Ṣaṣṭhī comes twice a month, once in each fortnight, and many households treat it as a standing day of fasting. The Saura Purāṇa names Ṣaṣṭhī with Ekādaśī and Tṛtīyā among the tithis on which a vratin should fast, once the tithi has been reckoned carefully from the Sun and Moon. That text sets up a general fast and does not make every Ṣaṣṭhī a Skanda festival. Even so, in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam homes the day belongs to Murugan, and in Bengal and Odisha to Mā Ṣaṣṭhī, the guardian of children. How the day is fixed: The vrata is kept on the day Ṣaṣṭhī prevails at local sunrise. This happens once in the waxing fortnight, as Śukla Ṣaṣṭhī, and once in the waning fortnight, as Kṛṣṇa Ṣaṣṭhī. Keep in mind: Named Ṣaṣṭhī days are fixed by their own regional rules and are separate observances. Skanda Ṣaṣṭhī is the six-day Murugan vrata of the Aippasi bright fortnight, and Subrahmaṇya Ṣaṣṭhī falls on Mārgaśīrṣa Śukla Ṣaṣṭhī. In Bengal, Jamai Ṣaṣṭhī in Jyaiṣṭha and the Mahā Ṣaṣṭhī of Durgā Pūjā are likewise days of their own. 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 many visit a Subrahmaṇya shrine. 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 on the following morning. Worth remembering: Ṣaṣṭhī is a general fasting tithi, and the deity honoured depends on the region. The South keeps it for Murugan, Gujarat and Maharashtra for Kārtikeya, and Bengal and Odisha for Mā Ṣaṣṭhī. The great named Ṣaṣṭhīs of the year are separate observances. Whether the day means a single meal, a full fast, a temple visit or a pūjā for the children differs from house to house. The surest guide is the practice the elders of one's own house have kept.
