🌙 Sakat Chauth (Tilkut Chaturthi) Puja Vidhi — step by step
This is the North-Indian household vidhi — the day's fast, Ganesha-Sakat Mata puja and katha in the evening, arghya at moonrise.
How to do Sakat Chauth (Tilkut Chaturthi) — the steps
- Bathe in the morning and take the sankalp — 'I keep the Sakat Chauth vrat for my children's long life and freedom from trouble.' No grain during the day; waterless or fruit and milk.
- Make tilkut during the day — roast sesame and pound it in jaggery/sugar syrup; some homes make a bakra/pind of tilkut. Many homes use a new clay figure of Chauth Mata/Ganesha in the puja.
- In the evening (Pradosh Kaal) a wooden seat with yellow cloth at the puja place; the idol/picture of Ganesha, a picture or clay figure of Sakat Mata (Chauth Mata); water in a kalash with a lamp on top.
- For Ganesha: durva, yellow flowers, sindoor, roli-akshat, incense and lamp; roli and chunari for Sakat Mata; bhog — tilkut, sesame laddoos, jaggery, sweet potato, radish, sugarcane, dry fruits; 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah' 21 times.
- The women of the house listen together to the Sakat Chauth katha (below); hold sesame-jaggery/wheat grains in the hand during the katha; give bayana (tilkut, fruit, dakshina) to the mother-in-law/elder and touch her feet.
- At moonrise (time above) offer arghya of water, milk and sesame to the moon from the terrace/courtyard; show the tilkut bhog to Ganesha and Sakat Mata.
- After the arghya eat tilkut and break the fast; tilkut first to the children, then yourself; if a bakra was made, the son of the house cuts it and everyone shares.
- Ganesha aarti at night; share the tilkut prasad in the neighbourhood.
Puja samagri checklist
Sesame-jaggery and the Ganesha-Sakat Mata figures are the main things; the rest is simple puja samagri.
- Sesame (white), jaggery/sugar — for tilkut and laddoos; a mortar-pestle for pounding
- Ganesha idol/picture, Sakat (Chauth) Mata picture or clay figure, wooden seat, yellow cloth
- Kalash, ghee lamp, incense, camphor, aarti thali
- Durva (21 blades), yellow flowers, sindoor, roli, akshat, turmeric, mauli, chunari (for Sakat Mata)
- Bhog: tilkut, sesame laddoos, jaggery, sweet potato, radish, sugarcane, carrot, almonds-cashews
- Copper lota for the moon arghya, milk and water
- Bayana: tilkut, fruit, dakshina, cloth (for the mother-in-law)
- Sakat Chauth katha book
Tilkut — the prasad of this vrat (recipe)
Tilkut: roast 250 g white sesame on a low flame till light brown; melt 200 g jaggery (or sugar) in a little water to a one-string syrup; mix in the sesame and pound lightly in a mortar (hence 'tilkut'); grease your palms with ghee and shape into laddoos or flat pieces. The tilkut of Gaya, Bihar is famous — there sugar and sesame are pounded into a flaky sweet.
- Bhog: tilkut, sesame-jaggery laddoos, jaggery, boiled sweet potato, radish, sugarcane, carrot, dry fruits
- On the fast day: waterless or fruit and milk; elders/pregnant women with fruit and milk without fail
- Breaking the fast: tilkut and water first, then a light meal — khichdi/dal-rice or poori-sabzi
- The tilkut bakra (many homes in Rajasthan-MP-UP): a goat figure of tilkut, cut by the son of the house and shared — a symbol of the sacrifice
- Tilkut to neighbours and relatives the next day — 'Sakat prasad' is never refused
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- Break the fast only after moonrise — Delhi time above; match your city with the panchang
- Make tilkut at home, offer it to Ganesha and Sakat Mata, then give it first to the children
- Durva for Ganesha without fail — 21 blades
- Married women listen to the katha together; bayana to the mother-in-law/elder
- Pregnant or unwell women keep it with fruit and milk
❌ Don't
- Sleeping in the day, scolding children, black clothes — avoided
- No food before the arghya to the moon
- Do not offer Tulsi to Ganesha (a Puranic reason) — offer durva and shami leaves
- Never refuse or throw away tilkut prasad
- The unwell should not insist on a waterless fast
Vrat katha
In a town a potter set up his kiln, but the pots would not bake. The king asked a pandit; he said — sacrifice a child in the kiln each time and the pots will bake. Children from every home were put into the kiln in turn.… Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When is Sakat Chauth in {Y}?
The date at the top is this year's Magha Krishna Chaturthi — from panchang calculations with the moonrise rule (the night on which the Chaturthi is present at moonrise); the Delhi moonrise time is shown too.
What time will the moon rise on Sakat Chauth?
See 'Moonrise' above (Delhi) — the Magha Chauth moon rises around 8:30-9:30 pm; a few minutes earlier in eastern cities, later in western ones. Your city's time is on the panchang page.
What is the difference between Sakat Chauth and Sankashti Chaturthi?
The Krishna Chaturthi of every month is Sankashti Chaturthi (Ganesha vrat, moon arghya); the Sankashti of Magha is 'Sakat Chauth/Tilkut Chauth' — the greatest of the year, especially for mothers.
What is the tilkut bakra?
In many homes (Rajasthan-MP-UP) a goat-like figure of tilkut is made and, after the puja, the son of the house cuts it with a knife — a symbol of the sacrifice in the katha; the same prasad is then shared by all.
Can an unmarried or childless woman keep this vrat?
Yes — it is also kept with the wish for a child; the vidhi is the same, state the wish in the sankalp.
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