Śukla Ṣaṣṭhī is the Ṣaṣṭhī of the bright half, one of the two monthly Ṣaṣṭhī fasts. The Saura Purāṇa counts Ṣaṣṭhī among the tithis for fasting, and households give the day to Murugan in the South, to Kārtikeya in Gujarat and Maharashtra and to Mā Ṣaṣṭhī in Bengal and Odisha. The great named Ṣaṣṭhīs of the year, Skanda Ṣaṣṭhī and Subrahmaṇya Ṣaṣṭhī among them, also fall in the bright half but are kept as separate observances. How the day is fixed: The vrata is kept on the day the Ṣaṣṭhī of the waxing fortnight prevails at local sunrise. Because sunrise differs by place, two cities can keep it a day apart. Keep in mind: In some months the same bright-half tithi also carries a named festival. Skanda Ṣaṣṭhī, Subrahmaṇya Ṣaṣṭhī, Champā Ṣaṣṭhī, Jamai Ṣaṣṭhī and Mahā Ṣaṣṭhī each have their own customs and are kept as separate observances. This year: The 2026 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. The fast: Those keeping the vrata take a single meal or fast until evening and visit a Subrahmaṇya shrine, while in Bengal and Odisha mothers worship Mā Ṣaṣṭhī for their children's welfare. The fast is broken as the family or temple custom directs, often when Ṣaṣṭhī ends or the next morning. Worth remembering: Śukla Ṣaṣṭhī is a plain monthly fasting day unless a named festival falls on it. Its waning twin, Kṛṣṇa Ṣaṣṭhī, is kept the same way about two weeks later. Whether a house keeps every Śukla Ṣaṣṭhī or only the named festivals of the year is a matter of family custom. The surest guide is the practice the elders of one's own house have kept.
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