India celebrates many festivals. All these festivals are celebrated with great excitement, joy and happiness. People celebrate most of these festivals together.
It does not matter a festival is actually of which religion. These many number of festivals are not celebrated in any other country in the world.
The festivals are celebrated for a particular person or people who have contributed towards their religion or for a victory or for harvest or to remember the bond of different relations.
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What is Karva Chauth?
Karva Chauth is a festival in which married woman fast the entire day for their husband. On this day, they pray for the good health, long and prosperous life for their husbands.
The fourth day of the month of Kartik as per the Hindu calendar after the full moon is celebrated as Karva Chauth.
This year Karva Chauth will be celebrated on 28th of October. Today, even the unmarried girls celebrate this festival and keep fasting.
It is said that if they do this they will get a good husband. So, the unmarried girls on this day pray to God that they wish they have a good husband.
Karva Chauth is celebrated all over the country but is famous mostly in the northern and western parts of the country. It is known by different names everywhere. This festival is similar to Teej.
History of Karva Chauth
There are many stories or legends behind the celebration of the festival of Karva Chauth. There was a woman called Karva. She was very faithful and loyal to her husband. One day a crocodile caught her husband when he was taking a bath.
When Karva came to know about this, she rushed and saw a crocodile there. She surrounded the crocodile with the help of a cotton yarn.
She asked the God of death, Yama to help her by sending the crocodile to hell. But he turned down to her. He did not accept to help.
She told him if he would not do this, she would curse him. He became scared from her power. So, Yama agreed to send the crocodile to hell. Then, he gave blessings to her husband for a long life.
There was a beautiful queen. Her name was Veervati. She had seven brothers and was their only sister. She got married to a king at an early age.
After her marriage, she came back to her house for her first Karva Chauth. She kept the fast strictly but after one point she could not bear it. She wished for the moon to come soon so that she could eat and drink properly.
This condition of hers could not be seen her brothers. So, they thought of a plan. They created a false moon by taking mirrors and reflecting them.
Veervati looked at this reflection and thought that the moon came. So, she broke her fast and ate. After this she had her dinner and then she got a news about the death of her husband.
She became sad and cried a lot. She was told by Goddess Parvati to keep the fast strictly for the second time.
This would bring her husband to life again. Veervati kept the fast again strictly and performed all the rituals and finally got her husband back.
Celebration of Karva Chauth
The festival of Karva Chauth is a very important festival for all the married women. On this day, the married women fast for their husbands.
They pray to the Gods and Goddesses for the good health, long and prosperous life for their husbands. On the day of Karva Chauth, they wake up at four or five in the early morning before sunrise.
They eat the sargi made by the mothers in law. The sargi includes fruits, sweets, dry fruits and some cooked food.
It is important to remember that the sargi does not include heavy meals or any type of oily food which will make them lazy the entire day.
Sargi helps them to remain lively and fit the whole day till they break their fast and eat something. They do not eat or drink anything the whole day.
After eating the sargi, they pray for some time and continue with their work and prepare for the celebration of Karva Chauth. They gather together pray and sing songs.
On this festive day, the married women get gifts for their parents too. In the evening when the moon comes, the women dress beautiful similarly like on the day of their marriage.
Then they look at the moon through a sieve. After looking at the moon with the same sieve they see their husbands.
After this ritual, the husbands break their wives fast by making them drink water and eat a sweet. Then she takes his blessings and all of them eat together.
At the present time even the husbands accompany their wives in keeping the fast.
Even they pray for the wives that they have a long and prosperous life. Nowadays, even unmarried girls perform all these rituals, wishing for a good husband.
The festival of Karva Chauth is becoming famous through movies and various television serials.
Importance of Karva Chauth
The festival of Karva Chauth is very important for all the married women. They fast other days too but this day is the most important one.
It is important as they get an opportunity to pray and give good wishes for their husbands. Nowadays, even the husbands fast for their wives and pray for their good life.
The festival shows the bond of love between them. Karva Chauth was celebrated very differently before. The concept of fasting for the husband started much later.
Before, when a girl was married another woman would become her god-sister.
This god-sister would be there with her always to listen to her problems and help her. This was started because after a girl’s marriage she had no one to share her feelings how she used to do in her own family.
This is the reason why all the women of the house celebrate this festival together. So, Karva Chauth became an important day to celebrate this bond and increase their love and togetherness.
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