karva chauth fast

karva Chauth
Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Gujarat, Delhi and others.

VatSavitri Puja
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Orissa.

Teej Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.

Mahashivratri
Throughout India (major states include Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharastra)

Gangaur
Rajasthan, Gujarat & Bengal

Varalakshmi Vratham
South India states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka

Karadaiyan Nombu
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

The day of Karva Chauth is celebrated mostly amongst the entire North Indian community settled either in India and other parts of the world. The most important aspect of this day is that a dawn to dusk fast is undertaken by the North Indian ladies and seeing the moon they finally break the fast. The Karva Chauth fast is unique perhaps because nowhere in the world does a wife go without food or water just to pray for the longevity and wellbeing of her husband. In modern day, with all the trappings of commercialization attached, Karva Chauth, the big fasting day has turned into a fullfledged event. The event is growing bigger with each passing day. Karva Chauth celebrations promise to grow bigger with each passing year. The Halwais, the Mehendi and Churiwallis have traditionally been busy on this auspicious day. But joining the bandwagon in recent times are the beauty parlour owners, the event managers and the restaurant owners. Karva Chauth special eateries are gearing up for now. Cashing in on the popularity of eating out most restaurants have special menus for this special day. No wonder almost every happeningeating joint around town is offering plenty of attractive options to choose from. Various clubs organize special events on this festive day with various stalls, bumper Tambola and even a dance competition. With so much feasting and fun added to it, fasting had never been so good before.

The traditional Indian calendar is one long pageant of colorful festivals, a colorful mosaic of festivals, fairs and fasts as diverse as the land itself. The festival and fast of Karva Chauth is celebrated with much exuberance and fanfare. It is considered an important and auspicious day for married women. A married woman celebrates this day with great fervor and dedication, by observing a fast and praying for the long life of her husband. The fast is observed during the month of Kartik on the fourth day of Krishna Paksha (descending moon). This generally falls in the month of October.The earliest reference of a Karva Chauth can be found in the great epic of Mahabharata. As per Mahabharata, Arjun, a supreme warrior and one of the Pandavas, went to the Nilgiri Hills to offer his prayers and worship the gods. Draupadi, wife of the Pandavas, was accompanying him. On the way, Draupadi was struck with fear believing that she was alone in the forest with no one to protect her. As she treated Lord Krishna as her Brother, she invoked him to appear before her and help her out of this grave situation. On listening to her fear and perplexity, Lord Krishna cited an example of Goddess Parvati. Parvati in a similar situation asked Lord Shivas help. Lord Shiva explained to her that to ward off such apprehensions, a woman could observe a fast on Kartik Krishna Chaturthi as a remedy. Lord Krishna advised Draupadi to undertake this fast and also assured her of he victory of the Pandavas. Women also pray to Lord Ganesha for the fulfillment of all their wishes. The fast has all the trappings of festivity. Women dress up in their best finery, with hennadecked hands, bindis, colorful bangles, vermilion in their hairparting and the best of jewelery. However, they do not eat even a morsel of food, neither drink a drop of water, from dawn till the moon rises. Finally, when the moon is sighted, the wife goes out to view it. The moon is worshiped and then she turns to view her husbands face through the pores of a sieve, praying for his long life. After performing the puja, its finally time for food.

Karva Chauth is of great importance for married Hindu women but the festival is seen as a big occasion for women undertaking their first Karva Chauth fast after marriage. A newly married woman is given utmost importance by relatives and immediate family members when she observes her first fast for the long life of her husband. She is showered with blessings of blissful married life and loads of Karva Chauth gifts especially by her motherinlaw.

First SargiMotherinlaw prepares an elaborate Sargi (the predawn Karva Chauth meal) when her daughterinlaw observes her first fast. She wakes up much early to prepare a sumptuous and lavish meal inclusive of sweets and other delicacies for daughterinlaw. Saasuma blesses her bahu with an ashirvaad of Sada Suhagan Raho which means, may you always enjoy a blissful married life when the latter touches her feet with reverence. She also presents her daughterinlaw with gifts, which may be a piece of jewelry or a heavy saree on the first Karva Chauth.

First BayaBaya is a gift given to a daughters motherinlaw on the occasion of Karva Chauth. It usually consists of salted mathris, dryfruits and some gifts. This Baya is a little more special when the daughter is observing her first Karva Chauth. Mothers of newly wed daughters bring gifts for all her family members. Some utensils are also included in the baya which are to be distributed amongst women who join the newlywed on her first Karva Chauth Puja.

Elaborate Puja PreparationsElaborate preparations are made for the customary evening Karva Chauth Puja in a family where a newly wed daughterinlaw observes her first KarvaChauth. Married female relatives are invited to participate in the puja. The newly married woman often wears her bridal lehanga or a heavy saree and adorns herself with lot of jewelry and make up. After the puja ceremony she seeks blessings for happy married life from all elder women. The newly wed woman distributes mathris or utensils amongst the ladies that were a part of baya.

