Chhath Puja 2026 in Kollam: Events, Puja & Where to Celebrate
TL;DR 🪔
- Chhath Puja 2026 falls on November 15, the most significant North Indian sun-worship festival
- Kollam's festive season is packed: Navratri 2026, Diwali 2026, and Chhath Puja 2026 all arrive in quick succession
- The puja involves four days of fasting, rituals at water bodies, and Arghya (sun offering) at dawn and dusk
- Karva Chauth 2026 and Dhanteras 2026 mark the weeks leading up to the grand celebration
- Desi.Net's Kollam city page has local events, the full panchang, and community updates
Chhath Puja is unlike any other festival in Kerala's festive calendar. While Onam defines the state's rhythms, Chhath Puja has quietly grown into a beloved autumn ritual for Kollam's North Indian families — primarily communities from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand who have made this coastal city home. The puja is an ancient Vedic observance dedicated to Surya (the sun god) and Chhathi Maiya, and its four-day ritual arc is simultaneously austere and spectacular.
The 2026 Festival Season in Kollam
The weeks before Chhath Puja 2026 are dense with celebration. Navratri 2026 arrives on October 11, launching nine nights of Goddess worship that fill pandals with music and color. Durga Ashtami 2026 on October 19 marks the eighth and most auspicious day of Navratri, when communities perform elaborate puja. The season peaks with Dussehra / Vijayadashami 2026 on October 20 — the symbolic victory of good over evil, celebrated with processions and effigy burnings across the city.
Then the festival calendar settles briefly before Karva Chauth 2026 on October 29, the fasting observance married women keep for their husbands' longevity. Dhanteras 2026 arrives on November 6, the first day of the five-day Diwali period. Diwali 2026 itself lights up Kollam on November 8, and Bhai Dooj 2026 on November 11 celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters. Seven days after Diwali: Chhath Puja 2026, the final culminating festival of the cycle.
What Chhath Puja Involves
Chhath Puja unfolds over four days. The first day — Nahay Khay — is a purification bath followed by a strict meal of kaddu-bhaat (pumpkin and rice). The second day, Kharna, is a full fast broken only after sunset with prasad of kheer and rice. The third evening brings the most iconic ritual: Sandhya Arghya, the sunset offering at a river or lake, where fasting devotees stand waist-deep in water and offer prayers with bamboo winnowing fans heaped with seasonal fruits, sugarcane, thekua, and lamps. The fourth morning, Usha Arghya, is the sunrise offering — devotees return to the water body before dawn to complete the cycle.
In Kollam, Ashtamudi Lake and the beaches along the Arabian Sea provide the natural water bodies that devotees use. The sight of families gathered at the lakeside, diyas flickering in the pre-dawn darkness, is one of the city's quieter but most moving seasonal images.
Preparing for Chhath Puja in Kollam
The festival's prasad has specific requirements: thekua (wheat flour fried sweet), gur ke tilkut, sugarcane stalks, coconut, banana, and earthen lamps. Most of these are available from North Indian grocery shops in Kollam's commercial areas. The bamboo soop (winnowing fan) used for the Arghya is a traditional item; some community associations distribute them, and local markets near the celebrations stock them in the week before the puja.
Fasting devotees — usually women, though men observe it too — maintain a waterless fast for 36 hours across the third and fourth days. The puja's rules are strict: no leather, no onion or garlic during the period, and the entire household maintains ceremonial cleanliness.
Insider Tip
Arrive at the water body for Sandhya Arghya at least 90 minutes before sunset. The best spots at Ashtamudi Lake fill quickly as families stake out their sections of the ghaat. Bring a small torch or phone light for the Usha Arghya pre-dawn walk. Confirm the exact community gathering point with local Bihar Samaj or UP Samaj contacts in Kollam a few days before — gatherings sometimes shift based on permissions.
FAQ
Q: When is Chhath Puja 2026? The main Arghya rituals fall on November 14 (Sandhya Arghya, sunset) and November 15, 2026 (Usha Arghya, sunrise), making November 15 the closing day of Chhath Puja 2026.
Q: Where do Kollam's North Indian families celebrate Chhath? Ashtamudi Lake is the primary site, particularly the ghats on the eastern shore. Some communities also use beach stretches. Local samaj organisations (Bihar Samaj, Poorvanchal Samaj) coordinate collective puja at designated spots.
Q: Can non-North Indians participate or observe? Absolutely. The puja is public and observers are warmly welcomed. Watching the Sandhya Arghya at sunset is particularly moving and open to all.
Q: What about Diwali 2026 and Chhath Puja 2026 — are they in the same week? Diwali 2026 is on November 8 and Chhath Puja 2026 begins on November 12 (Nahay Khay), so the two celebrations are only four days apart. The fortnight from Diwali through Chhath Puja 2026 is the most festive period of the year for North Indian families in Kollam.
Q: What is the connection between Karva Chauth 2026 and Chhath Puja? Both are fasting observances linked to the sun and the bonds of family, but Karva Chauth 2026 (October 29) is specifically for married women and concludes after moonrise. Chhath Puja is for the entire family and extends over four days.
Bottom Line
Chhath Puja 2026 in Kollam is a remarkable cultural presence — a North Indian sun festival that has found its own place beside Kerala's traditions. The 2026 festive season runs from Navratri 2026 through Dussehra / Vijayadashami 2026, through Diwali 2026 and Bhai Dooj 2026, and closes with the pre-dawn prayers of Chhath Puja 2026 at Kollam's waterside. For the city's North Indian communities, it is the last and most emotionally resonant festival of the cycle. Visit desi.net/kollam for local events, the panchang, and community updates all season.