Chhath Puja 2026 runs from Friday, 13 November, to Monday, 16 November. Sandhya Arghya is on Sunday, 15 November, and Usha Arghya is on Monday, 16 November. Nahay Khay falls on 13 November and Kharna on 14 November. The Ministry of Tourism's Incredible India festival listing confirms this four-day span.
For New Delhi, the reference times are 5:28 pm IST for sunset on 15 November and 6:44 am IST for sunrise on 16 November, as listed in Drik Panchang's 2026 Chhath calendar. These are local solar timings, not a single nationwide appointment for Arghya. The city table below gives the corresponding times for other locations.
Chhath Puja 2026: the four-day calendar
| Date | Day | Observance | Main point for your calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 November 2026 | Friday | Nahay Khay | First day of the four-day observance |
| 14 November 2026 | Saturday | Lohanda or Kharna | Evening observance before the main Arghya day |
| 15 November 2026 | Sunday | Sandhya Arghya | Offering to the setting Sun |
| 16 November 2026 | Monday | Usha Arghya and Parana | Offering to the rising Sun, followed by completion of the fast according to family practice |
If you need one date for a calendar entry labelled simply "Chhath Puja", use 15 November 2026, the Sandhya Arghya day. If you are arranging travel or joining a household's observance, keep the full 13 to 16 November period in view. The morning gathering belongs to Monday, not Sunday morning.
These are the dates for Kartik Chhath, the autumn observance. Chaiti Chhath is a separate observance earlier in the year. A search result giving a spring date may therefore be describing a different Chhath, rather than disagreeing about November.
Sandhya Arghya and Usha Arghya times by city
The two columns refer to different dates. Read the sunset column for Sunday evening, 15 November, and the sunrise column for Monday morning, 16 November. All clock times belong to the city in that row.
| City | Sunset, 15 November | Sunrise, 16 November | Local time zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patna | 5:01 pm | 6:08 am | IST, UTC+5:30 |
| New Delhi | 5:28 pm | 6:44 am | IST, UTC+5:30 |
| Kolkata | 4:53 pm | 5:50 am | IST, UTC+5:30 |
| Mumbai | 6:00 pm | 6:46 am | IST, UTC+5:30 |
| Janakpur | 5:11 pm | 6:21 am | NPT, UTC+5:45 |
| Kathmandu | 5:12 pm | 6:25 am | NPT, UTC+5:45 |
The city calculations use Swiss Ephemeris with the Sun's upper edge at an unobstructed sea-level horizon, standard air pressure and a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius. The Delhi entries can also be compared with the independently published Drik Panchang calendar linked above. Times are rounded to the minute. Our public Panchanga tool uses the Sun's centre, so its times can differ by about one or two minutes. Actual visibility also depends on the local horizon and weather.
Sunrise and sunset do not give a venue's arrival time. A community announcement might ask people to assemble before the solar event, and the time needed to reach a riverbank or another gathering place varies. Keep the astronomical time and the organizer's schedule as two separate entries when planning your visit.
For a place outside this table, select the actual city in our Panchanga tool. Use 15 November for the evening and 16 November for the morning. A time copied from a different city, even one in the same time zone, may be too early or too late for your location.
What happens on each day?
Chhath is associated with Surya and is especially prominent in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Its four days connect household preparation with offerings at sunset and sunrise. The following is a description of customary observance, not a prescription for a particular family. Bihar Tourism's Chhath guide describes the sequence and its community setting.
Friday, 13 November: Nahay Khay
Nahay Khay opens the observance. Bathing, cleaning and preparation of food form part of the day in many households. For relatives arriving from another city, this is the beginning of Chhath, even though the public gathering most often pictured in festival coverage happens two days later.
Saturday, 14 November: Kharna
The second day is also called Lohanda. Bihar Tourism describes an evening observance with prasad shared among family and friends after the day's fast. Kheer is among the foods associated with it. Names, preparations and household details can differ, so a general calendar cannot replace the practice followed by the family hosting you.
Sunday, 15 November: Sandhya Arghya
Sandhya means evening. This is the offering to the setting Sun and the date most short festival listings mean by "Chhath Puja 2026". Riverbanks and other gathering places become the focus of the observance. The familiar photographs of baskets, water and the low evening Sun belong to this part of the festival.
Monday, 16 November: Usha Arghya
The final gathering is associated with the rising Sun. Bihar Tourism describes the offering followed by the end of the fast and distribution of prasad. If you are attending both Arghyas, your plan therefore covers Sunday evening and early Monday morning, with a night between them.
Why different websites show different dates or times
First check what each date names. "Chhath starts on 13 November" and "Chhath Puja is on 15 November" can both be correct. The first identifies Nahay Khay; the second identifies Sandhya Arghya. A listing ending on 16 November includes the final morning.
Next check the city and time zone. Delhi and Patna use the same clock standard, but their solar events occur at different clock times. Kathmandu uses a different standard as well as different coordinates. A row labelled IST should not be silently treated as the local clock time for Kathmandu or another country.
Finally, check which event the time describes. A printed time may be sunset, sunrise, the beginning of a tithi, a community assembly time or a temple's program. They are not interchangeable. In particular, a tithi beginning during the day does not mean the sunset offering is performed at that beginning time.
This article labels the two solar events directly rather than presenting an invented nationwide "Arghya muhurat" window. For tithi information alongside the festival sequence, use the Hindu calendar with your location selected.
Planning Chhath alongside the other November festivals
Keep separate calendar entries for the main observances rather than treating the whole month as one festival week. Our Diwali and autumn festival guide covers the earlier celebrations. The next date to check after Chhath is covered in the Dev Uthani Ekadashi and Tulsi Vivah guide.
For Chhath itself, a useful shared family note contains four things: the day of observance, the location, the local solar time and the assembly time provided by the host or organizer. For example, "Sandhya Arghya, Sunday 15 November, New Delhi, sunset 5:28 pm IST" is clear about the astronomical reference. The meeting location and arrival instructions can then be added without changing what that time means.
Common questions
Is Chhath Puja 2026 on 15 or 16 November?
Sandhya Arghya is on Sunday, 15 November. Usha Arghya is on Monday, 16 November. Both dates belong to Chhath, which begins with Nahay Khay on Friday, 13 November.
When is Kharna in 2026?
Kharna, also called Lohanda, falls on Saturday, 14 November 2026. It is the second day, between Nahay Khay and Sandhya Arghya.
What is the Chhath Puja 2026 Arghya time in Delhi?
For New Delhi, sunset on 15 November is listed at 5:28 pm IST and sunrise on 16 November at 6:44 am IST. Confirm the assembly time separately with the venue or household you are joining.
Can I use Delhi's Arghya time in Patna or Mumbai?
Use your own city's sunrise and sunset times. A shared time zone does not make solar events simultaneous. Choose the appropriate row above or check the local Panchanga for the relevant date.
Does the four-day calendar describe every family's practice?
It gives the shared sequence and dates. Food, songs, preparations and other details can vary between households and communities. Follow the information supplied by your hosts for their observance.
Sources and calculation notes
- Incredible India: Chhath Puja, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India: 13 to 16 November 2026 and the four-day festival sequence.
- Drik Panchang: 2026 Chhath calendar for New Delhi: independent calendar and Delhi solar-time comparison.
- Bihar Tourism: Chhath Puja: customary observances and community context.
- City sunrise and sunset values: Swiss Ephemeris, calculated for the city and date named in each column, using the Sun's upper edge and a sea-level horizon. These are astronomical reference times, not a published schedule for an individual ghat or event.
