Chhath 2026
Chhath Puja 2026 arghya times: sunset and sunrise by city
In 2026 the evening (sandhya) arghya of Chhath Puja is on Sunday 15 November, and the morning (usha) arghya is on Monday 16 November. In Patna the sun sets at 5:00 PM on the 15th and rises at 6:07 AM on the 16th; in New Delhi the same two moments are 5:27 PM and 6:44 AM. Each arghya follows your own city’s sunset or sunrise, so the table below gives all 30 cities we track.
Nahay Khay is on Friday 13 November and Kharna on Saturday 14 November. We checked these dates against a reference panchang, and Bihar’s own newspapers and holiday lists give the same 15 and 16 November for the two arghyas.
What are the four days of Chhath Puja 2026?
Chhath runs from Kartik Shukla Chaturthi to Saptami. Its main day is Shashthi, the evening the setting sun receives arghya. In 2026 Shashthi begins at 11:23 PM on 14 November and ends at 2:00 AM on 16 November, which puts the evening arghya on Sunday.
| Day | Date | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Nahay Khay | Friday 13 November | holy dip, then a single meal of kaddu-bhaat and chana dal |
| Kharna | Saturday 14 November | fast without water all day, kheer of jaggery and roti after sunset |
| Sandhya arghya | Sunday 15 November | first arghya, to the setting sun |
| Usha arghya and parana | Monday 16 November | arghya to the rising sun, then the 36-hour fast is broken |
The Kharna offering is made after sunset: 5:01 PM in Patna and 5:28 PM in New Delhi on the 14th. Our full Hindu festival calendar for 2026 has the rest of the season.
What goes into the Chhath soop and daura?
The arghya offerings are arranged in bamboo soops and a daura (basket). The usual set:
- thekua and rice laddu (kasar), made at home with care after Kharna
- seasonal fruit: banana, sugarcane, coconut, the big citrus (dabh), water chestnut (singhara), sweet potato and suthni
- fresh turmeric and ginger plants, radish
- a diya, ghee, incense, sindoor, and a copper or brass lota for the arghya
- new clothes for the vrati, and a sheet to sit on at the ghat
Lists vary a little from house to house and village to village; keep to what your family has always used.
What time is the Chhath arghya in my city?
The first column is sunset on 15 November, the evening arghya. The second is sunrise on 16 November, the morning arghya. Each city name opens that city’s full day for the date.
| City | Sandhya arghya (15 Nov, sunset) | Usha arghya (16 Nov, sunrise) |
|---|---|---|
| Patna | 5:00 PM | 6:07 AM |
| Ranchi | 5:03 PM | 6:03 AM |
| Varanasi | 5:09 PM | 6:15 AM |
| Katihar | 4:51 PM | 5:57 AM |
| Kolkata | 4:52 PM | 5:49 AM |
| Lucknow | 5:15 PM | 6:26 AM |
| New Delhi | 5:27 PM | 6:44 AM |
| Mumbai | 6:00 PM | 6:46 AM |
See the other 22 cities
| City | Sandhya arghya (15 Nov, sunset) | Usha arghya (16 Nov, sunrise) |
|---|---|---|
| Kanpur | 5:18 PM | 6:28 AM |
| Agra | 5:26 PM | 6:38 AM |
| Chandigarh | 5:25 PM | 6:49 AM |
| Ludhiana | 5:28 PM | 6:53 AM |
| Jalandhar | 5:29 PM | 6:55 AM |
| Amritsar | 5:31 PM | 6:59 AM |
| Jaipur | 5:36 PM | 6:47 AM |
| Jodhpur | 5:48 PM | 6:57 AM |
| Udaipur | 5:48 PM | 6:51 AM |
| Bhopal | 5:35 PM | 6:34 AM |
| Indore | 5:42 PM | 6:40 AM |
| Nagpur | 5:32 PM | 6:24 AM |
| Ahmedabad | 5:55 PM | 6:53 AM |
| Vadodara | 5:53 PM | 6:49 AM |
| Surat | 5:57 PM | 6:49 AM |
| Rajkot | 6:03 PM | 6:59 AM |
| Bhavnagar | 5:58 PM | 6:53 AM |
| Pune | 5:57 PM | 6:41 AM |
| Hyderabad | 5:40 PM | 6:21 AM |
| Bengaluru | 5:50 PM | 6:18 AM |
| Chennai | 5:39 PM | 6:07 AM |
| Coimbatore | 5:55 PM | 6:18 AM |
When should I reach the ghat?
The evening arghya is offered to the setting sun while it is still visible, so treat the sunset time as the last moment, not the start. Most families leave for the ghat in the afternoon with the daura and soop, and at the big ghats in Patna or Varanasi people often arrive an hour or two early to find space at the water.
One practical point: these are sunsets over a flat horizon. If your ghat faces tall buildings, trees or a high far bank, the sun drops out of sight a few minutes earlier. At such a ghat, give the arghya 10 to 15 minutes before the time in the table.
For the morning arghya, families reach the ghat before dawn, around Brahma Muhurta, and stand in the water waiting for the first light. The arghya is given as the sun appears, and the vratis break their fast after it.
Why are the times different in Patna and Mumbai?
India keeps one clock, but the sun does not set everywhere at once. On 15 November it sets at 4:51 PM in Katihar and at 6:03 PM in Rajkot, 72 minutes apart. Eastern cities (Kolkata, Katihar, Patna, Ranchi) give the arghya first, Gujarat and Mumbai last.
That is why a time forwarded from Patna is wrong for a family in Delhi or Mumbai: sunset in New Delhi is 27 minutes after Patna’s, and in Mumbai a full hour after. Use your own city’s row. If your city is not in the table, open it on our choghadiya page and pick 15 November for the sunset, then 16 November for the sunrise.
Why does another panchang show a minute’s difference?
Panchangs take slightly different points for a city (its centre, a temple, an observatory) and round minutes differently, so you may see 5:28 PM for New Delhi’s sunset in a newspaper and 5:27 PM here. For an arghya the minute does not matter, because you offer it while watching the sun.
A different date would matter, and for 2026 we found none: the panchang, Bihar newspapers and Bihar’s holiday list all give 15 and 16 November. If your family or village panchang says otherwise, follow it.
When is Chhath outside India?
Families in the US, the UK and the Gulf give arghya at their own local sunset and sunrise. Many keep the Indian dates, though the tithi can fall a day apart in a far time zone. Open your city on our choghadiya page and set the date: London, New York, Dubai and Singapore are worked out from their own sunrise and sunset.
Times worked out on 20 October 2026 for each city’s coordinates. Dates are for New Delhi and were checked against a reference panchang; see how we calculate.
Today’s timings for this
This post describes what the panchang tradition says about a window; it is not personal advice. Times on the linked pages are computed for the city you choose.