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Chhath Puja 2026 in Varanasi runs from Friday 13 to Monday 16 November: Nahay Khay on the 13th, Kharna on the 14th, the Sandhya Arghya to the setting sun on the evening of Sunday 15th, and the Usha Arghya to the rising sun at dawn on Monday 16th. The two arghyas are on the ghats, with the largest gatherings at Assi, Dashashwamedh, Rajghat and the Ramnagar sandbank across the river, and the roads into the ghat zone have in previous years closed from early afternoon on the 15th and from about three in the morning on the 16th. A cab drops you at Lanka, Godowlia or Rajghat and waits; it cannot reach the river on either day. Delhi to Varanasi is 820 km, ₹9,020 one-way for a sedan.
Updated · Fares from the published rate card, Sedan ₹11/km to Tempo ₹23/km
Chhath is the festival of the sun and of the river, and in Varanasi it is observed on the same ghats that host the evening aarti, by families who fast for thirty-six hours and stand in the water at sunset and again at sunrise. It is not a spectacle staged for visitors; it is a household observance carried out in public, and the practical questions are about access: which ghat, at what hour, and how close a vehicle can get when the whole city is walking to the river.
The dates are verified against the 2026 Kartik calendar. Fares are from the published rate card, ₹11/km for a sedan, ₹15 for an Ertiga or SUV, ₹18 for an Innova Crysta and ₹23 for a 12-seater Tempo Traveller, tolls extra, no festival surge.
13–16 November 2026
Chhath is four days long. The first two are at home; the last two are on the ghats, at the two ends of the same night.
13 NovThe first day: a bath in the river, and the one meal that opens the fast. Families visit the ghats in the morning to bathe and collect Ganga water; the ghats are busy but the roads are open. A good day to arrive and to see the Vishwanath corridor.
14 NovThe second day and the start of the thirty-six-hour fast, broken once after sunset with kheer and roti. A home day; the ghats are being cleaned and the bamboo sun platforms are going up on the steps. Roads open.
15 Nov · sunset a little after 5 pmThe evening offering to the setting sun. Families walk to the ghats from mid-afternoon with the soop baskets of fruit and thekua; the vratis stand in the river as the sun goes down. In previous years the roads into the ghat zone have closed from about two. Sunset in Varanasi on the 15th is a little after five; the exact minute is announced locally.
16 Nov · sunrise around 6.30 amThe dawn offering to the rising sun, and the end of the fast. Families are on the ghats from four; in previous years the roads have closed again around three in the morning. Sunrise is around half past six; the exact minute is announced locally. By eight the ghats are emptying and the roads reopen.
The cab stops at the drop point; the rest is on foot. Walk times are for the evening of the 15th, when the lanes are full.
| Ghat | Cab drop point | Walk | What it is like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assi Ghat | Lanka crossing | 15–20 min | Wide steps, the largest Chhath gathering in the south of the city, families from the Lanka and BHU side |
| Dashashwamedh and the central ghats | Godowlia or Girjaghar | 10–15 min | The centre; the most crowded, with the aarti platforms cleared for the vratis |
| Rajghat | Rajghat bridge approach | 10 min | Broad and quieter, with the bridge behind; easy access from the north and the airport side |
| The Ramnagar sandbank (far bank) | Ramnagar side, via the bridge | 10 min | The sandbank opposite; open ground, large families, the sun straight ahead at both arghyas |
| Panchganga and the northern ghats | Maidagin | 15–20 min | The old lanes; smaller gatherings and the tallest steps |
Drop points are where the police cordons have run in previous years; the day’s plan is announced by the administration and the driver follows it.
The cab
On the 13th and 14th, anywhere a car can normally go in Varanasi, which is to the edge of the ghat zone: the old-city lanes between Godowlia and the river are never open to cars. On the afternoon of the 15th and the small hours of the 16th the cordon widens: in previous years the police have closed Godowlia, the Lanka–Assi road and the Rajghat approaches to private vehicles, and the same is expected in 2026, so the drop points become the crossings a kilometre back. From there it is ten to twenty minutes on foot with the crowd, which is walking the same way with baskets on its head.
