Karwa Chauth – Rituals, Significance, Tales, and Beliefs
Karwa Chauth – Rituals, Significance, Tales, and Beliefs – Karwa Chauth is an Indian festival that signifies nothing less than love between partners. Of course, there is a Valentine’s Day for that but we are Indians, we are always extra, and we love having a Godly touch to everything. Well, keeping these things aside, let us talk about the real deal with Karwa Chauth.
So, to begin with, it is a festival of love in which the wives (now, even the husbands) fast for a day for their husbands. On this day, partners perform different religious ceremonies and rituals and pray to God for the well-being, good health, peace, prosperity, and long life of their spouses. The fast along with all these rituals is done to pray to God and please them so that he could grant a blissfully long life to their spouses. It is a beautiful festival, to say the least, which is filled with positivity, love, hope, and lots of unconditional prayers.
It is a Hindu festival but partners of all religions are doing it these days because who would not want to go an extra mile to do something for the people they love?
A festival of love where we could fast for a day and do Puja to show Gods how much our spouses mean to us? Well, we are up for it. We are Indians and we are conditioned to believe in the Universe, in the Gods, in all things magical, love and hope. We believe there is no harm in doing such things out of love and belief for the love of your life. If you have faith, let no one convince you the other way round about it. You do you!
So, now let us read about the rituals of this festival and the different beliefs around it. You are going to have a pretty amazing read, so stick to the last.
P.S. – If this is going to be your first time doing this festival and fasting then you are going to get a lot of information here.
The Usual Rituals – So, on this day, the married women (or soon-to-be-married women) keep a fast for their husbands from sunrise till the moonrise. The fast is broken when the moon is seen in the sky. The wives first look at the moon and then at their husbands and then they break their fasts. Then the wives are allowed to eat anything of their choice and celebrate the festival of love with love. The festival is no more just restricted to the wives fasting but also the other way around which makes it even more beautiful.
Meaning – The meaning of the Karwa Chauth in the literal sense is to offer ‘Argya’ to the moon. It means the partners have to first give water to the moon (this process is called arghya) using an earthen pot. The earthen pot is called ‘Karwa’ and the date or tithi as per the Hindu calendar in which it is done is Chaturthi (4th day after the full moon circle). Hence, it is called Karwa Chauth. It falls on the fourth day of the dark fortnight in the Kartika month every year.
Fasting Ritual/Sargi – The fasting process is quite tough as women cannot eat anything as soon as the sun rises. Partners are not allowed to even have juice, water, or any food till the rise of the moon. The fast is also called as Nirjala fast because it involves drinking no water at all. Before the fasting starts, everyone who is observing a fast has to wake up in the middle of the night and eat Sargi. Sargi is the first and most important ritual of this festival.This is a ritual where the mothers-in-law give their daughters-in-law a plate of food to enjoy before doing the fast. People mostly have Sargi at around 4 a.m. before the rise of the sun. They have to complete eating before the sun rises and then observe a fast. This also helps people to be full for some time.
Baya – Karwa Chauth Baya is another beautiful ritual of the festival in which the daughters-in-law give a special Karwa Chauth gift to their mothers-in-law. In this gift, clothes, jewellery, food, utensils, etc are given. This is given to the mothers-in-law so that they would happily accept it and give blessings to their daughters-in-law. It is a great way for the DILs to pamper their MILs. The gift can be customised in any beautiful way to make it personal.
Date – In 2023, this festival is falling on November 1st on a Wednesday.
Festive Rituals – In India, this is one of the grandest festivals for married people. Hence, women indulge in grand celebrations on this day. Partners wear new and lavish outfits on the day. Women get extremely well dressed up in fine clothes, lots of jewellery, and more. They spend most of the day getting ready and getting their Puja thali ready for the day. Shopping for this day begins days before the actual festival day. Women also apply Mehendi on their hands for this day as Mehendi signifies ‘a suhagan’ woman. Applying henna on hands and feet is considered a symbol of marriage, love, and good fortune.
