What Chhath is
Chhath is the biggest folk festival of Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Nepal's Terai, and today it is kept wherever these families live, in India and abroad. ‘Chhath’ is the spoken form of Shashthi. The Sun and Chhathi Maiya are worshipped at a river or pond ghat, standing in the water.
It comes six days after Diwali and lasts four days. Its mark is simplicity and purity: clay stoves, bamboo winnows, homemade thekua, and no priest required.
How the date is decided
Tradition: we did not find a vrat named ‘Chhath’ in our library (Dharmasindhu, Nirnaya Sindhu, Muhurta Chintamani), so the rule is given as tradition. Common panchangs count it this way:
| Day | Tithi | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| First | Kartika Shukla Chaturthi | Nahay-khay: a bath, then pumpkin, rice and chana dal |
| Second | Panchami | Kharna: fast all day, jaggery kheer and roti in the evening |
| Third | Shashthi | Evening arghya to the setting Sun |
| Fourth | Saptami | Dawn arghya to the rising Sun, then breaking the fast |
The main day is the one whose sunset has the Shashthi. For comparison, Dharmasindhu speaks of a bath and Sun worship on Bhadrapada Shukla Shashthi; Sun worship on a Shashthi is an old custom, but that is not Chhath. This rule is flagged for the Vedic team's review.
The story: tradition / folk story
Folk tradition has several Chhath stories. One holds that Chhathi Maiya is the Sun's sister and Shashthi Devi, protector of children. One is linked to Sita: after returning to Ayodhya she worshipped the Sun on the Ganga bank at Munger. Another is linked to Karna, son of the Sun, who stood in water each day to offer arghya. Another tells of Draupadi keeping this vrat.
These are folk stories; we claim no Purana chapter. They share one thing: gratitude to the Sun, who gives light and grain every day.
How families celebrate
The home is cleaned, and a separate pure kitchen is kept for the vrati (the one fasting, mostly mothers, but men too). Bamboo winnows and baskets hold thekua, bananas, coconut, sugarcane, lemons and water chestnuts. In the evening the whole family goes to the ghat; the vrati stands waist-deep and raises the winnow while others offer milk or water. At night the kosi is filled and songs are sung. At dawn, back to the ghat, arghya to the rising Sun, and the fast ends with prasad.
In cities many families build a small water tank on the roof; that is held just as complete.
A simple puja
- Chaturthi: a bath and simple sattvic food (gourd or pumpkin, chana dal, rice).
- Panchami: fast through the day; kheer and roti as prasad in the evening (kharna).
- Shashthi evening: fruit and thekua in a winnow, water or milk offered to the setting Sun.
- Saptami dawn: offering to the rising Sun, then break the fast with ginger and jaggery or prasad.
No paid puja is needed; Chhath is a puja done with one's own hands.
Safety: fasting, cold and water
The Chhath fast is long: about 36 hours without water from kharna to the dawn offering. It can be hard on the body. Fasting and health: keep the fast as your health allows. With diabetes, blood pressure, pregnancy, breastfeeding, older age or regular medicine, a lighter form (fruit, milk, or one simple meal) is also part of the tradition. Don't change medicine timings. For health, the doctor comes first; no vrat replaces that. In many families only one member fasts and the others help; that is the full tradition too.
At the ghat: stay away from deep water and currents, hold children's hands, and take care on slippery steps. Kartika dawns are cold: don't stand long in cold water, and bring dry clothes. Follow the authorities in crowds, and don't put plastic or puja material into the river.
In ePandit
In ePandit: our calendar shows the festival day with your city's sunrise and sunset. The day is decided once, for Ujjain; your city's times are shown separately. We don't compute muhurta yet, and we never call a festival good or bad for anyone.