Chhath Puja 2025: Essential Dos and Don’ts to Maintain the Purity and Sanctity of Surya Dev’s Sacred Vrat

Chhath Puja is a very spiritual and traditional festival of Bihar, UP, Jharkhand, Nepal and MP that honors Surya Dev (the Sun God) and Chhathi Maiya. The festival is accompanied by strict rituals, fasting, and purification. Observing the right dos and don’ts is very important for keeping the vrat’s sanctity alive.

Dos for Chhath Vrat

Maintain purity and cleanliness

1. Before starting the vrat, clean your house, kitchen, and also your surroundings.
2. The place where the puja is performed (ghat or home) should be completely clean.

Observe the rituals with devotion

1. Perform all the steps, Nahay Khay, Kharna, Sandhya Arghya, and Usha Arghya, in that order.
2. With full faith, give Arghya (water offering) to the setting and the rising sun.
   

Eat sattvik food

1. During the period when one is observing a fast is required to eat only vegetarian food.
2. Needs to steer clear of onion, garlic, and packaged or stale food.
3. While preparing Prasad, use fresh and clean ingredients.

Keep yourself clean

1. Before doing any puja or making offerings, take a bath.
2. Put on clean, preferably new or freshly washed, traditional clothes.

Prepare Prasad with utmost care

1. Chhath prasad includes Thekua, Kheer, Rice Ladoo, and other offerings with pure ghee and clean utensils.
2. You are required to prepare everything in a peaceful and sacred environment.

Use natural items

1. Prasad offers fruits, sugarcane, coconuts, and other naturally obtained items.

Observe the fast with sincerity

1. The Vratis (those observing the fast) should stay in silence, show patience, and be devoted.
2. Keep a positive and calm mental state.

Respect traditional timings

1. Give Arghya exactly at the time of sunrise and sunset.

Serve others

1. Provide help to other devotees at the ghats and share Prasad with a humble attitude.

Don’ts for Chhath Vrat

Do not eat any meat during the festival

1. No meat, no eggs, and no fish at all during the festival, even for non-vegetarians in the house.

Do not make use of synthetic or impure materials

1. Do not use plastic plates or artificial decorations at the puja place.

Do not behave negatively

1. Do not get angry, lie, argue, or gossip, and keep a peaceful environment.

Do not consume salted or processed food

1. In Kharna and fasting days, salt, oil, and packaged products should be completely excluded.

Do not unwarrantedly touch the offerings

1. After the Prasad is prepared, do not taste or touch it casually before the puja.

Do not wear dirty clothes

1. Wear cotton or simple clothes in light colors; avoid synthetic or dirty clothes.

Do not break the fast once it has commenced

1. The Chhath vrat must be observed completely and correctly; it should not be stopped halfway.

Do not use alcohol and tobacco

1. These are strictly prohibited during the fast for all the members of the household.

Do not contaminate the water body

1. Keep the ghats and riverbanks clean. Do not dispose of plastic, flowers, or food waste in the river.