Chhath Puja 2026 சத் பூஜை

The day in the Tamil calendar

Timings for Chennai. The date follows the Tamil Nadu calendar.

About the festival

Chhath Puja is a four-day Hindu festival honouring the Sun (Surya) and the goddess Chhathi Maiya, observed mainly in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, in parts of Nepal, and by the Indian diaspora.^1,2

Women at the centre of the observance keep a strict fast of about 36 hours without food or water, and devotees gather at rivers and ponds to offer arghya to the setting sun on the third day and the rising sun on the fourth.^1,2

The festival opens with a ritual called Nahay-Khay.³

When it falls: The main observance falls on the sixth lunar day (Shashthi) of Kartika, about six days after Diwali; a second Chhath is also held in the month of Chaitra.^1,2

Sources

1. britannica.com
2. tourism.bihar.gov.in
3. pib.gov.in

Chhath Puja in other years