Sankashti Chaturthi
what is eaten, and how to hold it
संकष्टी चतुर्थीSankashti Chaturthi
The fourth day of the waning fortnight in every lunar month, so once a month.
সূত্র·Published accounts of Sankashti Chaturthi as commonly observed·customs differ by family, region and sampradaya·পর্যালোচিত জুলাই 2026
How long Sankashti Chaturthi runs
12–14hours
As commonly observed. The exact length turns on your date and where you are, and this site publishes no times. Monthly, broken after moonrise. A day fast dedicated to Ganesha, kept until the moon is sighted, then broken — customarily with modak or another offering.
As the dataset states it: From sunrise to moonrise, commonly 12 to 14 hours, ending late in the evening.
সূত্র·প্রকাশিত ব্রতের প্রথা + IFCT 2017·Sankashti Chaturthi entry·পর্যালোচিত জুলাই 2026
What Sankashti Chaturthi is
Sankashti Chaturthi is a monthly Ganesha observance, kept most widely in Maharashtra and across western and southern India. The fast is broken only after the moon is sighted, which in most months means a late evening meal.
Because it recurs monthly, it functions as a regular rhythm rather than an event — twelve or thirteen long-day fasts a year, each ending late. Angarki Chaturthi, when it falls on a Tuesday, is kept more widely still.
Customs vary. Whether the day is kept on fruit alone or with one phalahar meal, and what is prepared for the evening, differ by household — Maharashtrian practice around modak is distinct from practice elsewhere.
How this entry is drawn, and how the food is counted
- The observance is read from published accounts of Sankashti Chaturthi and written as সাধারণভাবে দেখা যায় — কখনও বাধ্যতামূলক হিসেবে নয়, কখনও সঠিক হিসেবে নয়। যেখানে বাড়িভেদে ভিন্নতা আছে, সেখানে এন্ট্রিতেই বলা আছে যে সেগুলো আলাদা।
- The arc above places the observed span between নামযুক্ত স্টেশন of the day — sunrise, midday, sunset, moonrise — and never between times. Sehri, iftar, moonrise and sunset are local and religiously significant, and this site publishes none of them.
- The length is taken from the range the dataset itself states, as a range. Where the length turns on latitude and season, no duration is printed at all.
- Food energy is per the serving each item is really eaten in, from IFCT 2017 (ICMR–NIN) where the table has the food, and from a named alternative where it does not.
- Every food is reconciled against Atwater factors on each build, and a page that fails to reconcile does not ship.
serving kcal = per-100 g kcal × (serving g ÷ 100) energy check = 4·protein + 4·carbohydrate + 9·fat (±15%, ±20% high-fibre) day shape = observed span, station → station (no clock times, ever)
What is customarily eaten, and what is set aside
Described as commonly observed. Your own family's practice is the one that applies.
Commonly eaten
- Fruit, milk and permitted vrat foods through the day, in many households
- Sabudana, peanuts, potato and coconut are common where a meal is taken
- Modak and coconut-based prasad after moonrise
Customarily set aside
- Grains and pulses
- Table salt, onion and garlic
- Meat, fish, eggs and alcohol
সূত্র·Published accounts of Sankashti Chaturthi·reported, not prescribed; regional practice varies and the variation is the practice·পর্যালোচিত জুলাই 2026
The food, with the numbers
Foods commonly associated with Sankashti Chaturthi, at the serving each is really eaten in. Every one has its own page with the full breakdown.
| খাবার | এক সার্ভিং হল | ক্যালরি | প্রোটিন | কার্ব |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| সাবুদানা খিচুড়ি | 1 প্লেট · 150 g | 321 kcal | 3.8 g | 47.4 g |
| Peanuts (Moongphali) | 1 ছোট মুঠো · 25 g | 141 kcal | 6.3 g | 4.0 g |
| কাঁচা নারকেল (নারিয়াল) | 1 টুকরো · 30 g | 107 kcal | 1.1 g | 3.0 g |
| সেদ্ধ আলু | 1 medium potato · 120 g | 84 kcal | 1.8 g | 17.9 g |
| গরুর দুধ (ফুল ক্রিম) | 1 glass · 200 g | 124 kcal | 6.4 g | 9.0 g |
| কলা | 1 মাঝারি কলা · 100 g | 105 kcal | 1.3 g | 24.0 g |
| Makhana (Fox Nuts), raw | 1 কাটোরি · 25 g | 87 kcal | 2.4 g | 19.2 g |
| দই | 1 কাটোরি · 150 g | 90 kcal | 4.7 g | 4.5 g |
One serving of each of these 8 items would come to about 1,058 kcal — a scale check, not a menu. Sankashti Chaturthi is not a calorie target and this table is not a plan.
ব্রতের খাবারের হিসাব, প্রতি 100 g নয়, প্রতি পরিবেশন ধরে।
সূত্র·প্রকাশিত ব্রতের প্রথা + IFCT 2017·উল্লিখিত পরিবেশন ওজন অনুযায়ী·পর্যালোচিত জুলাই 2026
How to hold it without wrecking the week
This is the part nobody publishes well. None of it asks you to change the observance — training, sleep and meal timing are the variables you control, and the fast is not.
Training
A monthly long-day fast is easy to train through for most people, particularly if the session is in the morning. The evening is the harder part, because moonrise can be late and hunger peaks well before it.
Sleep
A late, heavy meal after moonrise is the only real sleep risk. Keeping the first thing eaten light and the fuller meal earlier, where custom allows, helps.
Blood sugar
A once-monthly long fast is worth mentioning to your doctor if you take glucose-lowering medication, particularly because the end time shifts every month with moonrise.
Hydration
Water is permitted in most versions and there is no reason to restrict it. A 13-hour fast without fluid in the heat is a different matter — if your observance is nirjala, treat it like Karva Chauth.
The specific risk with Sankashti Chaturthi
The moonrise time moves each month and can be considerably later than expected. Knowing your local moonrise in advance prevents a much longer fast than you planned for, which is where problems start for people on medication.
কাদের উপবাস করা উচিত নয় · উপবাস ও রক্তে শর্করা · উপবাসের সময় জলপান · সূত্র
Questions asked about Sankashti Chaturthi
When exactly does the fast end?
At local moonrise, which changes every month and differs by city. Check a local panchang or your community's announcement — it is not a fixed clock time, and this site deliberately does not compute it.
Is sabudana khichdi the standard meal?
It is very common in Maharashtra, where the observance is most widely kept. It is also energy-dense — a plate is around 350 kcal — so if the fast is being kept alongside a weight goal, that is worth knowing.
Related observances
সূত্র·প্রকাশিত ব্রতের প্রথা + IFCT 2017·observance accounts and food composition·পর্যালোচিত জুলাই 2026
Practices are described as সাধারণভাবে দেখা যায়; customs differ by family, region, community and sampradaya, and this site is not an authority on any of them. Food values come from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR–NIN), the older ICMR–NIN tables, USDA FoodData Central, named composition studies and the shared ThaliFacts dataset, reconciled against Atwater factors on every build. Which source applies to which food is listed per food, and every source carries the date it was last checked. General information only — not medical or religious guidance. Fasting is not safe for everyone, particularly during pregnancy or with diabetes or other conditions. Speak to a doctor first.
The people behind these sites
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This site and nine others like it are built and photographed by two people: Amit Sharma — behind the build; Geeta Patel — the poses, demonstrated. New work goes up on Instagram and Facebook before it reaches a page here.
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