Karwa Chauth - The Fast of Indian Women

The Rigorous Indian Fast for a Good Husband

Jan 2, 2010 Shanti Mahadevan

Karwa Chauth fast symbolizes the sentiment that a woman has for her husband and is observed to get a good husband and seek his love.

Karwa Chauth is an Indian festival with a cultural and social significance, and this fast is of prime importance to all Hindu married women. Indian women believe in the age-old tradition of fasting for a cause, and Karwa Chauth is observed in order to get a good husband and seek his love.

The festival also symbolizes the sentiment that a woman has for her husband. While newly-wed brides celebrate their first fast with great pomp and joy, unmarried girls too observe this fast.

Origin of ‘Karwa Chauth’ Fast

In past eras, girls in India married early through an arranged marriage and lived with their in-laws. If she faced marital problems, she had no one for comfort, help and support as her parents could not be easily reached with communication and transport not being there. Hence, she was allowed to befriend women, and their friendship was sanctified through a Hindu ceremony.

Karwa Chauth began as a festival to celebrate this friendship between the new-bride and her new women friends where the husband was always associated to strengthen the bond between husband-wife. Thus, fasting and praying for husband was done on Karwa Chauth.

Famous Legend Associated with ‘Karwa Chauth’ Fast

There are many legends associated with Karwa Chauth which enhance and give a religious touch to the festival. Among them the legend of Veeravati is the most famous.

Veeravati — the only sister to her seven loving brothers — was married to a king. On her first Karwa Chauth after marriage, she went to her maternal home. After sunrise, she began her rigorous fast but could not withstand it. She desperately waited for the moon to appear.

Seeing their sister in distress, the brothers decided to end her fast early. They reflected a mirror through a tree. Thinking it was the moon she broke her fast. Immediately after dinner, she received news of her husband’s death.

On her way to the palace, Veeravati met Goddess Parvati, who revealed what her brothers had done. When the queen wept, the Goddess asked here to repeat the fast on Karwa Chauth with dedication. When she did this, she got back her husband alive.

Significance of ‘Karwa Chauth’ Fast

‘Karwa’ means a clay pot, and ‘Chauth’ corresponds to the ‘fourth’ day after the Full Moon in the Karthik month of Hindu calendar. Karwa Chauth comes nine days before Diwali.

A Hindu woman observes a full day fast and offers prayers for the longevity, prosperity, welfare, and well-being of her husband.

Traditions and Preparations for ‘Karwa Chauth’ Fast

Married women buy new karwas and paint designs on them. They buy traditional adornments and eatables on this festival. They then place some rice, wheat and small gifts inside the karwas.

Application of henna is considered auspicious and hence on the eve of Karwa Chauth, women decorate their hands and feet with intricate designs. In the evening, she wears her bridal dress which is usually a ghagra-choli or a Banares silk sari.

The First ‘Baya’ and 'Sargi' of a Woman

A mother gives her daughter a ‘Baya’ on her first Karwa Chauth. It contains bangles, bindi, sari, sindoor, sweets, and utensils to be distributed among women who join the first Karwa Chauth puja. The ‘Baya’ has to reach by the evening of Karwa Chauth; as without the ‘Baya’, the Karwa Chauth is incomplete.

Without the ‘Sargi’ (pre-dawn meal), Karwa Chauth is incomplete. This is a heavy meal with sweets and other delicacies. It is customary for the mother-in-law to prepare it early morning as it is to be eaten before sunrise.

The new-bride is showered with blessings for a happy married life especially by her mother-in-law who gives her traditional gifts when the latter touches her feet with reverence.

The Fast and Ritual on ‘Karwa Chauth’

A Hindu woman wakes up early, begins her fast before sunrise and breaks it about 8.45 p.m. after worshiping the moon.

Before sunset, women in the locality prepare a ‘puja’ corner in the house where the image of Goddess Parvati is placed on a platform. They sit around it with their ‘Baya’.

Every woman places a karwa of water before her and ties a red thread around it. In seven ‘thalis’ (plates) an earthen lamp is lit. Sindoor, incense sticks and rice are also kept. The woman applies vermilion to Goddess Parvati and to herself, and sprinkles water and showers rice on the idol. Shiva, Parvati, Ganesh, Kartikeya and the moon are also worshipped and their blessings invoked.

Legends of Karwa Chauth are told in the evening by older women. After worship of the Gods, rice, black gram, auspicious articles like comb, mirror, vermilion, bangles, ribbon and fruits are placed in a copper or earthen plate and kept ready for the fast to be broken.

When the moon rises, the woman sees it through a sieve, offers prayers and water, seeks its blessings and then looks at her husband’s face through the sieve. She bows at his feet and he offers her the first sip of water and the first morsel of food. This marks the end of the day-long fast.

Tradition of Giving Gifts on Karwa Chauth

On Karwa Chauth, people come together and exchange gifts. The new-bride distributes utensils from the ‘Baya’. She is given gifts by her husband, mother-in-law and relatives as an expression of love.

Karwa Chauth festival thus deepens and strengthens the relationship between husband and wife, and daughter-in-law and mother in law in Hindu homes.

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