Chhath Puja Vidhi — four days, both arghyas
Chhath is the most demanding vrat in the calendar and the least forgiving of a missing item, because two of its four days happen at a ghat rather than at home. The fast is nirjala — without water — for roughly thirty-six hours between Kharna and the morning arghya.
This is the sequence printed on the card inside our Chhath Puja Kit, which also carries a detachable ghat checklist you take to the water instead of the whole box.
In this order
- The nirjala fast runs from Kharna until the morning arghya — roughly thirty-six hours without food or water.
- Everything that goes in the soop is prepared in a kitchen kept ritually clean; no onion or garlic anywhere in the house during Chhath.
- The soop and daura are carried to the ghat by hand, and are not set down on the ground.
- Sandhya arghya faces the setting sun; usha arghya faces the rising sun. The direction is not interchangeable.
This sequence is verified by a practising purohit and checked by a second from a different tradition. Practice still varies by region, sampradaya and family — where yours differs, follow your own tradition. Muhurat and tithi should be confirmed against a panchang calculated for your city. Nothing here promises an outcome.
About this vidhi
The nirjala fast runs from the evening of Kharna to the morning arghya on the fourth day — approximately thirty-six hours without food or water. The first two days involve restricted sattvik eating rather than a full fast.