What:
Karwa chauth is a popular one-day festival where married Hindu women fast from sunrise to moonrise and pray for the long life of their husbands.
Meaning and date:
The word Karva means an earthen pot and the word chauth means fourth. It signifies that Karva Chauth falls on the fourth day after poornima (full moon), in the month of Kartik, according to the Hindu calendar.
The Hindu calendar marks important dates of all festivals by looking at the astronomical positions of the moon and the stars.
Origin:
The festival dates back to legends and tales from ancient times. Interestingly, most of these tales talk about the sacrifices that women have been making for their husbands to prove their eternal love.
According to one legend, there was a beautiful queen, Veervati, who was the only sister of seven loving brothers. On her first Karwa Chauth, as a married woman, she began her strict fast after sunrise. By evening, her brothers could not bear to see her suffering from severe thirst and hunger, as she refused to eat anything.
They placed a mirror in a pipal tree and tricked her into believing that the moon had risen. She believed them and broke her fast. Unfortunately, news arrived that her beloved husband was dead. Heartbroken, she runs to her husband’s house. On the way she is intercepted by goddess Parvati. Parvati cuts her own little finger to give Veervati few drops of her holy blood, and instructs her to be careful in keeping the complete fast in the future. Veervati then sprinkles this blood on her dead husband, and he comes back to life. They are reunited.
In another legend, the beliefs in this fast and its associated rituals goes back to the pre-Mahabharata times. When Arjun went to the Nilgiris for penance, the rest of the Pandavas started facing many problems in his absence. Draupadi, asked Lord Krishna for help who reminded her that on an earlier occasion, when Goddess Parvati had sought Lord Shiva’s guidance under similar circumstances, she had been advised to observe the fast of Karwa Chauth. Draupadi followed the instructions and observed the fast with all its rituals. Consequently, the Pandavas were able to overcome their problems.
In another tale, a woman named Karwa’s intense love and dedication towards her husband gave her spiritual power. While bathing at a river, her husband was caught by a crocodile. Karwa bound the crocodile with cotton yarn and asked Lord Yama (the god of death) to send the crocodile to hell. Yama refused. Karwa threatened to curse Yama and destroy him. Yama, afraid of being cursed by Pati-vrata (devoted) wife, sent the crocodile to hell and blessed Karwa’s husband with long life. Karwa and her husband enjoyed many years of wedded bliss.
In another hypothesis, men from the North and North Western regions of the country, often went to war and military campaigns to far off places, leaving their wives and children at home Their wives would often pray and fast for their safe return.
It is also believed that the festival evolved to form special bonds of friendship for a newly-wed wife with other married women in the village. With the custom of arranged marriage, the new bride felt lonely residing with her husband and in-laws, away from her loved ones, in a new house. To resolve this problem, the women started celebrating Karwa Chauth in a grand way where married women of the whole village and some nearby villages used to congregate in one place and spend the day in joy and laughter. They celebrated the union among themselves on this day and gifted each other bangles, lipsticks, sindoor, etc. This emotional and psychological bond went a long way to remind each other that there is always a friend somewhere.
The festival also coincides with the wheat-sowing time (i.e., the beginning of the Rabi crop cycle). The wheat is stored in big earthen pots, also referred to as karwas. The fasting may have also begun as a prayer for a good harvest. The women of the families fill the karwas with wheat grains and offer them to God praying for a good harvest season.
Women begin preparing for Karwa Chauth a few days in advance, by buying adornments such as jewellery and cosmetics, puja items, such as the karwas (earthern pots), matthi, mehandi, and decorated puja thalis (plate). Local bazaars take on a festive look as shopkeepers put their Karwa Chauth related products on display.
Rituals observed on the day:
Different states and cultures have their own variations of Karwa Chauth rituals. I have mentioned generic procedures below.
- Early in the morning, before sunrise, women start their day with an early morning prayer after bath. This is followed by consuming Sargi, a nutritious a food platter prepared by the woman’s mother-in-law, which allows her to prepare for the day’s fasting. Sargi generally contains dry fruits, parathas, curry and/or milk and feni.
- At dawn, women begin their fasting and, traditionally, do not eat or drink anything till moon rise (which never happens before 11:30 pm on the day in my side of the world) and offer prayers to Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati and Karwa Mata for their husband’s long life and well-being.
- In the evening, women congregate in large gatherings at a common place to perform pooja. They come adorned in their finest sarees/lehengas, jewellery, mehendi – full solah shringar.
- All fasting women sit in a circle with their puja thalis. Depending on region and community, a version of the story of Karwa Chauth is narrated. The Karwa Chauth puja song is sung collectively. In some regions, women perform the feris (passing their thalis around in the circle), and in other parts, women keep some rice etc. in their hands while listening to the story.
- As the ceremony is concluded, women await the rising of the moon.
- Once the moon is visible, the woman views moon or its reflection in a vessel filled with water, through a sieve, or through a dupatta. Then, the woman looks at her husband’s face through the same sieve; it is believed that when she looks at her husband through a sieve, all negative emotions are filtered through it.
- Water is offered (arka) to the moon to secure its blessings. The woman may say a brief prayer for the well-being of her husband’s life. It is believed that at this stage, spiritually strengthened by her fast, the woman can successfully confront and defeat death (personified by Yama).
- The sighting the moon is considered important as it is the most important celestial body according to Hindu mythology.
- Her husband then takes the water from the thali and offers it to his wife. She takes her first sip of water. The fast is now complete and the woman can have a complete meal.
- During recent times, a lot of men have also started observing fasts for their wives.
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