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

TL;DR

• 🌅 Chhath Puja 2026 in Kirkland falls on November 15 (Sashthi), the main sunset arghya day, with the sunrise arghya on November 16
• 💧 The four-day cycle begins with Nahay Khay on November 13, Kharna on November 14, then the two great arghya days
• 🙏 The Seattle metro's Indian diaspora has been organizing Chhath observances for years, with local temples serving as coordination hubs
• 🏛️ Jaya Hanuman Temple and Cultural Center in Bellevue, Bellevue Hindu Temple and Cultural Center, and Hindu Temple and Cultural Center in Bothell all serve the region's Hindu community year-round

Chhath Puja: A Festival That Found Its Way to Puget Sound

No Hindu festival demands more of the natural world than Chhath Puja. It insists on water — a river, a lake, a shoreline where the sun's path can be read clearly at the horizon. It insists on silence and prolonged fasting, on standing ankle-deep at sunset and sunrise, arms raised with an arghya offering. And it insists on community, because Chhath is not a private devotion. It is performed in public, at the water's edge, with the sound of traditional Chhath songs rising from the assembled crowd.

For Kirkland's Indian diaspora families with roots in Bihar, Jharkhand, and eastern Uttar Pradesh, Chhath Puja 2026 is an event of particular resonance. It is, for many, the festival of their homeland — more emotionally weighted even than Diwali, because it is specific to a regional culture, not shared by the entire subcontinent. Performing it in the Pacific Northwest means adapting to a new landscape: finding waterways that replace the Ganga, organizing communities that might be dispersed across Kirkland, Bellevue, and Redmond, and doing so in a region where November light fades early over the Cascade foothills.

The Four-Day Cycle

Chhath Puja is not a single day but a four-day observance with precise ritual sequencing. Nahay Khay on November 13 begins the cycle: a ritual bath in a clean water body followed by a simple vegetarian meal, often rice, lentils, and the locally seasonal gourd. No onion, no garlic, and strict purity in the kitchen.

Kharna on November 14 is the day of total fasting, ending at sunset with a meal of kheer (rice pudding) and rotis prepared on a mud stove — a detail that speaks to the festival's deep agricultural roots. From that evening meal until the sunrise arghya on November 16, the main vrat keeper eats nothing at all.

The central days are Sashthi on November 15 and Saptami on November 16. On Sashthi, as the sun approaches the horizon, the Indian diaspora community gathers at the water. The arghya — an offering of water, seasonal fruits, sugarcane, and thekuwa (the wheat and jaggery sweetbread specific to Chhath) — is made to the setting sun. Then, before dawn the following morning, the final arghya is given to the rising sun, and the fast breaks.

Insider Tip: The sunset and sunrise arghya times shift noticeably in November in the Pacific Northwest. Check a reliable panchang or the USNO sunrise/sunset calculator for Kirkland's specific coordinates (47.68°N, 122.21°W) to plan your timing precisely — November sunsets in Kirkland can arrive before 4:30 PM, earlier than many families from Bihar or Jharkhand might expect from their homeland experience.

Indian Community Hubs in the Seattle Metro Area

The Indian diaspora community of Kirkland has access to several significant temples and cultural organizations in the Seattle metro area. These institutions serve as hubs for information, puja coordination, and the festival calendar that supports the Bihari community's Chhath observances.

The Jaya Hanuman Temple and Cultural Center in Bellevue has established itself as a significant fixture in the area's Hindu community life, offering daily puja services, cultural programs, and classical arts instruction. Located in the Lake Hills area of Bellevue, it draws families from across the Eastside and is a natural contact point for community gathering during the festival season.

Bellevue Hindu Temple and Cultural Center brings together the broader Hindu community of the Eastside, including the large tech-industry diaspora concentrated in Bellevue and nearby Redmond. Founded as a non-profit, it offers regular religious programs alongside secular offerings in yoga, music, and language instruction. For Indian diaspora families in Kirkland, it represents a versatile community anchor across the autumn festival months.

