🌞 How to Perform Chhath Puja – Step-by-Step Ritual Guide
📅 Day 1 – Nahay Khay (Bath & Eat)
Purpose: Begin purification with holy bathing and satvik food.
🧼 Rituals:
-
Clean your home thoroughly, especially kitchen and puja areas.
-
Take a holy bath – preferably in a river or using Gangajal.
-
Cook food using bronze utensils.
-
Eat Kaddu-Bhaat (pumpkin + rice) as the only meal of the day.
-
Optional: Use earthen stove (mitti chulha) and cow dung cakes.
-
📅 Day 2 – Kharna (Fasting Begins)
Purpose: Observe a waterless fast (nirjal vrat) with evening prasad.
🍚 Rituals:
-
Observe fast without food or water the whole day.
-
In the evening, cook Jaggery Kheer, Roti/Puri, and fruits.
-
Offer to Chhathi Maiya using brass thali or puja set.
-
Break your fast after offering prasad.
📅 Day 3 – Sandhya Arghya (Evening Offering to Setting Sun)
Purpose: Offer gratitude to the setting sun.
🧺 Preparations:
-
Arrange your Soop (bamboo winnow trays)
-
Fill it with:
🕯️ Rituals:
-
Walk to the riverbank (ghat) carrying the offerings in a daura (bamboo basket).
-
Stand in the water, facing the setting sun.
-
Offer Arghya using brass kalash or earthen pot.
-
Light earthen diyas, incense sticks, and camphor.
-
Wear a chunari and sing traditional Chhath songs.
📅 Day 4 – Usha Arghya (Morning Offering to Rising Sun)
Purpose: Completion of vrat and offering to the rising sun.
🌅 Rituals:
-
Leave for the ghat before sunrise.
-
Carry the same items used in the evening Arghya.
-
As the sun rises, offer Arghya using puja kalash and sacred water.
-
Break your 36-hour fast with raw milk and prasad.
-
Distribute prasad to friends, family, and neighbors.
✅ Other Essentials You May Need
by openAI