Millions of devotees will spend Sunday evening watching the horizon, waiting for one precise minute. Chhath Puja follows only one clock, the Sun’s own. And in 2026 the Sun reaches this festival in a rare condition that gives the arghya extra weight.The four-day observance opened on Friday 13 November, with Nahay Khay, the ritual bath and pure first meal. Kharna is on Saturday 14 November. Once the evening kheer prasad is eaten, the vrati begins a nirjala fast that lasts until Monday morning. The two most important rituals come after that. Sandhya Arghya is offered to the setting Sun on Sunday 15 November. Usha Arghya is offered to the rising Sun on Monday 16 November.There is no single national time for either one. Each ghat follows its own local sunset and sunrise, and the gap between India’s east and west coasts is more than an hour.
A Weak Sun on Its Final Day in Libra
The astrology this year is striking. During both arghyas, the Sun is in Libra (Tula), the sign of its debilitation in Vedic astrology. It is the Sun’s weakest position anywhere in the zodiac. Then, hours after the dawn prayers on Monday, it crosses into Scorpio on Vrishchik Sankranti.So this Chhath honours the Sun on its last day at its lowest point.That carries meaning. Chhath is the rare Hindu festival that bows to the Sun as it sets, giving thanks for the strength it has already given. In 2026 the setting Sun is also in its weakest sign. The tithi adds another layer. Kartik Shukla Shashthi is sacred to Chhathi Maiya, the mother goddess believed to protect children and bless families with good health. Parents who keep this vrat for their children often treat Sunday’s offering as the emotional heart of the whole festival.
Sandhya Arghya Timings: Sunday, 15 November 2026
·Kolkata: 4:53 PM·Patna: 5:01 PM·Delhi: 5:28 PM·Mumbai: 6:00 PMKolkata finishes first, more than an hour before Mumbai. In Patna, families usually start claiming places along the Ganga ghats by early afternoon, carrying decorated baskets on their heads in long processions toward the water.
Usha Arghya Timings: Monday, 16 November 2026
·Kolkata: 5:50 AM·Patna: 6:07 AM·Delhi: 6:44 AM·Mumbai: 6:46 AMThe Delhi and Mumbai figures are worth a second look. Their sunsets on Sunday are 32 minutes apart. Their sunrises on Monday differ by just two minutes.
Why Timing Decides the Ritual
At the water’s edge, the vrati stands facing the Sun with a soop, a bamboo winnowing tray holding thekua, sugarcane, coconut and fresh fruit. Water or milk is poured as the Sun meets the horizon. Traditionally the offering should be finished while part of the Sun is still visible, so that the prayer reaches it before it disappears.The dawn ritual asks for patience. Devotees enter the water before first light and stand quietly facing east, sometimes for a long stretch. Only when the Sun appears is the arghya made and the long fast finally broken, close to 36 hours after it began.Mid-November mornings across the northern plains are often wrapped in fog. Even when the Sun cannot be seen, the arghya is offered at the calculated sunrise time. The ritual honours the Sun’s rising, and fog does not change when that happens.