Chhath Puja 2026 in Comilla: Events, Puja & Where to Celebrate

TL;DR 🌅

• 🙏 Chhath Puja 2026 falls on November 15 in Comilla, with Sandhya Arghya at sunset and Usha Arghya completing the cycle at sunrise on November 16
• 🏛️ Comilla Jagannath Temple in Jagannathpur — also known as Sateroratna Mandir — is the city's most historically significant Hindu temple
• 🌸 Lalmai Chandi Temple (Chandimura Mandir) in Barura Upazila draws devotees from across the region for major festivals
• 🕯️ The four-day fast cycle begins November 12 with Nahay Khay; the nirjala fast spanning Sandhya Arghya through Usha Arghya runs over 36 hours
• 🗺️ See the full Comilla festival calendar and temple listings at desi.net/comilla

Chhath Puja is among the most demanding and most visually striking of Hindu festivals. Where Diwali is light and sound, Chhath is silence and water — devotees stand for hours at rivers and ponds, offering arghya to the setting and rising sun with a discipline that makes the festival feel unlike any other. For the Hindu community in Comilla, Chhath Puja 2026 falls on November 15, marking the Sandhya Arghya with Usha Arghya completing the cycle at sunrise on November 16.

The Four-Day Cycle

Understanding the structure of Chhath helps in planning participation or supporting family members who observe the vrat. The festival runs across four days:

Nahay Khay (November 12): The fast begins. The devotee — called the vrati — bathes in a river or sacred water body, then cooks a single meal in an earthen pot without salt, onion, or garlic. The meal typically includes chana dal, lauki, and rice. After the vrati eats, the family shares the prasad.

Lohanda and Kharna (November 13): The full fast begins after sunset. The vrati prepares kheer and roti made from wheat flour and jaggery, distributes prasad, and then takes nothing — not even water — until the morning of November 16. This nirjala phase is the spiritual core of the entire observance.

Sandhya Arghya (November 15, the main evening): The vrati goes to the river or ghaat carrying bamboo baskets filled with fruits, thekua, and sugarcane. At sunset, surrounded by family, arghya is offered to the setting sun while standing in water. This is the most publicly visible moment of Chhath and the one that draws the largest gatherings.

Usha Arghya (November 16 at sunrise): The final offering at dawn. After the sun rises and arghya is complete, the fast breaks. This moment — the parana — is what the preceding days of preparation and the long hours of standing have been building toward. After parana, the family shares the prasad and the fast is formally ended.

Where Comilla's Hindu Community Gathers

Comilla Jagannath Temple in Jagannathpur village, Sador Upazila, is one of the city's most historically rooted Hindu shrines. The complex is known to older residents by its architectural name, Sateroratna Mandir — the temple of seventeen spires — a description of the distinctive multi-spired structure that gives the building its character. The Jagannath deity draws regular worship throughout the year, but the temple grounds see considerably heightened activity during major festivals, with families gathering for collective rituals and for the sense of communal continuity that temple compounds sustain across generations.

Lalmai Chandi Temple (Chandimura Mandir) on the Lalmai-Barura Road in Barura Upazila is another key site. The Lalmai hills carry a long religious history in this region, and the Chandimura Mandir has been a center of worship for communities across the surrounding upazilas. For Chhath Puja, the mandir and its adjacent water bodies draw devotees who prefer a setting with established religious significance over purely civic water bodies. The journey from central Comilla to Barura Upazila adds travel time but is considered worthwhile by families with a connection to this particular site.

Within the city, Shyamamayee Kali Mandir near Kabi Nazrul Mahavidyalaya serves as a regular gathering point for Comilla's Hindu community. Kali mandirs, with their emphasis on shakti worship, are not the primary focal point of Chhath Puja — which centers on the sun god Surya and Chhathi Maiya — but they often function as coordination hubs during major festivals: a place to confirm timings, arrange prasad distribution, and gather before heading to the ghaat together.

Insider Tip: Chhath Puja observances in Bangladesh's Hindu communities are often organized at the ward or mahalla level, with local committees managing ghaat access, bamboo soop distribution, and arrangements at water bodies. If you are attending as a participant or family member and are unfamiliar with the local ghaat, checking with the nearest mandir committee — particularly around Comilla Jagannath Temple — is the most reliable way to find where the community gathering will be held that year. Informal coordination happens through temple networks rather than public announcements, and the committee contacts are usually posted on temple notice boards in the weeks before the festival.

The Calendar Around Chhath

Chhath does not arrive in isolation. The weeks surrounding it are among the most festival-dense on the Hindu calendar. Dhanteras falls on November 6, Diwali on November 8, and Bhai Dooj on November 11 — all in the two weeks before Chhath Puja's main evening. The stretch from early to mid-November is effectively continuous celebration for practising Hindu families, with different members of the household involved in different observances and preparation periods overlapping.

For the vrati specifically, this calendar overlap requires attention. The 36-hour nirjala fast that anchors Chhath Puja follows closely after the physical and social exertions of Diwali week. Medical guidance for this fast consistently recommends careful hydration in the days before Kharna and a gentle parana — beginning with liquids before moving to solid prasad after sunrise on November 16. Planning the schedule around Diwali celebrations so that the vrati enters Chhath preparation with adequate rest and hydration makes the fast considerably more manageable.

FAQ

Q: What are the key dates for Chhath Puja 2026? November 12 (Nahay Khay), November 13 (Kharna), November 15 (Sandhya Arghya — the main evening), and November 16 (Usha Arghya at sunrise).

Q: Where do Comilla residents observe Chhath Puja? At rivers, ponds, and water bodies with ghaat access. Temple committees around Comilla Jagannath Temple and Lalmai Chandi Temple (Chandimura Mandir) often coordinate the arrangements. Check with local temple networks for the specific ghaat your community will be using.

Q: Is Chhath Puja observed widely in Comilla? Yes, among the Hindu community, particularly those with family connections to Bihar, Jharkhand, and eastern Uttar Pradesh. The festival has deep roots in communities whose origins trace to those regions, and it is observed with full four-day ritual structure in Comilla.

Q: What is thekua and how is it prepared? Thekua is a wheat-flour and jaggery sweet prepared specifically as Chhath prasad. It is baked or fried and shaped into small rounds or diamond forms. Most families prepare it at home; during festival season some sweet shops near the larger temples also make it commercially.

Q: Where can I find the full festival calendar for Comilla? The full panchang and festival schedule for Comilla is available at desi.net/comilla, including dates for all major Hindu observances through the year.

Bottom Line

Chhath Puja 2026 in Comilla centres on November 15 for Sandhya Arghya and November 16 for the sunrise parana. Comilla Jagannath Temple (Sateroratna Mandir) in Jagannathpur, Lalmai Chandi Temple (Chandimura Mandir) in Barura Upazila, and Shyamamayee Kali Mandir near Kabi Nazrul Mahavidyalaya are the city's key religious centers for this period. Visit desi.net/comilla for the full panchang, festival calendar, and temple listings, and confirm local ghaat arrangements through temple networks before the festival weekend.