KARVA CHAUTH

Karva chauth falls on October or November about 9 days before Diwali. Karva Chauth is observed by married women for the long life and safety of their husbands. It is uncertain how the festival is originated and how it came to be. 

Karva is another word for earthen pot, and also used for Karva Chauth  pooja. Ladies exchange their earthen pots 7 or 14 times till they get their own back.

The festival also coincides with the wheat sowing period. Big earthen pots in which wheat is stored are sometimes also called as “Karva” So the fast may also begin as a prayer for a good harvest in predominantly wheat eating region.

Women preparing for Karva chauth begin their preparations few days in advance, by buying cosmetics, jewelry henna and pooja items such as the Karva lamp and decorated pooja thali. On the day of the fast the women wake early to eat and drink before sunrise.

Women apply henna and other cosmetics and the day passes in meeting the friends and the relatives. It is traditional that “sargi” to a woman is to be sent or given by her mother-in-law. Parents often send gifts to their married daughters and their children.

In the evening women dress in complete wedding outfit which are frequently in red, golden or orange. Women sit in a circle with the pooja thali. The Karva  Chouth song is sung.

The women await the rising of the moon.  It is a customary for the fasting women to be with her husband nearby to view the moons reflection on a thali   filled with water through a sieve or a duppatta. Water is offered to the moon to secure his blessings and she turns to her husband and views his face in the same manner.  The women say a brief prayer asking for her husband’s long life. Now the husband takes the water from the thali and gives his wife the first sip and first morsel of the day usually some sweets .It is a customary for the husband to gift to his wife.

IN THE LEGEND OF MAHABHARATHA

The brief of this fast goes back to the pre-Mahabharatha times Draupathi is said to have observed this fast. Once Arjun went on penance and the rest of the Pandavas faced many problems in his absence.

Draupadi out of depression seeks the help from Lord Krishna thus he  reminded her when Goddess Parvathi had sought Lord Shiva’s guidence’ under similar circumstances, she had been advised to observe the fast of Karva Chouth. Shiva tells story of Veeravathi to describe the fast.

Draupathi followed all the instructions and observed the fast and all its rituals. Consequently, the Pandavas were able to overcome their problems.

Mama

Good luck to all!!