Ratha Saptami, also called Achala Saptami, Magh Saptami and Surya Jayanti, falls on the seventh day of the bright fortnight of Magh. It is kept as the birthday of Surya and the day his seven-horsed chariot swings north. In the north it is a quiet morning observance: a bath at dawn, water offered to the rising Sun from a copper vessel, and a fast kept for health.
The story
Surya, son of the sage Kashyapa and Aditi, is the visible god, and a vow to him is above all a vow for health. The Puranas tell of Krishna's son Samba, cured of leprosy by worshipping the Sun; temples at Konark and at Multan were traced to him.
The fast is also called Arogya Saptami. The old instruction is to bathe with seven leaves of the aak (arka) plant on the head, and to draw the Sun's chariot on the ground in red sandal or rice flour.
आदित्यस्य नमस्कारान् ये कुर्वन्ति दिने दिने । जन्मान्तरसहस्रेषु दारिद्र्यं नोपजायते ॥
Those who bow to the Sun day after day will not know want in a thousand lives to come
Recited with the Surya Namaskar
How the morning goes
- Snan at arunodayaThe bath is taken in the red light before sunrise, by a river where there is one.
- ArghyaWater with red flowers, rice and a little jaggery is poured out to the rising Sun from a copper lota.
- The fastKept without salt by many; the meal after it is sweet.
- Aditya HridayaThe hymn to the Sun from the Ramayana is recited, and twelve Surya Namaskars are done for his twelve names.
Why this date
Ratha Saptami is the seventh tithi of the bright fortnight of Magh, kept on the day that tithi is running at sunrise.
Ratha Saptami in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Sunday | |
| 2027 | Saturday | |
| 2028 | Thursday | |
| 2029 | Monday | |
| 2030 | Saturday | |
| 2031 | Wednesday |
More North Indian festivals
15 JanuaryMakar Sankrantiमकर संक्रांति
6 MarchMaha Shivaratriमहाशिवरात्रि
23 MarchHoliहोली
24 November 2026Kartik Purnimaकार्तिक पूर्णिमा
15 November 2026Chhath Pujaछठ पूजा
7 AprilChaitra Navratriचैत्र नवरात्रि
Where to see Ratha Saptami
In North India
- Deo Sun TempleBiharA west-facing temple to the Sun in Aurangabad district, one of the oldest seats of Sun worship in the north.
- Dakshinarka Temple, GayaBiharAn ancient shrine to the Sun beside the Vishnupad, in a town given over to ancestral rites.
- KatarmalUttarakhandA ninth-century Sun temple of the Katyuri kings on a ridge above Almora.
Across India
- KonarkOdishaThe temple built as the chariot itself; a fair gathers at Chandrabhaga beach for the dawn bath.
- ModheraGujaratThe eleventh-century Sun temple and its stepped tank.
- TirumalaAndhra PradeshThe Lord is carried out on seven vahanas in a single day, beginning with the Sun's.