Sankasta Chaturthi January 2026 Date
Sankasta Chaturthi in January 2026 is on Tuesday, 6 January 2026. Chaturthi tithi begins at 08:02 AM IST on 6 Jan and ends at 06:53 AM IST on 7 Jan.
संकष्ट चतुर्थी 2026 मंगलवार, 6 जनवरी को है। चतुर्थी तिथि 6 जनवरी को सुबह 8:02 बजे से 7 जनवरी को सुबह 6:53 बजे तक रहेगी।
Dates are for India (IST). Tithi timings for your city are on the Sankasta Chaturthi page; every date this year is on the Sankasta Chaturthi 2026 page.
About Sankasta Chaturthi
A monthly fast kept on the fourth day after every full moon, broken only when the worshipper actually sights the rising moon. When this Chaturthi falls on a Tuesday — the day of Mangal (Mars, called Angaraka) — it becomes Angarki Chaturthi, treated as the most powerful of the year, especially in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Each of the twelve monthly Sankashtis honours a different form of Ganesha and has its own Vrat Katha (fasting story). The Ashadha-month fast worships Krishnapingala Ganapati, with a tale Krishna narrates to Yudhishthira about a childless king of Mahishmati who gains a son through this vow. The Magha-month observance — the most important of the year — is called Sakat Chauth in North India, where mothers fast for their children. Note the neat opposite: on Ganesh Chaturthi in Bhadrapada one must avoid looking at the moon (the Syamantaka-jewel curse on Krishna), but on Sankashti the moon's sighting is exactly what ends the fast. Tamil Hindus call the day Sankatahara Chaturthi. The food is strict — only fruit, roots and tubers, with sabudana khichadi, potato and peanuts as the usual evening meal.
