Chhath Puja 2026 Is Nov. 13 to 16: Sandhya and Usha Arghya Sunset and Sunrise Times in US Cities

Chhath Puja 2026 runs from Friday, Nov. 13 to Monday, Nov. 16, according to the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, on its Incredible India page. The festival honors the Sun God, with offerings to the setting Sun on the third day and the rising Sun on the fourth. In our reading of the page’s order of days, that makes Sandhya Arghya Sunday, Nov. 15 and Usha Arghya Monday, Nov. 16. Below are sunset and sunrise times for those two days in 10 US cities and Patna, from the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO).

When is Chhath Puja 2026?

The Incredible India page lists the festival as “Friday, 13 Nov, 2026 – Monday, 16 Nov, 2026”. It describes a four-day festival and names the days Nahay Khay, Lohanda or Kharna, Sandhya Arghya and Usha Arghya, but it gives no date for each day. Placing the days in that order on the four dates is our reading, not an official day-by-day list.

Day	Name	Date (our reading)	What the Ministry of Tourism page says
1	Nahay Khay	Fri., Nov. 13	A holy dip in rivers or water bodies, collecting Ganges water, and cleaning the home
2	Kharna	Sat., Nov. 14	A day-long fast, broken in the evening after worshipping Mother Earth, with kheer and fruits
3	Sandhya Arghya	Sun., Nov. 15	Offerings (Arghya) to the setting Sun at the riverbank in the evening
4	Usha Arghya	Mon., Nov. 16	Arghya to the rising Sun, breaking the fast and sharing prasad

The page also says Chhath Puja is observed twice a year, in Chaitra (March-April) and Kartika (October-November), and calls it the only occasion where both the setting and the rising Sun are worshipped.

What time are sunset and sunrise for Chhath Puja in US cities?

Arghya is offered to the Sun at sunset on the third day and at sunrise on the fourth. We took the sun times from the USNO’s “Sun and Moon Data for One Day” service, using city-center coordinates. U.S. clocks go back to standard time on Sunday, Nov. 1, so every U.S. time below is standard time; see when daylight saving time ends. Patna is in Indian Standard Time (IST).

City	Time zone	Sunset, Sun., Nov. 15	Sunrise, Mon., Nov. 16
New York	Eastern Time (ET)	4:38 p.m.	6:44 a.m.
Edison, NJ	ET	4:40 p.m.	6:45 a.m.
Washington, DC	ET	4:54 p.m.	6:52 a.m.
Atlanta	ET	5:34 p.m.	7:11 a.m.
Chicago	Central Time (CT)	4:30 p.m.	6:42 a.m.
Houston	CT	5:26 p.m.	6:47 a.m.
Dallas	CT	5:26 p.m.	6:58 a.m.
Seattle	Pacific Time (PT)	4:33 p.m.	7:16 a.m.
San Jose	PT	4:57 p.m.	6:48 a.m.
Los Angeles	PT	4:49 p.m.	6:27 a.m.
Patna, India	Indian Standard Time (IST)	5:01 p.m.	6:07 a.m.

These are the times the Sun’s upper edge crosses the horizon, not ritual times. Your temple, association or ghat organizer sets the gathering time, so ask them.

Is Chhath Puja a holiday in 2026?

In India, the list of the Controller of Communication Accounts, Bihar, an office of the Department of Telecommunications, shows “Chath Puja (Usha Arghya)” on 16-11-2026 (Monday) as a gazetted holiday for that office. It lists “Pratihar Shashthi or Surya Shashthi (Chaath Puja)” on Nov. 15 (Sunday) as a restricted holiday. The same list shows Dhanteras on Nov. 6, Govardhan Puja on Nov. 9 and Bhai Duj on Nov. 11 as restricted holidays.

We could not confirm how the central Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) classes Chhath, and the Bihar state portals for 2026 holiday dates were unreachable, so we state no state holiday dates. In the United States, neither the Embassy of India in Washington, DC nor the Consulate General of India in San Francisco lists Chhath among its 2026 holidays.

How does Chhath fit with Diwali in November 2026?

Diwali 2026 is Sunday, Nov. 8, according to the holiday lists of the Embassy of India in Washington, DC and the Consulate General of India in San Francisco. Chhath Puja begins five days after that. For the Lakshmi Puja times and the five Diwali days, see our Diwali 2026 guide. Later in the month, Guru Nanak Jayanti falls on Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Planning the four days

Nov. 15 is a Sunday and Nov. 16 a Monday, so the morning Usha Arghya falls on a weekday in the United States. The printable in the downloads lists the four days with New York sunset and sunrise. Print a November 2026 calendar to mark the dates, and see our table of sunset times after daylight saving time ends for other cities.