Devotees in Lucknow offer Sandhya Arghya to the setting Sun during Chhath Puja 2025, with glowing diyas and sacred offerings at the ghats (Photo: Pinterest)
Chhath Puja is one of the most ancient and eco-spiritual Hindu festivals and worships Lord Surya-the Sun God and Chhathi Maiya, who stands for energy, purity and motherhood. It is a festival of four days, marked by deep devotion with fasts and stringent rituals as it worships the rising and setting Sun.
While it is historically very deeply rooted in Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, the same ritual has been very well practiced now in some cosmopolitan cities like Lucknow, where people gather at the riverbanks or ponds and celebrate the life greathening force of the Sun.
The devotees of Lucknow offered Sandhya Arghya in the evening homage to the setting Sun with great faith and joy. On the third day of the Chhath fast observes this occasion as a moment of spectacle. Families head toward ghats with ornamental bamboo baskets full of offerings, hymns of devotion in the air while the water glows with thousands of diyas floating under a twilight sky.
The Usha Arghya or morning prayer to the rising Sun and would be performed at dawn offering symbolizes renewal and thanksgiving. Devotees stand in water, welcoming as they greet the first rays of sunlight, blessings for peace, prosperity and health for their families.
The Sandhya Arghya in Lucknow during 2025 is anticipated around 5:27 PM. During such time, vratis (fasting devotees) would offer arghya through folded hands, accompanied by traditional songs and of the fragrance of incense. It is said to mark the perfect conjunction of devotion, discipline and nature's harmony.
The second day is known as Kharna is considered to be very spiritually significant. The devotees are supposed to fast all day and then prepare for themselves gur-chawal (sweet jaggery rice) and kheer (milk pudding) in the evening. Then the vratis offer it to the deity and break their fast, sharing the sacred prasad with family members and neighbors the sharing of pure things together.
The auspicious muhurat for performing the rituals in Lucknow is highly determined by the exact motion of the Sun both Sandhya Arghya and Usha Arghya are performed based on the configuration of the Sun that they occur to extract the maximum spiritual importance from them.
All the major characteristics of the festival are rigidity fast and abstinence strict devotion. The devotees will observe a nirjala vrat 36-hour fast without both food and water then prepare offerings such as thekua, coconuts, sugar cane and fruits in bamboo baskets. Thekua, a golden-brown sweet made from wheat flour and jaggery is the main prasad of this festival.
All Hindu rites include bathing in holy water, offering arghya, lighting diyas and chanting Surya mantras. Thus, all households sing folk songs and pray to Surya Dev and Chhathi Maiya for well-being fertility and harmony in the household.
The suryast time for Sandhya Arghya will be at around 5:27 PM in Lucknow, when the sky is colored with golden and crimson hues. This peaceful moment conveys the spiritual message of the festival in thanking the Sun for keeping alive everything on Earth.
Disclaimer: Festival timings and rituals are based on general solar calculations for Lucknow; devotees should confirm local muhurat before observance.
