 pm | 5:27 pm | running |
| Monday, 16 November 2026 | 6:44 am | 5:27 pm | 5:27 pm | not running |
On only one day does Shashthi reach sunset in Delhi: Sunday, 15 November 2026. There is no tie to break. Patna and Kolkata give the same day. The four days therefore run 13 November (nahay-khay), 14 November (kharna), 15 November (sandhya arghya at sunset) and 16 November (usha arghya at sunrise, 6:44 am in Delhi).
Why calendars can differ on Chhath Puja
This tithi is in the bright fortnight after the new moon that closes Ashwin, so it belongs to Kartika in both the purnimanta and the amanta calendars.
The same rule at other cities, for the day or days the tithi touches:
| City | Date | Sunset | Shashthi covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi | 14 November | 5:28 pm | not running |
| Delhi | 15 November | 5:27 pm | running |
| Delhi | 16 November | 5:27 pm | not running |
| Patna | 14 November | 5:01 pm | not running |
| Patna | 15 November | 5:01 pm | running |
| Patna | 16 November | 5:00 pm | not running |
| Kolkata | 14 November | 4:53 pm | not running |
| Kolkata | 15 November | 4:53 pm | running |
| Kolkata | 16 November | 4:52 pm | not running |
The sunset offering is the anchor, but the exact time differs a great deal across the Gangetic plain, so take sunset from the ghat or town where you will be. Patna sunset is earlier than Delhi's and Kolkata's earlier still, as the table shows.
Method and limits
Positions come from the same engine that draws the free kundli, with the Lahiri ayanamsa. The tithi comes from the angle between the Sun and the Moon, so it does not depend on the ayanamsa.
Sunrise, sunset and moonrise are for the upper edge of the body with standard refraction, in Indian Standard Time. Tithi times are shown to the nearest five minutes because other panchangs can differ by a minute or so, and a different city moves sunrise and moonrise by minutes to an hour or more.
Regional traditions differ, and for the day and hour you keep the observance, follow your local panchang or temple. The full list of settings is on the method page.
Your own chart on this day
Dates on this page describe the sky only. The nakshatra finder and the current dasha tool show the facts of your own chart for any birth, and the festival calendar for 2026 lists the other festivals of the season with their dates.
Calculated with the Lahiri ayanamsa and whole sign houses; every setting is on the method page. Last checked 15 October 2026.