Sandhya Arghyaसंध्या अर्घ्य

Meaning & significance

Evening offering to the Sun

Sandhya Arghya is the heart of the Chhath festival. After the long fast, devotees walk into a river, lake or other water body at sunset and offer arghya — water and the contents of the soop — to Surya Dev, the setting Sun. The offerings include thekua, seasonal fruits, sugarcane, coconut and other items prepared with care over the preceding days. The community gathers at the ghat, and the evening is filled with devotion, song and quiet reverence.

Traditional practices

• Gathering at a ghat — a riverbank, lake shore or other natural water body — around sunset.
• Standing in the water to offer arghya to the setting Sun.
• Carrying offerings arranged in a soop (a bamboo tray) and daura (a bamboo basket).
• Singing traditional songs and hymns as the Sun sets.

Common offerings

• Thekua — wheat-flour, jaggery and ghee cakes, the signature Chhath offering.
• Seasonal fruits, sugarcane, coconut and other produce.
• Arghya — water offered to the Sun.

Cultural context

Sandhya Arghya is the most visible and communal moment of Chhath. Families, friends and whole communities gather at the water's edge, and the sight of devotees standing in the water with offerings is one of the festival's most recognised images. The items in the soop vary by family tradition and by what is seasonally available, but thekua is near-universal.