Chhath Puja 2024: Nahay Khay today; know the rituals of all 4 days of the festival and the first Arghya time
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Chhath Puja is a holy four-day Hindu festival that involves worshipping the Sun God and his sister Chhathi Maiya. It’s celebrated on the sixth day of the lunar month of Kartika. This year, Chhath Puja festivities commence on November 5 with Nahay Khay. The Chhath Puja, or Sandhya Arghya, falls on November 7. The festival will end on November 8 with Usha Arghya. So let’s see how the devotees celebrate all the four days.
Nahay Khay
On the first day of Chhath Puja, also known as Nahay Khay, women observing the festival perform a puja and consume only saatvik food; simple, pure, and vegetarian. They eat rice, gram, lentils, gourd, pumpkin, and other vegetables with minimal spices. The revered Chhath prasad is cooked on a stove that has been meticulously cleaned, and only the devotees who are fasting are permitted to prepare it.
Kharna
The second day of Chhath Puja is Kharna, a day of rigorous fasting. Women observe a strict fast without food or water from sunrise until sunset. In the evening, they break the fast after performing a puja, consuming roti and kheer prepared earlier in the day. After this, they take a vow to observe a nirjala fast for the remaining days of the festival.
However, on this day, Bhadra’s shadow will fall, which is deemed inauspicious. Therefore, devotees should refrain from performing any auspicious work during this time. The timing for Bhadra will begin at 11:54 am and go on till 12:16 am the following day.
Chhath Puja
On the third day, the evening prasad and prayers are offered to the Sun God and the revered goddess, Chhathi Maiya. Devotees carry offerings of fruits and tekhua in baskets to the riverside for the evening prayer. At sunset, married women step into the water body until they are waist-deep and pray to the sun god to offer the first Arghya. The Shashti Tithi starts on November 7 at 12:41 am and ends next at 12:34 am. The sunrise time on the day of Chhath Puja is at 6:37 am, and the sunset is at 5:31 pm.
Usha Arghya
Chhath Puja festival ends with Usha Arghya on November 8. Devotees offer Arghya at dawn to the rising sun on this day. The sun will rise at 6:38 am on this day. Later, the prasad is distributed among devotees to mark the successful commencement of the holy festival.
