Karva Chauth is a popular fasting in Hinduism and is mainly observed in North India . It is performed by a married woman for the well being of her husband. The fast starts before sunrise and ends after worshipping the moon. Today, the fast is seen as a symbol of love. In 2012, Karwa Chauth is on November 2.
The simple way to fast on the day is to wake up early have a bath, offer daily prayers and consume some food before sunrise. In the evening, pray to Goddess Parvati, wait for the moonrise. Have a look at the moon and enjoy a good dinner with husband and family. Remember, all rituals are meant for the satisfaction of the ego, Gods don’t need rituals. Santana Dharma teaches to get over all rituals and understand the Brahman – the Supreme Force present in you and in everything.
On the day, married women wake up before sunrise and take bath and offer their usual prayers. They then consume food. Foods consumed on the day are those which can help in maintaining the fluid level of the body - milk, fruits, juice, tea or coffee. Freshly prepared breakfast like puri and aloo is also consumed. Non-vegetarian food is avoided on the day. No food is consumed after sunrise.
Women spend the day visiting friends and relatives. Many make use of the day to apply ‘henna’ on their palms and feet. The women dress in beautiful saris and other traditional garments. Working women head to work or take leave on the day.
An important ritual on the day is the ‘baya’ send by the mothers for their daughters. The Baya (gift to the mother-in-law) usually consist of mathris, puas, halwa, clothes and some small amount of cash. This ritual and the items vary from region to region but in most places a ‘baya’ is send by mothers to their daughters.
The most important part of the ritual is the Karva, an earthen pot with an outlet on the side and open from the top with a lid. If Karva is not available anything any utensil resembling Karva is used.
The preparation for the puja starts early evening mostly by 1700 hrs. The room for puja depends on the number of people invited. The puja place is decorated with ‘kharia matti.’ A ‘chowk’ is decorated on the floor and atop it a seep chowk is decorated with ‘aipun.’ The chowk is placed against the wall and on a decorated ‘patta,’ Goddess Parvati is installed. This is the traditional form of decorating the puja room for Karva Chauth.
A simple method is to install the picture or an idol of Goddess Parvati in the usual Puja room or at the designated place.
An hour before moonrise those who have undertaken the vrat or participating in the puja gather in the puja room.
The karva is decorated with kharia, aipun and roli. A red thread is tied around the neck of the karva. The karva is filled with water (a little) and seven broken pieces of pua. The thali consists of puas, puris, dry fruits, water, halwa and cash. The thali is kept over the karva. The items on the thali vary from region to region and also depend on what the person performing puja likes to have on it. Now each woman does the puja. This ritual is known as mansana.
Women dress neatly and colorfully for the puja and apply sindhoor on the maang. The puja is quite simple. First, the person performing the puja applies a roli teeka or sindhur on the idol or forehead of Goddess Parvati. Then she dips the third finger of the right hand in water and sprinkles it with the help of thumb three times on the deity. The same ritual is repeated with aipun and roli. Finally, rice is showered on the deity and a little rice is kept in the hand. All the participating women can do this puja.
One woman narrates the story of Karwa Chauth and others listen with the rice in the hand.
At the end of the story, each woman exchanges her karva with her friend. The woman giving the karva says’ O Suhagan take my karva.’ The one receiving says O Suhagan give your Karva.’ The roles are then reversed. After this each woman present perform the baya manasana. The woman takes rice in the left hand and adds little water to it. The edge of the ‘pallu’ is taken in the right hand the index finger is dipped in the left hand. Both the hands are taken around the karva and the water is poured on the side of the karva. An elderly woman chants the mantra. The whole ritual is repeated a second time without the mantra.
Then when the moon is sighted, the reflection of the moon is seen in the water in the puja thali or through a sieve. The woman holds a lamp in the left and offers water to the moon – pouring water on the ground seven times and also throwing seven broken pieces of freshly broken puas.
The fast is broken by eating a pua broken into ten pieces and by drinking water in between.
Related
Karva Chauth Vrat Katha mp3
Karva Chauth Katha Text
7 comments:
do i have to give a gift to my mother in law or does she give a gift to me. what is the right way not made up way.
u giver 2 her...and ur husband gives 2 u
It is not mandated to obseve Karva Chawth properly but just a ritual to bring a daughter-in-law closer to her mother-in-law and visa-versa.
this is a punjabi way of doing karwachauth...in UP we don't follow this ritual....its basically a pooja we do after seeing the moon and then prasad is taken which can be kheel,chiwda or pua.....wife basically worships moon ,lord Ganesha and Gauri maa....listen to the karwachauth story and we offer milk based prasad to moon 3 times and say protect our suhaag....then Gauri ji and Ganesh ji r worshipped and karwa is exchanged from other married women....its very ritualistic
My mother (U.P.)did her Karwa chauth the U.P. way.
She did not have 'sargi' ie the food before sunrise.Fasted whole day, took liquids if body needed it and made festive food and puas for the evening.Invited a Brahmin or elderly lady to do the story in evening. If lady not available she read story from book herself-has rice in hand during story.Did Ganesh, Parvati and Shiv puja (brief)herself. Then when the moon rose, she offered water from her Karwa pot and whatever sweets she made requesting that husband bee like moon and asked for blessings to maintain her husbands wellbeing.Then she had her dinner to break the fast.No exchanging of Karwa took place.She dressed simple and clean, not much ornamentation.
These days all kind of elaborate stuff is going on with TV serials and films promoting materialistic rituals.
Hi,
This is not the punjabi way of doing Karva Chauth. Like someone commented, all these elaborate rituals have been started from unrealistic TV series.
The punjabi way almost always omits unnecessary rituals. We are not obliged to ever give our mother-in-law any gifts during any celebration. The wives are just spoiled with gifts from members of the family, other elders and especially the husbands. In fact the youngest ones are usually spoiled the most. My husband has 2 sisters and 1 brothers and everyone always remember to send me something extra special for being the youngest. Again, that's not required, just how it seems to be.
As for what's necessary, both my mother-in-law and mom explained what's required. We just fast all day, then listen to the katha. You do need a thali which should consist of a pot with water tied with a red thread, something sweet (I used sugar,) something salty (I used a salty snack,) some grains (I used rice,)a statue or a picture of goddess parvati and a diya. Dressing up is optional but it's festive anyway.
This article doesn't mention it here but before seeing the moon, we have to see our husband's face in the sieve first, and then look at the moon. Definitely a reason to make your husband get home as quick as you do! Then after saying a little prayer, the husband feeds the first bite. I'm not sure if it's out of tradition or just affection.
Karva Chaut is really about praying for your husband's long life and your marital bliss. This should really just be about the two of you and about what tradition feels right to you.
In my case, neither my mother nor my mother-in-law expects me to do karva chaut. In fact many of our relatives don't celebrate karva chaut by fasting. For my mother-in-law it was rather emotional because she sees me more like a daughter than a daughter-in-law but I had to explain that I just wanted to do this for my husband and fun gifts are always welcomed! :)
Again, just stick to the basics and if you're really worried about how your new family celebrates karva chaut, just ask someone or even your mother-in-law.
Thanks a lot for explaining it properly...
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