Chhath Puja 2025 | Date |Day | Rituals & Significance

Chhath Puja — A Four-Day Festival of Sun God -Worship and Devotion

By Intimate Viewpoint

Introduction

Every autumn, across the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, parts of Uttar Pradesh and in Nepal, devotees come together to observe a beautiful and uniquely rigorous festival dedicated to the sun and nature: Chhath Puja. In 2025, the festival will be celebrated from Saturday, 25 October to Tuesday, 28 October.

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Date & Day

Day 1 – Nahay Khay: Saturday, 25 October 2025. 

Day 2 – Kharna (also called Lohanda): Sunday, 26 October 2025. 

Day 3 – Sandhya Arghya (Evening offering to the setting sun): Monday, 27 October 2025. 

Day 4 – Usha Arghya (Morning offering to the rising sun) & Parana (breaking of the fast): Tuesday, 28 October 2025. 

This four-day structure defines the rhythm of the festival: purification, fasting, offering to the setting sun, and finally offering to the rising sun and breaking the fast.

Rituals, Observances & Meaning

Day 1 – Nahay Khay (25 October 2025)

On this opening day, devotees begin by taking a holy bath in a clean river or water body (or at least in a purified setting). They then eat the first simple meal of the festival: a sattvic (pure) diet, often excluding onion and garlic, and cooked in traditional pots. The meal typically includes bottle-gourd (lauki), rice, chickpea dal, and minimal spices. 

Symbolically, this day is about purification — of body, mind, home. The devotee prepares for the intensive fast and offers that will follow. Putting aside processed food, refraining from extravagance, embracing simplicity: that’s the mood.

Day 2 – Kharna (26 October 2025)

This is the day of fast and self-discipline. The devotee maintains a fast, often the “Nirjala Vrat” (without water) for many hours, until sunset. In the evening, a special prasad is prepared: jaggery-sweetened rice pudding (kheer), rotis, fruits, bananas — all offered to Chhathi Maiya and then consumed by the devotee. This marks the beginning of the more intense phase of devotion. 

The fast is not just physical abstinence; it is a conscious offering of one’s comfort, convenience, appetite — in devotion. Family members and helpers join in the preparation; communal kitchens/icons are common.

Day 3 – Sandhya Arghya (27 October 2025)

The heart of Chhath: in the evening, at sunset, devotees gather at the river-bank (or pond, lake, water-body) with baskets (soop) filled with traditional offerings: thekua (a wheat‐flour–jaggery sweet), seasonal fruits, sugar-cane sticks, coconuts, earthen diyas (lamps). They stand waist-deep in water, facing the setting sun, offering Arghya (water, milk, flowers, etc) to Surya Dev and Chhathi Maiya, singing folk-songs (Chhath geet), lamps flicker on the water surface. 

This ritual is visually stirring: the silhouette of devotees in water, the gleam of sunset, the rhythmic songs. It is a communion with nature — water + sun + community. It is also a test of endurance and focus: standing in cold water, maintaining poise.

Day 4 – Usha Arghya & Parana (28 October 2025)

The final morning rendezvous: before sunrise, devotees again wade into the water and offer Arghya to the rising sun’s first rays. After this, the long fast is broken (Parana). The prasad is shared with family, neighbours, community. The festival closes with a sense of renewal, gratitude, and hope. 

This morning ritual represents new beginnings: the light of dawn, renewal of life’s energy, the promise of health and prosperity. It emphasises that devotion is not only in hardship but also in renewal.

Historical & Cultural Significance

Chhath Puja is ancient and deeply rooted in the traditions of the solar-worshipping communities of eastern India. The festival honours the sun god (Surya Dev) for sustaining all life, and his (or connected) goddess counterpart, often known as Chhathi Maiya. 

In many narratives, the motif of standing in water, offering arghya (water + sacred offerings) to the sun at sunset and again at sunrise, reflects gratitude for nature’s life-giving forces: water, sunlight, fertility of the land, and health of children and family. The festival thus transforms ritual observance into an eco-spiritual affirmation: purity of water, respect for the sun, communal harmony. 

In more practical terms, Chhath fosters community bonding — neighbour-ghats are cleaned, riversides and ponds become sacred gathering spots, songs and folk-rhythms enliven the evenings. It’s a festival where devotion marries discipline.

Significance: Why Chhath Puja Matters

There are many layers of significance to this festival.

Gratitude to Nature: The sun and water are the two major elemental forces on earth — sun gives energy, water sustains life. Chhath Puja is a public offering of thanks to those forces. 

Discipline & Purity: The fasts, the bathing in clean water, the simple diet, the avoidance of onion/garlic in meals, the wat­er‐body rituals — all reflect purification of body, mind, environment.

Family & Children’s Welfare: In many households, the vow (vrat) is taken for the welfare of children or family health; Chhathi Maiya is viewed as protector of children and motherly energy. 

