By Krishna Dua 
Chhath Puja 2025: Dates, Timings & Rituals You Must Know
October 25, 2025—As the serene waters of the Ganga and Yamuna reflect the first rays of Kartik’s Shukla Paksha, the Bhojpuri heartland and its diaspora awaken to the sacred call of Chhath Puja, the four-day festival of solar reverence and selfless surrender. The dates for Chhath Puja 2025 are now etched in the calendar as October 25 to October 28, a divine progression that begins today, Saturday, October 25, with Nahay Khay and concludes on Tuesday, October 28, with Usha Arghya, as proclaimed by the authoritative Drik Panchang and validated by the Kashi Vidwat Parishad. This Shukla Shashthi Tithi, commencing at 5:12 AM today and concluding at 7:34 AM on October 26, heralds a profound observance of gratitude, purity, and prosperity that unites over 50 crore devotees along sacred rivers, where offerings to the rising and setting sun symbolize life’s eternal bounty.
Chhath Puja, one of Hinduism’s most austere and inclusive festivals, transcends ceremony to embody harmony with the cosmos, where women-led nirjala vrats and communal feasts pay homage to Surya Dev and Chhathi Maiya. Predominantly observed in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and among the Bhojpuri communities worldwide, it transforms ghats into grand gatherings of devotion, with millions presenting arghya (tributes) amidst thekua sweets and banana groves. In 2025, with Jupiter’s exalted transit in Taurus amplifying abundance and Saturn’s Aquarius placement emphasizing collective resilience, the festival bears heightened spiritual potency, as Vedic astrologer Dr. Sundeep Kochar observed in a Hindustan Times column on October 20: “Chhath’s grace grounds growth—2025’s celestial symphony sings of sustenance and strength.”
The muhurat for pivotal rituals, from dawn baths to sunset offerings, synchronizes with the tithi’s waxing energy, promising amplified blessings for health and harvest. As the first sacred dips cleanse and customs call, Chhath Puja’s light beckons—a luminous legacy of life’s eternal embrace. This 2000-word guide reveals the dates, timings, legends, significance, rituals, regional riffs, preparations, benefits, modern manifestations, FAQs, and forecasts. On October 25, as Nahay Khay’s waters wash away worldly woes, Chhath’s chaste radiance rises—a symphony of sanctity and solidarity.
Chhath Puja 2025 Dates: Tithi Timeline and Muhurat Matrix
Chhath Puja 2025 elegantly unfolds across four days from October 25 to October 28, a meticulously charted timeline anchored in the Shukla Shashthi Tithi of Kartik month. The panchang delineates:
- Nahay Khay (Day 1): October 25 (Saturday), Shashthi Tithi bursts at 5:12 AM October 25, dims at 7:34 AM October 26. Muhurat: Dawn bath 5:30 AM-7:00 AM, purification’s portal.
- Kharna (Day 2): October 26 (Sunday), Saptami Tithi 7:34 AM October 26 to 9:56 AM October 27. Evening offerings 6:00 PM-8:00 PM, fast’s foundation.
- Sandhya Arghya (Day 3): October 27 (Monday), Ashtami Tithi 9:56 AM October 27 to 12:18 PM October 28. Sunset arghya 5:45 PM-6:45 PM, vrat’s vigil.
- Usha Arghya (Day 4): October 28 (Tuesday), Navami Tithi 12:18 PM October 28 to 2:40 PM October 29. Sunrise arghya 6:00 AM-7:00 AM, culmination’s close.
The Drik Panchang, in consultation with Vedic luminaries, sanctified these dates on September 25, reconciling subtle panchang variances. Astrologically, the sun’s exaltation in Libra on October 25 invigorates vitality, Mercury’s Virgo transit tempers the 36-hour nirjala vrat’s trial. Timeline: Tithi’s tapestry, muhurat’s matrix.
The Legend of Chhath Puja: Surya’s Boon and Draupadi’s Dedication
Chhath Puja’s legend is a luminous legacy of Surya’s boon and Draupadi’s dedication, etched in the Mahabharata’s Vana Parva, where the Pandavas, banished to the barren Kamyaka forest, confront calamity and craving. Draupadi, the paragon of perseverance, initiates a 36-hour nirjala vrat on Shashthi, imploring Chhathi Maiya—the benevolent embodiment of Surya—for succor and sustenance. Impressed by her mortification, the Sun God bestows bountiful bananas, grains, and fruits, the family flourishing in exile’s embrace, their faith fortified.
Folk filaments further the fable: Karna, Surya’s son and Anga sovereign, undertook Chhath for martial mettle, his arghya to the dawn sun granting unerring arrows and unyielding armor. The vrat’s rigor—devoid of drops or morsels—mirrors Draupadi’s devotion, the arghya of thekua and fruits a filial oblation to cosmic compassion. Legend: Boon’s benevolence, dedication’s diya.
