Chhath Puja Vidhi
Chhath Puja is a four-day mega festival on Kartik Shukla Shashthi. It is the biggest folk festival of Bihar, Jharkhand, UP, and Nepal. Arghya is offered to both the setting and rising Sun. It is the only festival where the setting Sun is worshipped. The vrat is extremely rigorous and purity-centric.
Kartik Shukla Chaturthi to Saptami (October–November)
Sunset & Sunrise arghya
🪔 Puja Samagri (Items Required)
- Soop (bamboo tray)
- Thekua, dates, poori
- Sugarcane, coconut, banana, apple, orange
- Turmeric, ginger (raw vegetables)
- Milk, water for arghya
- Lamp, incense
- New (cotton) clothes
- Arghya vessel for Sun
📋 Puja Procedure — Steps
Step 1: दिन 1 — नहाय-खाय (कार्तिक शुक्ल चतुर्थी)
The devotee bathes in a river/pond. Returns home to eat a sattvic meal of bottle gourd/pumpkin, rice, dal. 36-hour fast begins after this.
Step 2: दिन 2 — खरना / लोहण्डा (पंचमी)
Full-day nirjala fast. In the evening, make rice-jaggery-milk kheer and offer to Chhathi Maiya. Distribute as prasad. Devotee eats kheer-roti and begins another 36-hour nirjala fast.
Step 3: दिन 3 — संध्या अर्घ्य (षष्ठी)
Full-day nirjala fast. At sunset, go to the river ghat with soop full of thekua, fruits, sugarcane. Stand waist-deep and offer arghya to the setting Sun with milk and water.
Step 4: दिन 4 — प्रातः अर्घ्य एवं पारण (सप्तमी)
Reach the ghat before sunrise. Offer arghya to the rising Sun. Pray to Chhathi Maiya for family protection. Distribute prasad. Break the fast with jaggery water or tea.
🕉️ Main Mantra
Om Suryaya Namah । Chhathi Maiya Ki Jai Ho ।
✅ Benefits of this Puja
Chhath Puja grants progeny, child protection, family prosperity, disease cure, removal of fear, and Sun's grace. This vrat is so sacred that wishes are guaranteed — but once started, it must be observed lifelong.