Community & Environment: The festival is entirely eco-friendly: no idols immersed, no loud fireworks, no massive materials. Many river ghats are cleaned specially; the festival encourages respect for water-bodies and environment. 

Cultural Continuity: Through folk‐songs, communal gatherings, shared prasad, the festival passes down traditions across generations — sustaining regional language, music (Maithili/Bhojpuri/folk), and identity.

Spiritual Renewal: Beyond physical devotion, Chhath is about aligning one’s rhythm with nature’s rhythm — sunrise, sunset, water, sky. It invites reflection: what sustains me? Where do I draw energy? It becomes a mini pilgrimage.

Preparations & Practical Notes

If you or your family are planning to observe Chhath this year (2025 starting 25 Oct), here are some key practical tips:

Choose the site: Traditional ghats by rivers like the Ganga, Ghaghra, Gandak etc are crowded but full of spirit. In urban settings one may use a pond, lake or even a rooftop filled with water containers — essential is sincerity, not just location. 

Cleanliness & dress: Devotees often wear clean new clothes (women mostly in bright sarees – yellow/orange/green – men in dhoti-kurta). Ghats are cleaned, decorated with banana trees, rangoli, earthen lamps.

Diet & fasting: On Day 1 eat simple sattvic food. On Day 2 fast strictly, avoid water if the vrati (devotee) is of that discipline. After sunset on Day 2 take the kheer / prasad. Then maintain indirect fast till the next morning.

Offerings and Samagri: Traditional items include – thekua, seasonal fruits, sugarcane, raw milk, ghee, camphor, earthen lamps, bananas, coconuts in husk, soop (bamboo winnowing tray), fresh turmeric, ginger. Packaged/processed foods are discouraged. 

Standing in water for Arghya: On Day 3 and Day 4, devotees wade into water (often standing waist-deep) for the evening and morning arghya. It can be physically challenging especially in cold – so ensure safety, warm clothing, and emergency help if needed.

Break the fast & share prasad: After the Usha Arghya, devotees break their fast. The prasad is shared with family and neighbours, which strengthens communal bonds.

Environmental care: Avoid plastic, noise, pollutants. Clean up after the rituals. Respect the river or pond. The festival implicitly encourages ecological mindfulness.

Timing & Muhurat: For 2025, the Shashthi tithi begins 6:04 AM on 27 Oct and ends 7:59 AM on 28 Oct (for e.g., Delhi region). 

Transport & logistics: Because many travel to hometowns and ghats, expect heavy traffic, crowded transport. Planning ahead is wise (especially for Jharkhand/Bihar region).

Chhath in Today’s Context

In modern times, Chhath has taken on additional layers of meaning. Urban communities, diaspora groups – from Delhi to Mumbai to abroad – now recreate rooftop “ghats” with tubs or artificial ponds, maintaining devotion even in condos. The eco-friendly nature of the festival appeals to current sensibilities of sustainability. 

Governments and municipal authorities often gear up with safety arrangements: cleaning ghats, installing lighting and barricades, managing crowds. 

At the same time, the festival retains its rural core — the river-bank, the dawn’s hush, the songs echoing across water — which keeps the cultural soul intact.

What makes Chhath Puja stand out among festivals?

Simplicity in ritual, depth in meaning: No grand idol processions, no flamboyant fireworks – rather a quiet devotion, a fast, a bath, an offering in water that speaks of humility and gratitude.

Accessible to all: While there are roles for priests, much of the preparation is domestic and community-based – the suna (gold) is the river-bank, the lamp-light reflecting off water.

Gender dimension: Although men also participate, historically the vrati (female devotee) is often the central figure; the role of women in preserving tradition is strong.

Renewal through nature: The festival connects human beings to the natural cycles — sunset, sunrise, water, sun, seasons. It reminds that our lives are not separate from nature’s rhythms.

Shared hope and faith: Families take vows for children’s welfare, for family health, for prosperity. The act of waiting in the water, making offerings, fasting with intention — all these crystallise hope into ritual.

Concluding Thoughts

As we approach 25–28 October 2025, let us prepare to observe Chhath Puja with sincerity and understanding. Whether you are a devotee standing by the ghat, or a well-wisher sharing in the spirit from afar, the festival invites us to pause: to honour the sun, to honour the water, to honour each other.

In an age of distraction and hurry, the ritual of waiting by the water, singing hymns as the sun sets, standing in the cold, offering prasad, sharing food — all evoke a sense of rootedness and reverence that we seldom experience.

Let the 2025 Chhath-Puja be not merely a date on the calendar but a lived experience of devotion, purity, community and renewal. May the first rays of the sun alight our hearts with health, prosperity, and peace. May Chhathi Maiya’s blessings descend gently, and may your fast, your prayers, your offerings be accepted with grace.

_** शुभ छठ पर्व!**_