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What is karva Chauth (Veer- Savitri Vrat) ?A married woman celebrates Karva Chauth by observing a fast for the long life of her husband. And above all is the ‘Shringar’ that includes applying henna and adorning the bridal makeup.

The Legend of Karwa Chauth

The Story Of Queen Veeravati
A long long time ago, there lived a beautiful girl by the name of Veeravati. She was the only sister of her seven loving brothers, who was married to a king. On the occasion of the first Karva Chauth after her marriage, she went to her parents’ house. After sunrise, she observed a strict fast. However, the queen couldn’t stand the rigors of fasting and was desperatly waiting for the moon to rise. The seven brothers who loved her dearly, were very disturbed watching the distress of their sister and decided to end her fast by deceiving her. Then the brothers reflected a mirror through Pipal tree leaves. The sister, taken it as moon rise, broke the fast and took food. However, the moment the queen ate her dinner, she received the news that her husband, the king, was seriously ill.

Queen Veeravati performing Karva Chauth

The queen rushed to her husband’s palace and on the way, she met Lord Shiva and his consort, Goddess Parvati. Parvati informed her that the king had died because the queen had broken her fast by watching a false moon. However, when the queen asked her for forgiveness, the goddess granted her the boon that the king would be revived. But to achieve this, she would have to undertake the Karva Chauth fast under strict rituals, then only her husband would come top life. Thus, by strictly following all the rituals of Karva chauth, queen Veeravati relivened her husband.

The 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 Shivas guidance under similar circumstances, she had been advised to observe the fast of Karva Chauth. Draupadi followed the instructions and observed the fast with all its rituals. Consequently, the Pandavas were able to overcome their problems. On this day, fasting women listen to Karva Chauth legends with rapt attention.

The Story Of Satyavan and Savitri
There is the story of the Satyavan and Savitri. When Lord Yama, came to procure Satyavan’s soul, Savitri begged him to grant him life. When he refused, she stopped eating and drinking and Yamraj finally relented. He granted her, her husband’s life. To this day, Karva Chauth is celebrated with great faith and belief.

The Legend Of Karva
According to another legend, a woman named Karva was deeply devoted to her husband. One day while bathing, he was caught by a crocodile. Karva came running and bound the crocodile with a cotton yarn. She then went to Yama, the Lord of the death, and requested him to send the offending crocodile to hell. When Yama refused, she threatened to curse him. Afraid of the power of a devoted wife, Yama readily accepted and sent the crocodile to Yamalok or hell, and blessed Karva’s husband with long life.

Origin and Significance

The fast of Karva Chauth is of particular importance to Hindu women as they believe it ensures the well-being, prosperity and longevity of their husbands. The origin of this festival was based on a very sweet and noble idea. Though this idea has lost its true sense as today the whole outlook of this festival has changed. Long time back, girls used to get married at a very early stage, and had to go and live with their in-laws in other villages. If she had any problems with her husband or in-laws, she would have no one to talk to or seek support from. Her own parents and relatives would be quite far and unreachable. There used to be no telephones, buses and trains long ago.

A fast kept for the well being of her husband

Thus the custom started that, at the time of marriage, when bride would reach her in-laws, she would befriend another woman there who would be her friend or sister for life. It would be like god-friends or god-sisters. Their friendship would be sanctified through a small Hindu ceremony right during the marriage. Once the bride and this woman had become god-friends or god-sisters, they would remain so all their lives and recognize the relation as such. They would also treat each other like real sisters.

During any difficulty later in life, involving even the husband or in-laws, these women would be able to confidently talk or seek help from each other. Thus Karva Chauth started as a festival to celebrate this friendship (relationship) between the once-brides and their god-friends (god-sisters). Praying and fasting for the sake of husband came later and is secondary. It was probably added, along with other mythical tales, to enhance the festival. In any case, husband would always be associated with this festival, because the day of starting this holy friendship between two god-sisters was essentially the day of bride’s marriage to him. Thus praying and fasting for him by his wife during a celebration of her relationship with the god-friend would be quite logical.

Thus, originally Karva Chauth is once a year festival to renew and celebrate the relationship between god-friends (god-sisters). It had a tremendous social and cultural significance once when world lacked the ways to communicate and move around easily.

Karwa Chauth Celebrations :

The day of Karva Chauth is celebrated mostly amongst the entire North Indian community settled either in India and other parts of the world. The most important aspect of this day is that a dawn to dusk fast is undertaken by the North Indian ladies and seeing the moon they finally break the fast. The fast is unique perhaps because nowhere in the world does a wife go without food or water just to pray for the longevity and well-being of her husband.