Hindu Temple and Cultural Center in Bothell — which the Seattle Times described when it opened as the first such Hindu temple in the Pacific Northwest — draws worshippers from across the metro area, including Seattle to the south and beyond. Its principal deities are Lord Venkateswara and Goddess Lakshmi Devi, and it has served as a landmark of the broader regional Indian diaspora community for more than two decades.

Community organization for Chhath in the Pacific Northwest often happens through informal Bihari and Purvanchal cultural associations and online community groups, which mobilize quickly to identify a suitable water location and coordinate the logistics of the sunset arghya. Check community platforms in the weeks before November 13 for the specific gathering point chosen for 2026.

What to Bring to the Arghya

The Chhath arghya requires specific items that are not always easy to source outside a major Indian diaspora hub. Planning ahead matters. Thekuwa must be prepared at home or sourced from community members who bake it; there is no commercial substitute that carries the same ritual significance. The bamboo soop (winnowing basket) in which offerings are arranged is another item that may require a specialist Indian grocery trip. Seasonal fruits — coconut, sugarcane, banana, and regional varieties — form the core of the offering thali.

The arghya baskets and decorated thalis used at the water's edge are typically sourced from Indian grocery stores in the metro area in the weeks before the festival. The diaspora community often pools resources, and newcomers to the area usually find experienced Chhath families willing to guide the procurement process.

The Festival Calendar Around Chhath 2026

Chhath Puja does not arrive alone. Diwali 2026 falls on November 8, just a week before the Chhath cycle begins — meaning that for the Indian diaspora in Kirkland, the first two weeks of November are a continuous festival arc. Dhanteras on November 6 opens the Diwali season, and by the time the Diwali fireworks fade, the preparations for Chhath are already under way. For families from eastern India, these two back-to-back celebrations represent the most significant cluster of the year.

Navratri on October 11 and the broader autumn festival season stretching back through Dussehra provide the long runway into this period, making October and November together the cultural heartbeat of the diaspora calendar in and around Kirkland.

FAQ

What is Chhath Puja and who observes it? Chhath Puja is a four-day Hindu festival dedicated to Surya, the sun deity, and Chhathi Maiya, his sister. It is observed primarily by people with roots in Bihar, Jharkhand, and eastern Uttar Pradesh, and is regarded as one of the most demanding fasts in the Hindu calendar.

Where do Indian diaspora families in Kirkland typically perform the Chhath arghya? Community groups typically identify a local lake, river, or shoreline. In the Seattle metro area, designated park areas with water access — such as those at Lake Washington or the Sammamish River corridor — have been used for similar community observances. Confirm the 2026 location through local Bihari-Purvanchal community networks or temple announcements.

What are the key Chhath Puja dates in 2026? Nahay Khay falls on November 13, Kharna on November 14, the sunset arghya on November 15, and the sunrise arghya on November 16.

What food is prepared for Chhath Puja? Thekuwa — a wheat and jaggery sweetbread fried in ghee — is the most characteristic Chhath preparation. Other offerings include seasonal fruits, sugarcane, and rice pudding. The kitchen must remain strictly vegetarian throughout the festival.

Can non-Bihari Indian diaspora community members participate in Chhath? The arghya at the water's edge is an open-air, public observance, and the Chhath community welcomes those who come respectfully to witness or participate. The strict fasting protocol, however, is typically maintained by those with a direct devotional connection to the festival.

Bottom Line

Chhath Puja in Kirkland is, more than almost any other festival in the Indian diaspora calendar, an act of memory — the memory of standing at a river in Bihar or Jharkhand, watching the sun descend into the water, held within a community that knew the same songs. In 2026, that memory can be honored beside the waters of the Pacific Northwest. The Jaya Hanuman Temple and Cultural Center, Bellevue Hindu Temple and Cultural Center, and Hindu Temple and Cultural Center in Bothell all serve as touchpoints for a community that, across the arc of November, from Diwali to Chhath, lives its festival season fully and publicly.