Chhathi Maiya Aarti and Chhath Puja Geet: Traditional Songs with Meaning
Chhath has no single written aarti in the way other festivals do. At the ghat, families sing the Chhath geet: folk songs in Bhojpuri, Maithili and Magahi, passed down by women from mother to daughter and sung through all four days. One of them is sung as Chhathi Maiya's aarti, and the Surya Dev aarti is sung alongside it. In 2026 Chhath Puja is kept from 13 to 16 November; see the Chhath Puja 2026 guide.
Chhathi Maiya aarti: Kerwa je phalela ghawad se
The song most families sing as the aarti of Chhathi Maiya is the folk geet that opens:
ऊ जे केरवा जे फरेला घवद से, ओह पर सुगा मेड़राय।
मारबो रे सुगवा धनुख से, सुगा गिरे मुरछाय॥
ऊ जे सुगनी जे रोएली वियोग से, आदित होई ना सहाय॥
Meaning: A bunch of bananas has ripened for Chhath, and a parrot hovers over it. "I will shoot you with my bow," the devotee warns, and the parrot falls in a swoon. Its mate weeps in grief and asks Aditya, the sun, to help. The song asks that nothing offered to Surya be touched before the arghya, and it ends in compassion: the sun is asked to protect even the bird. The verses go on in the same way with the coconut, the sugarcane and the other offerings, each with the refrain to Chhathi Maiya.
Kanch hi bans ke bahangiya
काँच ही बाँस के बहंगिया, बहंगी लचकत जाय।
Meaning: "The carrying pole is of green bamboo, and it bends as it goes." This is the song of the walk to the ghat, sung while the daura full of offerings is carried on the shoulder or the head. The bending pole is the weight of the family's devotion.
Kelwa ke paat par ugelan Suruj Mal
केलवा के पात पर उगेलन सुरुज मल झाँके झुँके।
Meaning: "On the banana leaf the sun rises, peeping through." It is sung at the ghat as the offerings are arranged on banana leaves, picturing the sun looking down on them.
Ug ho Suraj Dev
उग हो सूरज देव, भइल अरघ के बेर।
Meaning: "Rise, O Surya Dev, it is the time of the arghya." This is the song of the last morning, sung in the dark before the Usha Arghya by women who have fasted for 36 hours, asking the sun to rise and accept the offering.
How to do the aarti at the ghat
- Light a ghee lamp in a small dish and keep it in the soop with the offerings.
- After the arghya, hold the lamp and wave it before the sun in clockwise circles, while the family sings the Chhathi Maiya geet and the Surya aarti.
- Offer the lamp's warmth to the family by passing the hands over the flame and touching the eyes.
- Close with the Surya mantra Om Suryaya Namah, or the twelve names of Surya.
All four days of Chhath Puja 2026: Nahay Khay (13 Nov) · Kharna (14 Nov) · Sandhya Arghya (15 Nov) · Usha Arghya (16 Nov). Also read: the complete Chhath Puja 2026 guide, the Chhath vrat katha and Chhathi Maiya aarti and Chhath geet.
Chhathi Maiya aarti and geet: FAQs
Which song is sung as Chhathi Maiya's aarti?
Most families sing the folk geet Kerwa je phalela ghawad se, with the refrain to Chhathi Maiya, along with the Surya Dev aarti.
Which Chhath geet is sung on the walk to the ghat?
Kanch hi bans ke bahangiya, the song of the bamboo pole that bends under the daura of offerings.
Which song is sung before the Usha Arghya?
Ug ho Suraj Dev, bhail aragh ke ber, asking the sun to rise because the time for the arghya has come.
In which language are Chhath geet sung?
Mostly in Bhojpuri, Maithili and Magahi, the languages of Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh where Chhath is kept most widely.
Chhath is kept above all for the health and long life of children and the family. To see what your own chart says about children and family, start with your free kundli or talk to an astrologer.
