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Karva Chauth is a festival celebrated by Hindu women from North India, four days after Purnima or the full moon in the month of Kartika. On Karva Chauth, the married women fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands. The Karva Chauth fast is traditionally celebrated in the states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Origins

Karva refers to a small earthen pot of water and chauth means ‘fourth’ in Hindi . The festival also coincides with the wheat-sowing time which is the beginning of the Rabi crop cycle. Big earthen pots in which wheat is stored are sometimes called Karvas, so the fast may have begun as a prayer for a good harvest in this predominantly wheat-eating Northern region.

Mythology and legends

• Story of Queen Veervati

A beautiful queen called Veervati was the only sister of seven loving brothers. She spent her first Karva Chauth as a married woman at her parents’ house. She began a strict fast after sunrise but, by evening was desperately waiting for the moonrise as she suffered severe thirst and hunger. Her seven brothers couldn’t bear to see their sister in such distress and created a mirror in a peepal tree that made it look as though the moon had risen. The sister mistook it for the moon and broke her fast.

The moment she took the first morsel of food, she sneezed. In her second morsel she found hair. After the third she learned the news of her husband, the king, was dead. Heartbroken, she wept through the night until her Shakti or spiritual power compelled the  Goddess to appear and ask why she crying. When the queen explained her distress, the Goddess revealed how she had been tricked by her brothers and instructed her to repeat the Karva Chauth fast with complete devotion. When Veervati repeated the fast, Yama was forced to restore her husband to life.

• The legend of Karva

A woman named Karva was deeply devoted to her husband. Her intense love and dedication towards him gave her shakti . While bathing at a river, her husband was caught by a crocodile. Karva bound the crocodile with cotton yarn and asked Yama (the god of death) to send the crocodile to hell. Yama refused. Karva threatened to curse Yama and destroy him. Yama, afraid of being cursed by Pati-vrata (devoted) wife, sent the crocodile to hell and blessed Karva’s husband with long life. Karva and her husband enjoyed many years of wedded bliss. To this day, Karva Chauth is celebrated with great faith and belief.

• Legend of Mahabharata

The belief in this fast and its associated rituals goes back to the pre-Mahabharata times. Draupadi, too, is said to have observed this fast. Once Arjun went to the Nilgiris for penance and the rest of the Pandavas faced many problems in his absence. Draupadi, out of desperation, remembered Lord Krishna and asked for help. Lord Krishna 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 Karva Chauth. In some tellings of this legend, Shiva tells Parvati the story of Veervati to describe the Karva Chauth fast. Draupadi followed the instructions and observed the fast with all its rituals. Consequently, the Pandavas were able to overcome their problems.

Rituals of Karva Chauth

A few days before Karva Chauth, married women would buy new karvas or pots and paint them on the outside with beautiful designs. Inside, they would put bangles and ribbons, home-made candy and sweets, make-up items, and small clothes. The Women begin preparing for Karva Chauth a few days in advance, by buying shringar items, jewelry, and puja items, such as the Karva lamps, matti, henna and the decorated puja thali. Local bazaars in north India take on a festive look during this time.

On the day of the fast, women awake to eat and drink just before sunrise and begin the fast at dawn. Sargi  is an important part of this pre-dawn meal and always includes phenia. It is traditional for the sargi to be sent by the mother-in-law. In traditional observances of the fast, the fasting woman usually does no housework and generally meet friends and relatives .

In the evening, a community ceremony is held exclusively for women. Participants dress in fine clothing and wear jewellery and henna, and in some regions ladies dress in the complete finery of their wedding dresses.The dresses are frequently red, gold or orange, which are considered auspicious colors. The women sit in a circle with their puja thalis. The story of Karva Chauth is narrated, with regular pauses by an older woman . During the pauses, the Karva Chauth puja song is sung collectively and the singers perform the feris  which is the passing of thalis around in the circle.

The first six feris 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 as it is recited – kumbh chrakhra feri naa, pleading with or attempting to please anyone as they sing -ruthda maniyen naa, and awakening anyone who is asleep which is sung as suthra jagayeen naa.

For the first six feris the song is:

“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”

The woman observing fast light an earthen lamp in her thali while listening to the Karva story. Sindoor, incense sticks and rice are also kept in the thali.Thereafter, the women offer baayna to the idols and hand over the same  to their mother-in-law.

After the fera ceremony the women await the rising of the moon. Once the moon is visible, it is customary for the fasting woman, to view the moon through a sieve. Water is offered as arka to the lunar deity to secure the blessings. The woman says a brief prayer asking for her husband’s life. It is believed that the woman , spiritually strengthened by her fast, can successfully defeat death.

Her husband then takes the water from the thali and offers it to his wife . She takes her her first sip of water thus breaking the fast. The Karva Chauth celebration ends with having a feast with friends and family.

May this blissful day bring all the love and happiness to everyone.