In the evening, partners do Puja and offer their prayers. They ask for the well-being of their partners and for supreme marital bliss. Then they offer prayers to the Moon and break their fasts. As per the ritual, it is the partner who offers water first to their partners and this is how the fast is broken. This puja ritual is the most important ritual without which the fast is not considered complete.
The Tales of Karwa Chauth
We are Indians and we have mythological stories attached to all of our festivals and we are not complaining about that. We love to have a reason to celebrate things and hence there are different stories around this festival too. So, grab some snacks to learn more about the tales of Karwa Chauth.
- The Story of Queen Veervati – So, there was a queen once named Veervati who was the only sister to her 7 brothers. Of course, she was extremely loved and pampered. She was once in her parent’s house after marriage and decided to fast for her husband on Karwa Chauth. However, while waiting for the moon to rise, she started getting extremely hungry. Her brothers could not see her in that pain. So, they decided to trick her by keeping a mirror on the top of the Peepal tree to make her believe that the moon her risen. They did this out of love and care for their sister. The sister believed it to be the moon and she broke the fast. But, as soon as she did this, the news of her husband’s death arrived which broke her. She was inconsolable and while going to her husband’s house she met Mata Parvati on her way. She told her about how she was tricked by her brothers. So, Veervati decided to go on a strict fast again and do it correctly this time. Seeing her love, devotion, dedication, and sacrifice, the lord of death, Yama, got emotional and restored life in his husband’s body. This is where the belief of this festival began.
- The Story of Satyavan and Savitri – This is a very popular story. So, there was once a couple named Satyavan and Savitri. Satyavan died one day and Lord Yama came to take him along with him. The wife begged him to not take her husband away but Yama was quite adamant that he could not grant life to Satyavan anymore. Savitri then stopped eating and drinking water and also started to follow Yama and her husband. Then Yama told Savitri that she could ask for any boon from him apart from granting life to her dead husband. Savitri was smart and adamant so she asked for children. She also made sure that was always a loyal wife and would be and hence she would not want kids from any other man. Hence, as a part of his promise, Yama had to restore life to Satyavan.
- The Story of Queen Draupadi – Draupadi was the wife of the Pandavas and she was extremely fond of Arjun. Once Arjun went to the Nilgiris to practise self penalty and without him, the rest of the brothers were suffering from some problems. Draupadi wanted to help and hence she went to Lord Krishna for assistance. He advised that Maa Parvati was also once in a similar situation and then she started doing the Karwa Chauth festival and that is how her problems were resolved. Listening to this, Draupadi also decided to do the rituals and fast of Karwa Chauth diligently. After her fast completion, she found out that the problems her husbands were facing were over and how.
- The Story of Karwa – So, there was once a woman named Karwa who loved her husband alot. She was a very doting, caring, and loving wife. Being devoted to her husband in this way, she was granted enough spiritual powers as well. One day her husband was bathing in the river when he was attacked by a crocodile. Karwa bound the crocodile with cotton yarn and remembered Yamaraj. She requested him to grant life to her husband and death to the crocodile. Yamaraj said this could not be possible to which Karwa said that she could curse and destroy him if he did not do what she wanted. Yamaraj got scared by such a loving wife and hence he granted her the wish.
Weren’t these stories amazing, loving, positive, and filled with hope in all ways? These stories prove that if you love your partners, you can go miles for them and their well-being.
Conclusion
We wish you all a very Happy Karwa Chauth. May your prayers be heard and may all of your partners have a loving, blissful, peaceful, and long life with you all. And also, may you all have the best food after a great fasting day.
Karwa Chauth – Rituals, Significance, Tales, and Beliefs – Karwa Chauth is an Indian festival that signifies nothing less than love between partners. Of course, there is a Valentine’s Day for that but we are Indians, we are always extra, and we love having a Godly touch to everything. Well, keeping these things aside, let us…