In modern day, with all the trappings of commercialization attached, Karva Chauth, the big fasting day has turned into a full-fledged event. The event is growing bigger with each passing day. Karva Chauth celebrations promise to grow bigger with each passing year. The Halwais, the Mehendi and Churiwallis have traditionally been busy on this auspicious day. But joining the bandwagon in recent times are the beauty parlour owners, the event managers and the restaurant owners.

Karva Chauth special eateries are gearing up for now. Cashing in on the popularity of ‘eating out’ most restaurants have special menus for this special day. No wonder almost every happening-eating joint around town is offering plenty of attractive options to choose from. Various clubs organize special events on this festive day with various stalls, bumper Tambola and even a dance competition. With so much feasting and fun added to it, fasting had never been so good before.

First Karwa Chauth:

First Karwa ChauthKarva Chauth is of great importance for married Hindu women but the festival is seen as a big occasion for women undertaking their first Karva Chauth fast after marriage. A newly married woman is given utmost importance by relatives and immediate family members when she observes her first fast for the long life of her husband. She is showered with blessings of blissful married life and loads of Karva Chauth gifts especially by her mother-in-law.

First Sargi
Mother-in-law prepares an elaborate Sargi (the pre-dawn Karva Chauth meal) when her daughter-in-law observes her first fast. She wakes up much early to prepare a sumptuous and lavish meal inclusive of sweets and other delicacies for daughter-in-law. Saasu-ma blesses her bahu with an ashirvaad of ‘Sada Suhagan Raho’ which means, ‘may you always enjoy a blissful married life’ when the latter touches her feet with reverence. She also presents her daughter-in-law with gifts, which may be a piece of jewelry or a heavy saree on the first Karva Chauth.

First Baya
Baya is a gift given to a daughter’s mother-in-law on the occasion of Karva Chauth. It usually consists of salted mathris, dry-fruits and some gifts. This Baya is a little more special when the daughter is observing her first Karva Chauth. Mothers of newly wed daughters bring gifts for all her family members. Some utensils are also included in the baya which are to be distributed amongst women who join the newly-wed on her first Karva Chauth Puja.

Elaborate Puja Preparations
Elaborate preparations are made for the customary evening Karva Chauth Puja in a family where a newly wed daughter-in-law observes her first Karva-Chauth. Married female relatives are invited to participate in the puja. The newly married woman often wears her bridal lehanga or a heavy saree and adorns herself with lot of jewelry and make up. After the puja ceremony she seeks blessings for happy married life from all elder women. The newly wed woman distributes mathris or utensils amongst the ladies that were a part of baya.

Gifts from Husband
Husband of the woman who observes her first Karva Chauth feel proud and great to see her better half observing such a rigorous fast for him. He gets overwhelmed with love and respect for her wife and pampers her with loads of Karva Chauth gifts. These days husbands also takes her wife out for a dinner to save her from the drudgery of day’s cooking work.
Tradition of Fast

In Hindu Dharam, the goal of life is Self-realization or the attainment of God and fasting has been a much sought after path to attain this. All Hindu fast have a deep spiritual and religious significance. According to Hindu scriptures, fasting helps create an attachment with the God by establishing a harmonious relationship between the body and the soul. This is thought to be imperative for the well being of a human being as it nourishes both his/her physical and spiritual demands.

Karwa Chauth Fast

‘Karwa Chauth’ is a ritual of fasting observed by married Hindu women seeking the longlife, well-being and prosperity of their husbands. Married women keep a strict fast and do not take even a drop of water. It is the most important and difficult fast observed by married Hindu women. It begins before sunrise and ends only after offering prayers and worshiping the moon at night. No food or water can be taken after sunrise. The fast is broken once the moon is sighted and rituals of the day have been performed. At night when the moon appears, women break their fast after offering water to the moon.

Importance Of Fasting

Hindus believe it is not easy to unceasingly pursue the path of spirituality in one’s daily life. Therefore a worshiper must strive to impose restrains on to get the mind focused. And one form of restraint is fasting. However, fasting is not only a part of worship, but a great instrument for self-discipline too. It is a training of the mind and the body to endure and harden up against all hardships, to persevere under difficulties and not give up.

Medicative Properties

The ancient Indian medical system of Ayurveda sees the basic cause of many diseases as the accumulation of toxic materials in the digestive system. Regular cleansing of toxic materials keeps one healthy. By fasting, the digestive organs get rest and all body mechanisms are cleansed and corrected. A complete fast is good for heath, and the occasional intake of warm lemon juice during the period of fasting prevents the flatulence.

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