Karva Chauth is an annual one-day festival celebrated by Hindu women in North India, the Indian state of Gujarat and parts of Pakistan in which married women fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands.
The festival falls on the fourth day after the full moon, in the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Kartik.
Sometimes, unmarried women observe the fast for their fiancés or desired husbands.
RITUAL:
Women begin preparing for
Karva Chauth a few days in advance, by buying cosmetics (shringar), traditional adornments or jewelry, and puja items, such as the
karwa lamps,
matthi, henna and the decorated puja
thali (plate).
On the day of the fast, women from Punjab awake to eat and drink just before sunrise.
In Uttar Pradesh, celebrants eat
soot feni with milk in sugar on the eve of the festival. It is said that this helps them go without water the next day.
In Punjab,
sargi (ਸਰਗੀ) is an important part of this pre-dawn meal and always includes
fenia. It is traditional for the
sargi to be sent or given to the woman by her mother-in-law. If the mother-in-law lives with the woman, the pre-dawn meal is prepared by the mother-in-law.
The fast begins with dawn. Fasting women do not eat during the day, and some do not drink any water either.
In traditional observances of the fast, the fasting woman does no housework.
Women apply henna and other cosmetics to themselves and each other.
The day passes in meeting friends and relatives. In some regions, it is customary to give and exchange painted clay pots filled with put bangles, ribbons, home-made candy, cosmetics and small cloth items (e.g., handkerchiefs).
Parents often send gifts to their married daughters and their children.
In the evening, a community women-only ceremony is held.
Participants dress in fine clothing and wear jewellery and henna, and (in some regions) dress in the complete finery of their wedding dresses.
The dresses (
saris or
shalwars) are frequently red, gold or orange, which are considered auspicious colors.
In Uttar Pradesh, women wear
saris or
lehangas.
The fasters sit in a circle with their puja thalis.
Depending on region and community, a version of the story of
Karva Chauth is narrated, with regular pauses. The storyteller is usually an older woman or a priest, if one is present.
In the pauses, the
Karva Chauth puja song is sung collectively the singers perform the
feris (passing their thalis around in the circle).
In Punjabi communities, the
Karva Chauth song is sung seven times: The first six describe some of the activities that are taboo during the fast and the seventh describes the lifting of those restrictions with the conclusion of the fast. The forbidden activities include weaving cloth (
kumbh chrakhra feri naa), pleading with or attempting to please anyone (
ruthda maniyen naa), and awakening anyone who is asleep (
suthra jagayeen naa). For the first six
feris they sing
| “ | ...Veero kudiye karvara, Sarv suhagan karvara, Aye katti naya teri naa, Kumbh chrakhra feri naa, Aar pair payeen naa, Ruthda maniyen naa, Suthra jagayeen naa, Ve veero kuriye karvara, Ve sarv suhagan karvara... | ” |
For the seventh
feri, they sing
| “ | ...Veero kudiye karvara, Sarv suhagan karvara, Aye katti naya teri nee, Kumbh chrakhra feri bhee, Aar pair payeen bhee, Ruthda maniyen bhee, Suthra jagayeen bhee, Ve veero kuriye karvara, Ve sarv suhagan karvara... | ” |
In Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, participants exchange
karvas seven times between themselves.
In Rajasthan, before offering water seven times the fasting woman is asked "
Dhai?", to which she responds, "
Suhaag na Dhai".
An alternative ritual conducted by Uttar Pradeshis is prayer of "gaur mata" the earth. Specifically, celebrants will take a bit of soil, sprinkle water, and then place kumkum on it, treating it as an idol/manifestation of the fertile Mother Earth.
In Rajasthan, stories are told by older women in the family, including narratives of Karva Chauth, Shiv, Parvati and Ganesh. In earlier times, an idol of Gaur Mata was made using earth and cow dung, which has now been replaced with an idol of Parvati.
Each fasting woman lights an earthen lamp in her
thali while listening to the Karva story. Sindoor, incense sticks and rice are also kept in the
thali.
In Uttar Pradesh, a priest or an elderly woman of the family narrates the story of
beejabeti or Veervati. Celebrants make
Gauri,
Ganesh and
Shankar idols with mud and decorate them with colourful and bright clothes and jewellery. While exhanging
Karvas seven times, they sing
| “ | ...Sadaa suhagan karve lo, Pati ki pyari karve lo, Saat bhaiyon ke behen karve lo, Vart karni karve lo, Saas ki pyaari karve lo...
| ” |
Thereafter, the fasters offer
baayna to the idols (
mansana) and hand over to their mother-in-law or sister-in-law.
The
fera ceremony concluded, the women await the rising of the moon. Once the moon is visible, depending on the region and community, it is customary for a fasting woman, with her husband nearby, to view its reflection in a vessel filled with water, through a sieve, or through the cloth of a dupatta. Water is offered (arka) to the moon (
som or
chandra, the lunar deity) to secure its blessings. She then turns to her husband and views his face indirectly in the same manner.
In some regions, the woman says a brief prayer asking for 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).
In Rajasthan the women say "Like the gold necklace and the pearl bracelet, just like the moon may my suhaag always shine brightly."
The husband now takes the water from the
thali and gives his wife her first sip and feeds her with the first morsel of the day (usually something sweet). The fast is now broken, and the woman has a complete meal. It is customary for the husband to make a gift to his wife, such as jewelry or a new dress.
