Chhath Puja 2021 in India

Chhath is an ancient Vedic festival of Hindu people. Chhath festival is celebrated on the sixth day after Diwali celebration. Chhath Puja is also known as Devanagari. The festival is dedicated to the sun and his wife Usha. In Hinduism, people worship the sun as it brings prosperity and wellbeing to the family. The sun is considered as the source of energy. During Chhath festival, Hindu people worship sun for four days. Chhath festival’s rituals are very hard so it is considered one of the most difficult festivals in India. During the Chhath Puja, women have to leave food and water for many hours during these four days of Chatth puja.

The preparation of the Chhath festival starts before couple of weeks ago. Ghats have been prepared for this festival, roads are made clean, decorations have been made and all the other essential arrangements are made before it starts Chhath. People from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh celebrate this festival with high zeal and great devotion. This festival is also known as Surya Shashti, Dala Chhath and Chhathi.

Chhath Puja 2021 Date:

According to Hindi calendar, it is celebrated in Vikram Samvat that is the sixth day of month Kartika. According to English calendar, it is celebrated in the month of October or November. The Chhath festival is celebrated for four days and Chhath puja is done on Kartika Shukla Shashthi. It is celebrated just after Diwali Festival. Central Division of Jankapurdam in Nepal decides the date of festival then the dates are announced to the world.

Chhath Puja 2021
Chhath Puja Date 2020 - November 10, 2020 (Wednesday)

During the Chhath festival, the people worship Chhathi Maiya (Usha), who is the consort of lord Surya. After worshipping, people pray to Chhath Maiya to overcome with their problems as well as to get the blessing of prosperity and Moksha. Generally Usha means, the first light of the Sunrise.

During the Chhath festival, the people worship Chhathi Maiya (Usha), who is the consort of lord Surya. After worshipping, people pray to Chhath Maiya to overcome with their problems as well as to get the blessing of prosperity and Moksha. Generally Usha means, the first light of the Sunrise.

Chhath Puja is celebrated in Bihar, Eastern UP, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Bangalore and Nepal. Internationally it is celebrated in Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and United States and Macau etc. The celebration of Chhath puja is amazing in the Bihar region.

How Chhath Puja is celebrated for Four Days?

The Chhath festival is celebrated for four days by bathing and worshipping God Sun. No priest is needed to perform the Chhath puja. During Chhath, younger sister of Sun, Chhathi Maiya is worshipped. It is believed that, the people who begin the Chhath Puja once, he or she has to keep the fast and perform the chhath rituals every year and they passed it to the next generation. One can skipped this puja only when if there is any death in the family that year. Below we have added Chhath Puja 2021 date for four days of Chhath celebration.

First Day of Chhath Puja - 10 November 2021 (Wednesday)
Second Day of Chhath Puja - 11 November 2021 (Thursday)
Third Day of Chhath Puja - 12 November 2021 (Friday)
Fourth Day of Chhath Puja - 13 November 2021 (Saturday)

➧ First Day of Chhath Puja - “Nahai Khai”

The first day of Chhath Puja is known as “Nahai-Khai” or nahan khan. On this day, devotees take a dip in any of the river Kosi, Karnali, Ganga or in any river or pond. They take the holy water to their home to prepare the prasads for Sun God. The female keep a fast with one meal on this day. People clean their homes on this day. The people take only one meal without onion and garlic. Kaddu-Bhat or Bhat with Chana Dal is prepared on the bronze or soil utensils.


➧ Second Day of Chhath Puja - “Lohanda/Kharma”

The second day of Chhath is “Argasan” or “Lohanda”, or “Kharma”. The vratins keep fast for a whole day and after the sunset, they worship Sun and Moon. They prepare kheer, Chappati and bananas and offer to the friends and family. Vratins have kheer in the evening and then continue the fast for 36 hours without water.


➧ Third Day of Chhath Puja - “Sandhya Arghya”

The third day of Chhath is known as “PehlaAgrah”, on this day people offer the “Sandhya Arghya” at the river or pond. At the evening, they take a dip into water and worship Sun God and Chhathi Maiya. After Arghya, women wear the turmeric color saari. Vratins prepare prasad and offer the prasad to the Sunset along with family at the riverbank. At the night, An event “Kosi” is celebrated, in which people light the lamps of clay diyas covering five sugarcane sticks represent as the Panchtattva (water, air, fire, earth and space).


➧ Fourth Day of Chhath Puja - “Usha Arghya”

This is the fourth and the last day of the Chhath Puja, known as “DusraAgrah” or “Usha Arghya”. On this final day, devotees come to the riverbank or pond and offer “Usha Arghya” to the rising Sun. After this, they break the fast and distribute the chhath prasad in the family and relatives. On this day, friends and family also go to the river and offer Bihaniya Aragh at the early morning on the river. Thus, the festival ends on the fourth day and devotees complete their fast by having breakfast.

During these four days period devotes sleeps on the floor. They observe purity and live frugally. The importance of this festival is on the third day when God Sun offered Surya Namaskar. Like any other festival, Chhath Puja is high on rich mythology. Check Chhath puja 2020 date, sunrise and sunset time for chhath puja. By following all the rituals during four days of chhath, worship goddess Sun to get the blessings and seek happiness.

History of Chhath Festival:

The Chhath Puja ritual has ancient significance. The Rigveda contains Hymns describing similar rituals. In Vedic times, Rishis performed Chhath puja to obtain energy. In Mahabharata, Draupadi and Pandav observed the Chhath Puja to regain the lost kingdom by performing Chhath rituals and worshipping Sun.

There is one more story related to Mahabharata. It is also believed that Surya Putra Karna started the Chhath Puja first time in the history who was the king of Anga Desh (now Munger district in Bihar).

Another story is related to Lord Ram & Sita, who kept fast and worshipped Sun in the month of Kartika after returning to Ayodhya after 14 years of coronation. From that time, Chhath puja ritual has become an important and traditional festival.

Significance of Chhath Puja:

Sunrise and Sunset has the special significance during chhath puja. Human body can get the solar energy at the Sunrise and Sunset safely, which is beneficial for body and mind. The auspicious rituals of chhath pooja provide the mental relaxation, calmness and increase the energy level. Below are the benefits of performing Chhath Puja.

1 - Taking dips in the river water toxify the human body. Exposing to the sun improves the functioning of the body due to the flow of bioelectricity. It removes bacteria and virus from the body.
2 - Reduce the anger, jealous and negative emotions.
3 - It improves the immunity of the body.
4 - Solar energy provides the power to control the hormones.
5 - Skin infections can be cured at this time.
6 - Improve the performance of WBC.