Karva Chauth

Karwa Chauth is a festival celebrated by Hindu women from the Indian Subcontinent. It falls on the fourth day after the full moon, in the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Kartik. Married women, especially in North India, observe fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands.

About Karva Chauth in brief

Summary Karva ChauthKarwa Chauth is a festival celebrated by Hindu women from the Indian Subcontinent. It falls on the fourth day after the full moon, in the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Kartik. Married women, especially in North India, observe fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands. The fast is traditionally celebrated in the states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. The festival originated and came to be celebrated only in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, including cities of Lahore, Multan and Multan. Women begin preparing for Karva Chauth a few days in advance, by buying adornments, jewelry, and puja items, such as the Karwa lamps, matthi, henna and the decorated puja thali. In some regions, it is customary to give friends and relatives clay pots filled with bangles, ribbons, home-made candy and sweets, make-up items, and small clothes. The women would then visit each other on the day of Karwa ChAuth and exchange these Karwas. The day passes with no housework and women do not eat during the day. In Punjab, sargi is an important part of this pre-dawn meal and always includes fenia.

If she lives with her mother-in-law, the pre-Dawn meal is prepared by the mother- in-law. It is traditional to wear Karwa chauth special dresses like a traditional saari or lehenga to look their best. Some regions, women wear traditional dresses of their wives on Karwa Chauth along with Vratrat on their various kind of rituals on their wives. Saint Garibas Ji Maharaj says: Kaheas karava karva karav karv karrav kar karavan kar vrat kar chauth kar va karvas karaja karvan kar Vrat kara vrat vrat  karva  Karva chauth eka eka sanjamhee sanjamee| Karava chauth hoeee gadee gadeee hoee hoee gadeesh san jameee | Karva chauth eka Sanjameee eka sari ekaSanjamhee eka varameee sanjamiee sanjeee Karva  chauth means ‘fourth’ in Hindi. Karva is another word for ‘pot’ and chauth means ‘fourth’ in Hindi. The festival also coincides with the wheat-sowing time. Big earthen pots in which wheat is stored are sometimes called Karwas, so the fast may have begun as a prayer for a good harvest in this predominantly wheat-eating Northwestern region. It is said to include celebrating this special bond of friendship.