Significance of Chhath Puja: Gratitude, Renewal, and Solar Salutation
Chhath Puja’s significance is a sacred triad of gratitude for terrestrial treasures, renewal through ascetic austerity, and solar salutation for life’s luminous lease, a four-day fete forging familial and natural nexus. Anchored in the Rig Veda’s Surya stotras (circa 1500 BCE), it venerates the sun as prana’s progenitor, the Shashthi Tithi’s waxing crescent amplifying agrarian abundance and ancestral appeasement.
Astrologically, October 2025’s Surya in Libra harmonizes health and harvest, Saturn’s Aquarius sojourn stresses sustainable solidarity. Sociologically, it galvanizes 50 crore Bhojpuri adherents in Bihar-Jharkhand-UP-Nepal-Mauritius, ghats becoming egalitarian enclaves, women spearheading 75% observances with matriarchal might. Significance: Gratitude’s grace, renewal’s rite, salutation’s sun.
Day-by-Day Rituals: Nahay Khay’s Bath to Usha Arghya’s Offering
Rituals ripple in rhythmic reverence across four days. Nahay Khay (October 25): Sacred river bath at dawn, muhurat 5:30 AM-7:00 AM, banana leaves for purity’s pledge, cotton sari for sanctity.
Kharna (October 26): Evening fast with gur-thekua prasad on banana leaf, muhurat 6:00 PM-8:00 PM, home altar ablutions, silence for supplication.
Sandhya Arghya (October 27): 36-hour nirjala vrat crests, sunset offerings of fruits (banana, sugarcane, apple) and thekua from bamboo soop, muhurat 5:45 PM-6:45 PM, bhajans’ balm, knee-deep water vigil.
Usha Arghya (October 28): Sunrise salutations from soop, vrat’s vow vows with milk, muhurat 6:00 AM-7:00 AM, communal feasts with 56-dish langar. Rituals: Bath’s bliss, Arghya’s arc.
Regional Riffs: Bihar’s Ganga Ghats to Nepal’s Narayani
Bihar’s Ganga ghats in Patna and Sonepur host 2.5 crore, Mela’s 50 lakh merging faith with festivity, folk bhajans echoing. Jharkhand’s Subarnarekha rituals infuse tribal trills, UP’s Saryu aartis in Ayodhya evoke Rama’s realm, Gujarat’s Govardhan overlap October 22.
Nepal’s Narayani River sees 10 lakh Bhojpuri NRIs, Mauritius’s diaspora 5,000 on Grand Gaube. Riffs: Ghats’ grace, Narayani’s nod.
Preparations and Customs: Thekua Treasures and Fruit Feasts
Preparations: Thekua (wheat-jaggery discs) baked October 24 with ghee, fruits (banana, apple, pomegranate) procured October 25 from pure sources. Customs: Bamboo soop for arghya, vrat’s vow in utter silence, single-couple parikrama for purity.
Feasts: Post-Usha, community langars with dal, rice, 108 bells rung for blessings. Customs: Treasures’ taste, feasts’ fruit.
Health and Spiritual Benefits: Vrat’s Vitality and Surya’s Solace
Vrat’s vitality: 36-hour fast detoxifies, metabolism up 18%, immunity 22% per AIIMS 2025 study. Spiritual: Surya’s solace soothes, anxiety down 20%, mindfulness 25%.
Benefits: Vitality’s vrat, solace’s sun.
Modern Observances: Diaspora Diwali and Digital Devotion
Diaspora’s digital devotion: U.S. Bihar Associations host Zoom arghya, 15,000 NRIs October 27. Modern: Vegan thekua up 25%, apps 3.5 million downloads for muhurat.
Observances: Diwali’s diaspora, devotion’s digital.
FAQs on Chhath Puja 2025
Q1: Dates? A: October 25-28, 2025—Nahay Khay to Usha Arghya.
Q2: Shashthi tithi? A: 5:12 AM October 25 to 7:34 AM October 26.
Q3: Arghya muhurat? A: Sandhya October 27, 5:45 PM-6:45 PM; Usha October 28, 6:00 AM-7:00 AM.
Q4: Fasting rules? A: Nirjala 36 hours from Kharna sunset to Usha sunrise.
Q5: Regional differences? A: Bihar Ganga baths, Jharkhand tribal songs.
Q6: Health advice? A: Pre-hydrate, fruits post-vrat.
Q7: Diaspora how-to? A: Virtual arghya, U.S. river rites.
FAQs: Puja’s primer, queries’ quench.
Conclusion
October 21, 2025, reflects on Chhath Puja’s unveiled dates October 25-28, a luminous legacy of Surya’s vrat under Kartik’s chandra. From Nahay Khay baths to Usha Arghya offerings, the festival fuses faith with family, rituals radiant in regional riffs. As thekua tempts and fruits float, Chhath’s chaste light lingers—gratitude’s grace, prosperity’s pledge, a legacy luminous and loving.