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At Chhath the first arghya goes to the sun as it sets, and the rising sun comes second. The whole household walks down to the river or the pond in the evening, the vrati stands in the water, and the offering is made to a sun that is going down.
Chhath follows Deepavali by a few days. It begins on the fourth day of the bright half of Kartik and ends on the seventh, and the sixth, its great evening, gives it the name Surya Shashti. It is kept for Surya, and for Chhathi Maiya, who protects children and gives them long life and good health. The vrati, most often a woman of the house though men keep it too, prays for the family's well-being.
Nahay Khay, the first day. The vrati takes a holy bath. The house, its surroundings and the path to the ghat are cleaned. Lauki bhaat, cooked pure, is offered first and then eaten.
Kharna, the second day. Through the day not one drop of water passes the vrati's lips. Then, once evening falls, comes gur ki kheer, called rasiaav, with roti or sohari.
Sandhya Arghya, the third day. The day goes in making the prasad at home. By evening everyone is at the water.
Usha Arghya, the fourth day. Before dawn the same people are back at the same ghat, facing the other way, for the rising sun. Only after this arghya does the vrati break the fast, with a little prasad and water. This is the Paran.
Everything offered is strictly vegetarian and made without salt, onion or garlic. Thekua is the taste of the festival, a crisp sweet of wheat flour, jaggery and ghee. With it go rice laddus, kasar and fruit, sugarcane, banana, coconut and sweet lime, all carried to the ghat in little baskets of bamboo. Purity is the point, and that is why so much of the work is cleaning.
Photos: Alokjain19883105 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Vkumarv (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
In the evening the household goes with the vrati to a river or a pond. Where there is neither, a tank will do. Gangajal is offered to Surya, Chhathi Maiya is worshipped with the prasad, and people who have only come to watch help out and take the vrati's blessing. Chhath songs carry on into the night.
Back home, five to seven sugarcanes are tied into a mandap for kosi bharai, with lamps lit beneath it. Then it is back to the water before the light comes.
In many families the vrat, once taken up, is kept year after year and handed down, and it is skipped only for a death in the family.
By Drik Panchang's calendar for India, Nahay Khay falls on Friday, 13 November, Kharna on Saturday, 14 November, Sandhya Arghya on the evening of Sunday, 15 November, and Usha Arghya on the morning of Monday, 16 November.
Chhath follows Deepavali, which the south begins before sunrise. Before those two come the full moon of Sharad Purnima and the fast of Karva Chauth. For more of India's stories, read about Rani ki Vav, the stepwell on your ₹100 note and Unakoti, the hill of one less than a crore.
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Nahay Khay is on Friday, 13 November, Kharna on Saturday, 14 November, Sandhya Arghya on the evening of Sunday, 15 November, and Usha Arghya on the morning of Monday, 16 November, by Drik Panchang's calendar for India. Sunset and sunrise differ from city to city, so check the time for your own ghat.
Chhath is the festival of Surya, and on its third evening the vrati stands in the water and offers the first arghya to the sun as it goes down. The second arghya goes to the rising sun at dawn the next day. So the sun is honoured at both ends of the day, and setting comes first.
Kharna is the second day, also called Rasiaav-roti or Lohanda. The vrati takes not a drop of water through the day. In the evening comes gur ki kheer, made with jaggery and called rasiaav, with roti or sohari. Wikipedia's article on Chhath describes the day this way.
Thekua above all, with rice laddus, kasar and fruit such as sugarcane, banana, coconut and sweet lime, carried in little baskets of bamboo. All of it is vegetarian and cooked without salt, onion or garlic. Keeping it pure matters, so the house is cleaned on the first day, before any of the making begins.
