Chhath is Bihar’s central festival, honouring Surya, the Sun, and Chhathi Maiya. It is one of the most rigorous fasts in the Indian tradition, kept across Bihar, Purvanchal, Nepal and the Bihari diaspora.
Over four days the household moves from a ritual bath to a waterless fast, offering water to the setting sun and then to the rising sun, standing in a river or other body of water.
The four days of Chhath
| Day | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Nahay Khay | ||
| Kharna | ||
| Sandhya Arghya | ||
| Usha Arghya |
Chhath Puja samagri checklist
Baskets and vessels
- A large bamboo basket (daura) to carry the offerings to the water
- Bamboo soops, one for each offering, or brass soops
- A copper or brass lota for the arghya, with water and milk
- Ceremonial cloth, and new clothes for the vratee
Fruit and produce for the soop
- Whole sugarcane stalks
- Coconut and bananas
- Seasonal fruit, water chestnut (singhara), sweet potato and suthni
- Fresh turmeric and ginger plants
Prasad
- Thekua: wheat flour, jaggery and ghee
- Rice, milk and jaggery for the Kharna kheer
- Rice ladoo (kasar)
Puja
- Earthen diyas, ghee and cotton wicks
- Dhoop and camphor
- Sindoor (the orange Chhath sindoor), haldi, chandan and akshata
- Moli, supari, cloves and cardamom
- Gangajal
The Chhath Puja vidhi, in short
- Day 1 · Nahay KhayA ritual bath, and one meal cooked with pure water and the traditional ingredients.
- Day 2 · KharnaA day-long fast, with the jaggery kheer prepared as prasad in the evening.
- Day 3 · Sandhya ArghyaA full fast with no water. The soops are filled with thekua, fruit and produce, lit diyas are set among them, and the daura is carried to the ghat. Standing in the river or water, the vratee offers water and milk to the setting sun.
- Day 4 · Usha ArghyaThe fast continues overnight. Before dawn the family returns to the water with the soops, water and milk are offered to the rising sun, and the fast is broken with prasad shared among family and neighbours.
Unlike many festivals, Chhath is rarely shortened or modified: households that keep it, keep the full four days.
Read more in the Chaitanya Grantha
For retailers: the Chhath Puja kit
Chhath Pooja Kit
Everything for the Chhath Puja puja, assembled in one box for grocery chains, importers and distributors. Private label available.