The driver waits at the drop point through the arghya and is on the phone when you come out; agree the exact spot before you walk in, because the network fails on the riverfront when the crowd peaks. For the dawn arghya the plan is a pickup from the hotel at three and the drop at Lanka or Godowlia by four.
Assi · from LankaTimings
The Sandhya Arghya is offered as the sun sets on Sunday 15 November, and sunset in Varanasi that evening is a little after five; the exact minute is announced locally. Families are on the ghats from three; the vratis enter the water around half past four and stand until the sun is gone. The Usha Arghya is offered as the sun rises on Monday 16 November, around half past six; the ghats fill from four, and the offering is over by seven.
Both are on the river, so the sun is watched across the water: from the city ghats it sets behind you and rises in front of you over the far bank, which is why the Ramnagar side is favoured by some families for the evening.
For visitors
Yes. Chhath is a public observance and the ghats are open to everyone; what it is not is a show, and the etiquette follows from that. Stay off the bamboo platforms and the front steps, which belong to the fasting families; do not photograph a vrati in the water at close range; take the prasad if it is offered; and be off the steps by the time the arghya begins so the families have the river. The ghats a little away from the centre, Rajghat and the northern ghats, are easier for a visitor than Dashashwamedh.
If you are in Varanasi for the whole fortnight, Dev Deepawali follows eight days later, on 24 November, and is the visitor’s festival in a way Chhath is not; the Dev Deepawali guide covers it.
Dashashwamedh · the centreGetting there
From Delhi the drive is about 820 km and twelve to fourteen hours on the Yamuna and Agra–Lucknow expressways, then NH-30 or the Purvanchal Expressway; the sensible version breaks at Lucknow and arrives on the 13th. From Lucknow it is 300 km and five hours; from Prayagraj 125 km and two and a half; from Ayodhya 200 km and four. Babatpur airport is 28 km north of the ghats, and the airport taxi drops at the hotel on the 13th and 14th, or at Rajghat if you arrive on the 15th itself.
Trains into Varanasi Junction and Banaras station are heavily booked for Chhath, so a car, or a Tempo Traveller for the extended family, is the reliable option from Delhi and the NCR.
Where to stay
For Assi and the southern ghats, the Lanka and Assi guesthouses put you within the cordon on foot. For the central ghats, anything between Godowlia and the river. For Rajghat and the north, the cantonment hotels are a short drive to the Rajghat drop. Hotels are less pressed than for Dev Deepawali, but the 15th and 16th are full; book by the end of October.
Fare box
Rate-card fares for the 820 km drive. The four-day figure is the round trip with a halt at Lucknow each way, arriving on the 13th and leaving after the dawn arghya on the 16th.
| Vehicle | Seats | Rate | One-way fare | Four-day round trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sedan (Swift Dzire, Etios) | 4 | ₹11/km | ₹9,020 | ₹18,040 |
| Ertiga / SUV | 6 | ₹15/km | ₹12,300 | ₹24,600 |
| Innova Crysta | 6–7 | ₹18/km | ₹14,760 | ₹29,520 |
| Tempo Traveller (12-seater) | 12 | ₹23/km | ₹18,860 | ₹37,720 |
Tolls at actual. No festival surcharge. The driver’s pre-dawn pickup on the 16th is part of the trip, not an extra.
In pictures
Sunset · 15 NovThe southern gathering.
Dawn · 16 NovThe ghats seen from a boat; the Usha Arghya is watched from these steps.
Central ghatsThe centre of the city’s Chhath.
Nahay KhayThe 13th, before the fast.
AfterThe afternoon of the 16th.
The dawn arghya needs a pickup from the hotel at three and a drop at the cordon by four. Tell us the ghat and the driver plans the route the night before.
The families in the river are fasting and praying. Photograph the ghat, not the vrati.
Eight days later the same ghats are lit end to end. A fortnight in Varanasi in November covers both.
Questions people ask
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