Sacred Waters
Purification through immersion in rivers, lakes and ponds — here, the Pacific and our local lakes.
The Rituals
Four days, one unbroken vrat
Chhath is measured in sunrises. Here is what happens on each of the four days, and what every offering means.
Day by Day
From the first bath to the final Arghya
- Day 1
Nahay-Khay
“To Bathe and Eat”Holy bathing, cleansing of the home and a satvik meal cooked in bronze or earthen vessels over mango wood.
Friday 13 November · at home
- Day 2
Kharna
“Sacred Fasting”A day-long fast broken at dusk with gud ki kheer, wheat roti and fruit — after which the 36-hour Nirjala Vrat begins.
Saturday 14 November · at home
- Day 3
Sandhya Arghya
“Sunset Offering”Families gather at the water in traditional attire, offering soop and daura filled with thekua, sugarcane and fruit to the setting sun, singing Chhath geet.
Sunday 15 November · 4:30–7:00 pm
- Day 4
Usha Arghya
“Sunrise Offering”The final offering to the rising sun. The 36-hour fast concludes with paran, bringing blessings of health, harmony, prosperity and new beginnings.
Monday 16 November · 5:30–8:30 am
The Offering
What goes into the soop
Everything is satvik — made at home, without onion, garlic or salt, and never tasted before it reaches the sun.
Thekua
Wheat flour, jaggery and ghee, pressed in wooden moulds and fried — the heart of the offering.
Sugarcane
Whole stalks arched over the soop, offered to the sun.
Seasonal Fruit
Coconut, banana, sweet lime, singhara and whatever the season gives.
Gud ki Kheer
Rice cooked in jaggery and milk — the meal that breaks Kharna.
Arwa Chawal
Unpolished rice, cooked without salt for Nahay-Khay.
Soop & Daura
Handwoven bamboo winnow and basket that carry everything to the water.
Symbols
The elements that make it Chhath
Sun Worship
Arghya offered to Surya Dev at sunset and again at sunrise, standing waist-deep in water.
Satvik Offerings
Pure vegetarian prasad prepared without onion, garlic or salt — thekua above all.
Chhath Geet
Devotional folk songs carried across generations, sung together at the water’s edge.
Bamboo Baskets
Handwoven soop and daura carrying fruit, sugarcane and prasad to the ghat.
Communal Harmony
A festival with no priest and no hierarchy — devotion that transcends caste and class.
At Our Ghat
Joining us for the first time?
A short guide so that everyone — devotee, family member or curious guest — knows how to take part respectfully.
- 1Arrive before the stated Arghya time — the sun does not wait.
- 2Keep the ghat and shoreline free of plastic, leather and footwear.
- 3Prasad is prepared without onion, garlic or salt, and is never tasted before it is offered.
- 4Photographs are welcome, but please stay behind the vratis at the water’s edge.
- 5Volunteers in marked scarves can help first-time families with soop, timing and parking.
केलवा जे फरेला घवद से, ओह पर सुगा मेड़राय
— a Chhath geet heard at every ghat, from Patna to the Pacific
See this year’s event details