It is still dark outside, and the courtyard smells of mango-wood smoke. A clay chulha glows in the corner, scrubbed clean the night before. A brass kadhai sits on it, and the ghee inside has just begun to shimmer. Someone stirs jaggery into warm water until the water turns the colour of tea, then kneads it into a stiff wheat dough with ghee, grated coconut and crushed fennel.
Nobody tastes anything. In a Chhath kitchen, the first bite belongs to the Sun and to Chhathi Maiya, and the cook has already bathed and tied her hair. The smell drifts out over the rooftops, and neighbours know without being told: the biggest festival of Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh has arrived. The only question left is whether the soop is ready.
The Chhath puja samagri list in one line: a bamboo soop and daura, thekua and other prasad, seasonal fruit (sugarcane, coconut, banana, pomelo, sweet potato), diyas, vermilion, new clothes and a water pot, plus rice, jaggery and wheat for the kharna kheer-roti. This guide explains what each item is for, how to make the thekua, and what to keep ready on each of the four days.
| Chhath Puja 2026 | Friday 13 November to Monday 16 November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Day 1: Nahay Khay | 13 November (bath, one pure meal) |
| Day 2: Kharna | 14 November (fast, then kheer-roti at sunset) |
| Day 3: Sandhya Arghya | 15 November (offering to the setting Sun; about 5:29 PM in Delhi) |
| Day 4: Usha Arghya | 16 November (offering to the rising Sun, then the fast is broken) |
| Dedicated to | Surya and Chhathi Maiya (Shashthi Devi) |
Timings change by city, so check your local panchang or Drik Panchang for your sunset and sunrise. To understand why this festival exists, read Chhath in Indian mythology and the festival of Chhath.
The bamboo soop and daura: the heart of the Chhath puja samagri list
Every other item travels to the ghat inside two humble things. The soop is a flat winnowing tray woven from bamboo. The daura (also called dalia or tokri) is a deep bamboo basket. Families carry the daura on the head, usually a male member of the household, and the filled soops go with the vrati for the arghya.
Why bamboo and not steel? The tradition prefers natural, earthy materials: bamboo, clay and leaves. Families usually buy new soops and dauras in the weeks before the festival from the artisans who weave them, rather than reuse old ones. Where bamboo is hard to find, some families use a brass or copper soop; local custom decides.
Lay a banana leaf or a fresh clean cloth inside the soop before anything goes in. Keep a few spare diyas with it, because the wind at the ghat is stronger than you expect.
Fruits and offerings: the Chhath puja items from the harvest
Chhath is a festival of gratitude for the harvest, so what goes in the daura is whatever the land has just given. Nothing is tasted first. The common Chhath puja saman for the fruit basket is:
- Sugarcane: whole stalks, often tied together in a tripod at the ghat, with the leaves left on.
- Coconut: whole, with its husk tuft.
- Bananas: a whole bunch, ripe, never separated.
- Ghaghra (shifting) nimbu: the large pomelo-like citrus of Bihar.
- Sweet potato (suthni), water chestnut (singhara), whole radish, turmeric and ginger with the plant still attached, apple, orange, pear and pineapple.
- Betel leaf, supari and unbroken rice (akshat).
Local custom varies. Families in Mithila, Magadh, Bhojpur and Nepal’s Terai differ on small items. Ask the eldest vrati in your family, because the family way matters more than any list.
The prasad: thekua first, then laddu and sweets
If the soop is the vessel, thekua is the offering. It is a crisp, golden sweet of wheat flour, jaggery and ghee, pressed in a wooden mould that leaves a pattern on top. It keeps well for days, which is why relatives carry it home from Chhath.
A simple thekua recipe for home
This is the common home method. Proportions vary by family, so treat them as a starting point.
- Ingredients: 2 cups whole-wheat flour (atta), about 3/4 cup jaggery (some families use sugar), 1/4 cup ghee for the dough, 2 tablespoons dry coconut pieces, 1 teaspoon fennel (saunf), 3 or 4 crushed cardamom pods, and ghee for deep frying.
- Step 1: Dissolve the jaggery in 1/2 cup warm water and strain it. Let it cool.
- Step 2: Rub the ghee into the flour until it holds together in a fist. Add coconut, fennel and cardamom.
- Step 3: Add the jaggery water a little at a time and knead a stiff, firm dough. Rest it for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Step 4: Pinch out lemon-sized balls, flatten them, and press into a thekua mould or mark with a fork.
- Step 5: Fry in medium-hot ghee on low to medium heat, turning gently, until deep golden brown and cooked through. Cool completely before storing.
Whatever your kitchen method, taste nothing until the arghya is offered. Many families wash and dry the wheat on a clean cloth and keep it covered while it dries.
Kharna prasad: kheer, roti and banana
On the second evening, the vrati breaks a day of fasting with a single meal, the kharna prasad. It is rice kheer cooked slowly in milk and sweetened with jaggery (often called rasiya), served with plain wheat roti and a banana. Families cook it on a clay chulha with mango wood, in clean new or well-scrubbed vessels.
After the vrati has eaten, the family and neighbours share the remaining kharna prasad. Then begins the 36-hour waterless fast, which our post on the 36-hour fast of Chhath explains.
Rice laddu (kasar) and other sweets in the soop
Beside the thekua sits the soft, round rice laddu, called kasar or chawal ke laddu in many homes. Cooks dry-roast rice flour, then bind it with warm jaggery syrup and ghee into balls, often with cardamom. Some families also add dates and sesame sweets.