Gifts from HusbandHusband of the woman who observes her first Karva Chauth feel proud and great to see her better half observing such a rigorous fast for him. He gets overwhelmed with love and respect for her wife and pampers her with loads of Karva Chauth gifts. These days husbands also takes her wife out for a dinner to save her from the drudgery of days cooking work.

The fast of karva Chauth is kept 9 days before Diwali. It falls on the fourth day of the Kartik month by the Hindu calendar (fourth day of the waning moon or the dark fortnight).

The pooja preparations start a day in advance. Married women buy the shringar or the traditional adornments and the other pooja items like the karva, matthi, heena etc. Early in the morning they prepare food and have it before sunrise. The morning passes by in other festive activities like decorating hand and feet with heena, decorating the pooja thali and meeting friends and relatives.In the late afternoon women gather at a common place like temple or a garden or someones place who has arranged the pooja. An elderly lady or the pujarin narrates the legend of karva Chouth.The essentials of this gathering and listening of the karva chauth story , a special mud pot, that is considered a symbol of lord Ganesha, a metal urn filled with water, flowers, idols of Ambika Gaur Mata, Goddess Parwati and some fruits, mathi and food grains. A part of this is offered to the deities and the storyteller.Earlier an idol of Gaur Mata was made using earth and cowdung. Now just an idol of Goddess Parwati is kept. Every one lights an earthen lamp in their thalis while listening to the karva story. Sindoor, incense sticks and rice are also kept in the thali.At this time the women wear heavy saris or chunries in red , pink or other bridal colors, and adorn themselves with all other symbols of a married women like, nose pin, tika, bindi, chonp, bangles, earrings etc.Once the moon rises, the women see its reflection in a thali of water, or through a dupatta or a sieve. They offer water to the moon and seek blessings. They pray for the safety, prosperity and long life of their husbands. This marks the end of the day long fast.

Hindus believe it is not easy to unceasingly pursue the path of spirituality in ones daily life. Therefore a worshiper must strive to impose restrains on to get the mind focused. And one form of restraint is fasting. However, fasting is not only a part of worship, but a great instrument for selfdiscipline too. It is a training of the mind and the body to endure and harden up against all hardships, to persevere under difficulties and not give up.

karva Chauth is a ritual of fasting observed by married Hindu women seeking the longlife, wellbeing and prosperity of their husbands. Married women keep a strict fast and do not take even a drop of water. It is the most important and difficult fast observed by married Hindu women. It begins before sunrise and ends only after offering prayers and worshiping the moon at night. No food or water can be taken after sunrise. The fast is broken once the moon is sighted and rituals of the day have been performed. At night when the moon appears, women break their fast after offering water to the moon.

karva Chauth vrat is an ancient Indian tradition, which is still followed with full warmth and admiration by almost all married Indian women. Indeed, every women want to pray for the happiness and long life of her husband. Food items, beauty essential or makeup items, clothing items, and puja items constitute the significant items that are required for karva Chauth festival by the woman performing the karva Chauth Fast (vrat).

Inspite of being one of the toughest fast, Karva Chauth is always looked forward and is welcomed by married woman with great fervor. One of the reason behind this joy and happiness is the golden chance of receiving expensive and beautiful gifts from their husbands and relatives. As this festival is considered very important for married women, all the symbols that reflects the marriage status of a woman is in high demand such as jewelery, bangles, henna, sarees, lehnga choli and many other traditional gifts. Gifts given on the Karva Chauth day is an expression of love between man and wife. karva Chauth is particularly special for a newlywed woman who gets decked up in her bridal finery. The most common gifts given on this day range from new clothes, sweets, jewelery to anything that can make a married woman feel happy and satisfied. During this festive occasion, jewelers and apparel makers get into the act, with special collections and designs at every price point imaginable. Thus, women observing a fast for the wellbeing of their husbands are rewarded with gifts by their husbands, mothersinlaw and other relatives.

A full hand design, either palm or back with the help of henna paste looks always trendy. While Arabic henna designs are usually large, floral patterns on the hands, Indian mehndi involves fine, thin lines for lacy, floral and paisley patterns covering entire hand and also forearms. Most traditional henna patterns are based on very simple shapes circles, triangles and lines are the most basic. These shapes can be combined to create a very intricate pattern and a very beautiful henna design on palm.The various mehendi designs meant for hands include flower arches, henna web, flower net, flowery trails, lucky lotus, leaves chains etc. While decorating an entire hand, one can start where it is most comfortable, depending on the design. Common starting points are the line where the fingers bend bordering the palm, the wrist, or the center of the palm. It is usually easiest to begin by covering the palm, and then doing the fingers.