Chaurchan Puja 2026: Date, Arghya Time, Vidhi & Why Mithila Worships the Moon

Chaurchan 2026 falls on Monday, 14 September 2026. Also called Chauth Chandra, it is the folk festival of Bihar’s Mithilanchal kept on Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi — the same tithi as Ganesh Chaturthi — and it is dedicated to Chandra Dev alongside Lord Ganesha.

The whole festival happens after sunset, so the day is decided by the evening, not by sunrise. Below are the tithi timings, the arghya window for your city, the vidhi, the bhog, and the one thing about Chaurchan that surprises everyone outside Mithila. Every timing here is computed from our own Vedic panchang — you can check any of it on the free daily Panchang.

Chaurchan 2026: date and tithi

Because the worship is done at night, udaya tithi (the tithi at sunrise) is set aside for Chaurchan — what matters is that Chaturthi is running during the evening. On 14 September it is, from 07:08 AM right through the night.

Chaurchan 2026 arghya time — and why it has a deadline

Most Chaurchan listings give no time at all, which leaves the most important question unanswered: how late can arghya be given? On a Chaturthi the moon is young, rises in the morning and sets early in the evening — so the arghya window is not open all night. It runs from moonrise until the moon goes down.

For Darbhanga the moon sets at 07:36 PM, for Patna at 07:40 PM. In practice families give arghya between sunset and moonset, so the usable window on 14 September is roughly 05:52 PM to 07:36 PM in Darbhanga and 05:55 PM to 07:40 PM in Patna. Do not plan the arghya for late night — the moon will already have set. Timings shift by a few minutes across Mithilanchal; enter your own town on the Panchang for exact figures.

Why Mithila worships the moon that the rest of India avoids

This is the part outsiders find hard to believe, and it is worth stating plainly because both customs fall on the same night.

Across most of India, the moon of Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi is the one moon you are told not to look at. The night is called Kalank Chaturthi, and the story behind it is the Syamantaka jewel: Krishna looked at this moon and was falsely accused of stealing the gem. Seeing it, the tradition says, invites mithya kalank — a false accusation.

Mithila does the opposite. In Chaurchan the moon is deliberately seen, honoured and offered arghya — and the fruit claimed is the very same one: protection from false blame. The reasoning is that the blame comes from slighting Chandra Dev, so the remedy is to worship him rather than hide from him. Chaurchan is, in effect, Mithila’s answer to Kalank Chaturthi.

If your family follows the wider North-Indian custom, see our Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 guide, which gives the exact window to avoid on the same night. Neither practice is a mistake; they are two traditions meeting on one tithi.

Chaurchan puja vidhi — how it is kept

• Women of the house rise in the Brahma Muhurat, bathe and wear clean clothes.
• A nirjala vrat (without even water) is kept from morning until the evening arghya. Keep it as your health allows — no tradition asks anyone to harm their body.
• Through the day the bhog is cooked, and dahi is set in a clay pot — curd is essential to Chaurchan and is prepared at home.
• In the evening the courtyard is plastered with cow dung and an aripan (rangoli) is drawn with a paste of ground raw rice.
• Daaliyan — baskets of the bhog — are laid out with the curd pots and seasonal fruit, traditionally one set for each member of the family.
• After moonrise each item is lifted in the hands, shown to Chandra Dev, and arghya is offered with milk.
• The children and men of the house take the bhog first; the fasting women break their vrat afterwards.
• Everyone eats at the puja spot. What remains of the bhog is buried in clean ground rather than thrown away.

Chaurchan bhog — what is made

The spread is the heart of the festival: meethi puri (sweet puri), kheer, thekua, plain puri and in many homes dal puri, with dahi set in an earthen pot and the season’s fruit. Nothing bought is quite right for Chaurchan — the curd and the puris are made at home, and the quantity is judged by the number of daaliyan the family will lay out.

Mantra for Chandra Dev

Chant while offering the arghya:

ॐ श्रां श्रीं श्रौं सः चन्द्रमसे नमः॥

दधिशङ्खतुषाराभं क्षीरोदार्णवसम्भवम्।
नमामि शशिनं सोमं शम्भोर्मुकुटभूषणम्॥

ॐ गं गणपतये नमः॥

Book a puja for Chaurchan and Ganesh Chaturthi 2026

Chaurchan falls on Ganesh Chaturthi, and in Mithila the day belongs to both Ganesha and Chandra Dev. If you would rather have the rites performed properly by pandits in your name — with sankalp, a recorded video, photographs and prasad couriered to you — these two fit this day:

• Ganesh Chaturthi Puja — from ₹5,100
• Navgraha Shanti Puja — from ₹5,500, for a weak or afflicted Chandra in the chart

The full list is in the online puja store.

Chaurchan 2026: FAQs

When is Chaurchan in 2026?
Chaurchan (Chauth Chandra) 2026 is on Monday, 14 September. The Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi tithi runs from 07:08 AM on 14 September to 07:45 AM on 15 September, and the puja is done that evening.

What is the arghya time for Chaurchan 2026?
Between sunset and moonset. In Darbhanga that is roughly 05:52 PM to 07:36 PM and in Patna 05:55 PM to 07:40 PM on 14 September. The Chaturthi moon sets early, so arghya cannot be left to late night.

Is Chaurchan the same day as Ganesh Chaturthi?
Yes. Both fall on Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi, which in 2026 is Monday 14 September. In Mithila the day honours Chandra Dev as well as Lord Ganesha.

Should the moon be seen on this night or not?
In Mithila it must be seen — the vrat is broken by offering arghya to it. Across most of the rest of India the same moon is deliberately avoided, because of the Syamantaka story. Follow your own family’s tradition; both are old and internally consistent.

Can the Chaurchan vrat be kept without a nirjala fast?
Yes. The nirjala form is the strictest and is a choice, not a requirement. Many keep a phalahar vrat with fruit, milk and water, and health always comes first.

What a vrat does for you also depends on your own chart — which dasha is running and where Chandra sits in it. Start with your free birth chart on Free Kundli, see where the Moon is right now on Planetary Positions, or talk to an astrologer about the right remedy for your chart.

More for this day: Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 · Ganesh puja vidhi · Ganesh Chalisa · Ganesh aarti.

Note: dates and timings on this page are computed from our own Vedic panchang and are given for Darbhanga, Patna and Delhi. Mithilanchal households traditionally follow the Mithila Panchang, which can differ; please confirm with your family’s panchang or a learned pandit before observing the vrat.