Sakat Chauth 2027
25 January 2027

Sakat Chauth, also called Til Chauth or Tilkuta Chauth, is Magh Krishna Chaturthi, a day many mothers keep as a vrat for their children’s long life and wellbeing, worshipping Ganesh in his form as Sakat (or Vinayak) Chauth. The fast is broken only after the moon is sighted in the evening, which is why the moonrise time matters as much as the tithi itself.

Til and gud are at the heart of the day’s puja and its food: tilkut, til ke laddoo and gud are offered to Ganesh before the family eats them as prasad, and the day falls in Magh, the month tradition holds sesame to be at its most wholesome. The katha read on this day, as Vrat katha commonly tells it, carries a potter’s family through a hardship resolved only by faith in Ganesh.

• Ganesh idol or picture
• Til (sesame)
• Gud (jaggery) and tilkut
• Durva grass
• Roli and akshat
• Flowers
• Lota of water for arghya
• Diya and ghee

Source: Vrat katha as commonly read in homes that keep Sakat Chauth

The katha commonly read on this day tells of a potter whose pots kept breaking in the kiln however carefully he made them, leaving his family in want. Advised to offer the first lump of clay to Ganesh before lighting the kiln and to keep the Sakat Chauth vrat with faith, he did as he was told.

From that firing on, his pots came out of the kiln whole, and his family’s hardship lifted. The story is told to mothers and children on this day as a lesson that an offering made with faith, however small, is answered, which is why mothers above all keep this vrat for their children’s sake.

What to do

• Check the moonrise time for your own city before planning the evening puja, since the fast is broken only after the moon is seen.
• Keep the katha for the family to hear together in the evening, since it is a story told to be shared, not read alone.
• If you are unwell, pregnant or nursing, it is common for elders to allow water or fruit through the day; the vrat is kept in the bhav, and your health comes first.

What to avoid

• Avoid eating til or gud before they are offered to Ganesh in the evening puja.
• Many mothers avoid starting the fast without the morning sankalp; keep that small step even on a busy day, since it marks the vrat’s beginning.

Sakat Chauth is kept mainly in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, and is also called Til Chauth, Tilkuta Chauth or Maghi Chauth in different homes; in some of these it falls near, or is combined with, the monthly Sankashti Chaturthi kept for Ganesh.

The day is read by the Chaturthi running at moonrise, so the date can shift between cities and years depending on when the tithi and the local moonrise line up, the way any moonrise-based festival does.