Chhath Puja dates for the next 100 years (2026 – 2125)

Chhath Puja is a four-day festival of Sun worship, and its date moves around the calendar every year [1]. This article lists the main day of Chhath for every year from 2026 to 2125, explains why the date keeps changing, and shows where the dates may differ by a day.

Quick answer

• The next Chhath Puja main day (Sandhya Arghya, the evening offering to the setting Sun) is Sunday, 15 November 2026, and the four-day festival runs from 13 to 16 November [5].
• In 2027, the main day is Thursday, 4 November, which matches the date shown by Drik Panchang for New Delhi and the national holiday date in Nepal [4, 6].
• Across all 100 years in our table, the earliest main day is 23 October (2028) and the latest is 24 November (2123).
• About 25% of the dates fall in October and about 75% fall in November.
• The dates from 2028 onward are calculated, not taken from an official almanac. Ten years are marked with a star (*) because they are close calls that may differ by one day in some almanacs.

Why the date changes every year

Chhath is held on the sixth lunar day (called Shashthi) of the bright half of the lunar month of Kartika, which usually falls in October or November [1]. The festival lasts four days, starting on the fourth lunar day and ending on the seventh [1]. Because it follows the Moon and not the 365-day calendar, the date on the usual calendar keeps moving.
A lunar day is called a tithi. It is the time the Moon takes to move 12 degrees ahead of the Sun in the sky, and it lasts anywhere from about 19 to 26 hours, with an average of about 23 hours and 37 minutes [2]. So a tithi does not match a 24-hour day, and it can start or end at any hour.
A lunar year is about 354 days, while a solar year is about 365 days, so the festival would slowly drift through the seasons [7]. The Hindu calendar fixes this by adding an extra lunar month roughly every three years [7]. In our table this shows up clearly. In about 64% of year-to-year steps the date moves about 10 to 12 days earlier, and in about 36% of steps it jumps about 17 to 20 days later.
For example, Chhath’s main day moves from 15 November 2026 to 4 November 2027, which is 11 days earlier [5, 4].

How we worked out the 100 dates

In Hindu tradition, the tithi in place at sunrise is treated as the tithi of that day [2]. For Chhath, almanacs follow the same sunrise rule, which is called udaya tithi. In 2023, for example, Shashthi ran from 9:18 AM on 18 November to 7:23 AM on 19 November, and Chhath was marked on 19 November under the sunrise rule [3].
We used this rule and worked in four steps.

• We found each new moon in autumn using astronomy software that tracks the real positions of the Sun and Moon.
• We picked the new moon that begins the month of Kartika, which is the month containing the Sun’s entry into the sign of Scorpio, and counted the Shashthi that follows.
• We took the first day on which Shashthi is in place at sunrise in New Delhi, which is the default location of Drik Panchang [4].
• We checked the method against published dates, and it matched in every year from 2023 to 2027, including 19 November 2023, 7 November 2024, 27 October 2025, 15 November 2026 and 4 November 2027 [3, 6, 5, 4].
  In 2026, the tithi starts late on 14 November and ends early on 16 November, so the tithi in place at sunrise on 15 November makes it the main day [5]. In 2027, Drik Panchang shows Shashthi from 7:31 PM on 3 November to 9:37 PM on 4 November for New Delhi, so the main day is 4 November [4].

Chhath Puja dates 2026 to 2125

“Main day” is Sandhya Arghya, the third day, when worshippers stand in water and offer prayers to the setting Sun [1]. The four-day span runs from Nahay Khay (the first day of bathing and a simple meal) to Usha Arghya (the morning offering to the rising Sun that ends the fast) [1, 5].

Patterns in the 100-year list

The main day falls on every weekday, but not equally often in our table. Sunday appears in 19% of the years, Thursday in 18%, Tuesday in 17%, Friday in 14%, Saturday in 12%, Wednesday in 11% and Monday in 9%.
The date does not slide in one direction. It moves earlier by about 10 to 12 days in most years, then jumps later by about 17 to 20 days when an extra lunar month has been added [7]. This keeps the festival in the October to November window instead of letting it drift through the whole year.

Why a few dates may differ by one day

Almanacs do not all use the same rule. One school of thought counts the tithi at sunrise for the whole day, while another takes note when a tithi changes during the day, and this difference is what makes some festivals appear on two consecutive days [7].
The method of calculation also matters. Traditional almanacs often use averaged motions of the Sun and Moon from old texts, while modern ones use precise true positions, and the results can differ by several minutes and in rare cases by up to an hour [2]. When a tithi starts or ends close to sunrise, even that small gap can change the date.
Place matters too, because sunrise happens at different clock times in different cities. Our table uses New Delhi sunrise [4]. If you live far from India, such as in Africa, Southeast Asia or Australia, check an almanac made for your own city before you plan.

Chhath Puja around the world

Chhath is native to eastern India and southern Nepal. It is celebrated mainly in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, and in several provinces of Nepal [1]. Nepal observes it as a national holiday on the main day, for example on 15 November 2026 and 4 November 2027 [6].
The festival has also travelled with migrants. People in the United States, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Mauritius, Japan and the United Kingdom celebrate it [1]. Because families abroad often follow Indian almanacs, the main day usually matches the dates in this table.
Chhath is also held a second time each year, in the month of Chaitra in spring, and this is called Chaiti Chhath [1]. This article covers only the larger autumn festival, Kartik Chhath.

Myths vs facts

Bottom line

Chhath Puja always falls on the sixth lunar day after the Diwali new moon in the month of Kartika, so its date on the usual calendar moves from year to year. The next main day is Sunday, 15 November 2026, then 4 November 2027 and 23 October 2028, and our table runs all the way to 1 November 2125. Dates for 2026 and 2027 match published almanacs, and the later years are careful calculations that can differ by a day in the starred years, so confirm the exact date with a local almanac or priest as each year approaches.

Disclaimer: This article is for general education only and does not replace the advice of a qualified priest or an official almanac (panchang) for religious observance dates. If you notice an error or would like to send feedback or corrections, please contact us.

• [1] Chhath, Wikipedia
• [2] Tithi, Wikipedia
• [3] Chhath Puja 2023 schedule with dates from Nahay Khay to Usha Arghya, LatestLY
• [4] 2027 Chhath Puja date and time for New Delhi, Drik Panchang
• [5] Chhath Puja 2026: Date, Kharna and Arghya time, Shubh Panchang
• [6] Chaath Puja in Nepal in 2026, Office Holidays
• [7] Chapter 05 Astronomy in India, SATHEE (IIT Kanpur)