Count what you need before you cook: enough thekua and laddu for each soop, plus extra to share with neighbours at the ghat. Prasad is shared, never sold.
Puja items: diya, sindoor, new clothes and the water pot
Beyond food, the arghya needs a small set of items that are easy to forget in the rush:
- Clay or brass diyas, ghee or mustard oil, cotton wicks, and matchsticks that stay dry.
- Sindoor (vermilion): married women in Bihar traditionally apply it long along the parting, and it is also offered at the soop.
- New or freshly washed unstitched clothes: many women wear a new sari, and men a fresh dhoti or kurta, as the family custom has it.
- A lota or kalash of water and milk for the arghya.
- Incense, camphor, roli, akshat, flowers, and a mat to stand or sit on.
What to keep ready on each of the four days
Nahay Khay (13 November). The festival opens with a bath in a river or at home, and a house scrubbed clean. The vrati eats one sattvic meal, typically rice, chana dal and lauki (bottle gourd) cooked in rock salt. Keep ready: lauki, chana dal, rice, rock salt, ghee and a clean kitchen.
Kharna (14 November). The vrati fasts through the day, then eats kheer-roti after sunset. Keep ready: rice, milk, jaggery, wheat flour, ghee, bananas and wood for the chulha. Many families bake or fry the thekua today and pack the daura tonight.
Sandhya Arghya (15 November). The family walks to the river or pond with the daura. Standing in water, the vrati offers arghya to the setting Sun. Keep ready: the filled soops, sugarcane, diyas, milk, a water pot, flowers and a torch for the walk back.
Usha Arghya (16 November). Long before dawn, the family returns to the ghat, lights diyas and waits for the first light. After the arghya to the rising Sun, the vrati breaks the fast with the prasad. Keep ready: fresh diyas, the second set of offerings, warm clothes and a flask for the family.
The purity rules behind every item
Everything on this list is held to one standard: it must be clean, new or freshly washed, and untouched. Tradition asks the household to avoid onion, garlic and non-vegetarian food from Nahay Khay onward, to use rock salt in the early meals and to cook on a clean, separate chulha. Fruit is not tasted, and prasad is not sampled while cooking. Those who cook bathe first.
These are traditions, and families follow them to different degrees. If you are cooking for a relative who is the vrati, ask her which rules her family keeps. The point is sincerity, not perfection.
Chhath puja samagri checklist at a glance
| Group | What to keep ready |
|---|---|
| Vessels | New bamboo soop and daura, banana leaf or clean cloth, clean vessels for kharna |
| Fruit and offerings | Sugarcane, coconut, bananas, ghaghra nimbu, sweet potato, singhara, radish, turmeric and ginger, apple and orange, betel leaf, supari, akshat |
| Prasad | Thekua, rice laddu, kheer-roti for kharna, dates or other sweets |
| Puja items | Diyas, ghee or mustard oil, wicks, sindoor, roli, incense, camphor, flowers, water pot, milk |
| Clothing | New or freshly washed unstitched clothes for the vrati and the family |
| Kitchen | Wheat, rice, jaggery, ghee, rock salt, mango wood for the chulha |
Chhath puja samagri FAQ
What is in a Chhath puja soop?
A soop usually holds thekua, rice laddu, bananas, coconut, a ghaghra nimbu, sweet potato and other seasonal fruit, with a diya and sindoor. Families add or drop small items, so follow your own custom.
Can I make thekua with sugar instead of jaggery?
Both are used. Jaggery is the more common choice and gives a deeper colour and taste. Some families use sugar for a lighter thekua.
What is eaten for kharna prasad?
Rice kheer sweetened with jaggery, wheat roti and banana, eaten after sunset on the second day by the vrati and then shared with the family.
Can I buy the soop and daura ready-made?
Yes. Markets in Bihar, Jharkhand and UP sell new soops and dauras in the days before Chhath. Pick unused ones, as custom asks for new vessels.
छठ पूजा सामग्री सूची (संक्षेप में)
छठ पूजा में बाँस का नया सूप और दौरा (डलिया), ठेकुआ, चावल के लड्डू (कसार), गन्ना, नारियल, केला, गागर (शिफ्टिंग) नींबू, सुथनी, सिंघाड़ा, हल्दी-अदरक के पौधे, मौसमी फल, दीया, सिंदूर, नए वस्त्र और जल-दूध का लोटा चाहिए। खरना पर गुड़ की खीर और रोटी बनती है। 2026 में नहाय-खाय 13 नवंबर, खरना 14 नवंबर, संध्या अर्घ्य 15 नवंबर और उषा अर्घ्य 16 नवंबर को है। शुद्धता, सेंधा नमक और मिट्टी के चूल्हे की परंपरा हर परिवार में थोड़ी अलग हो सकती है। अपने शहर के पंचांग से सूर्यास्त और सूर्योदय का समय जरूर देखें। और पढ़ें: छठ त्योहार की महिमा।
Sources and versions
Chhath is a living folk tradition, and the details above reflect common practice in Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Nepal’s Terai. Items, quantities and rules differ by family and village. The 2026 dates follow the usual panchang calendars (Nahay Khay 13 November to Usha Arghya 16 November); sunset and sunrise timings depend on your city. For background, see the Chhath entry on Wikipedia and our post on Chhath in Indian mythology. The thekua method is a common home recipe, not a scriptural measure.
More festival stories are in our Festivals hub.