Karwa Chauth is a famous festival primarily from North India in which women observe a complete fast dedicated to their husbands’ health and long lives. The Karwa Chauth fasting date in the year 2024 is November 1st.
This special event is observed through a day of absolute fasting and abstinence from before dawn until moon sighting, especially for women. This is the “Sargi” which is offered before dawn and is customarily cooked by the mothers-in-law of the newlywed brides to offer them energy for the day.
Over and above, the festival holds a lot of traditional features and passes messages of love, faithfulness, and partnership between couples. Among the possible roots, it is about the ancient Indian legend that relates to the history of the celebration and describes the efforts of a woman, who fasts for her husband and saves him from death, illustrating the idea of women’s devotion. In the evening, women wear colourful traditional clothes and perform puja offering prayers for their husband’s well-being.
As soon as it is night, they wait for the moon to rise to break the fast. Even though it has an aspect of fasting, Karwa Chauth is about the togetherness of women in celebration of their culture.
Karwa Chauth 2024: Date and Time
Are you observing the fast in Karwa Chauth this year? This page contains information on when to start the fast and the appropriate time to start it. You can also see other traditions that lie behind this day and which make it so lovely.
As you all probably know, this great feast of fasting is all about love and devotion and if you’ve been filled in on the significance, fasting may turn out to be all the more fun.
Karwa Chauth fasting will be held on October 20, Saturday of the year. It is generally observed on the fourth day of Krishna Paksha of the Hindu calendar followed by the Purnimanta calendar and the auspicious day is the same throughout the country. The date of Karwa Chauth is Sunday, October 20 this year, according to Drik Panchang. The Chaturthi Tithi commences at 6:46 am on October 20, 2024, to 4:16 am on October 21, 2024.
How to Perform the Karwa Chauth Puja?
Married women abstain from food and water for the entire day and breakfast after offering prayers for the long life of their husbands during Karwa Chauth puja. The ceremony starts with a pre-dawn meal, called ‘Sargi,’ which takes place before sunrise which is usually prepared by the mother-in-law and consists of healthy dishes. This meal keeps women going during the day as they have to fast from dawn till the next day.
Women come forward in the evening to perform puja, and they mostly prefer to wear ethnic dresses and ornaments. Puja includes placing a decorated thali, which has it sweets, diya (lamp), and water. With full zeal, the women bless themselves with Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva, slaughter prayers, and traditions leading unto Karwa Chauth.
At night, the same women look forward to the appearance of the moon so that they can break the fast. The wives look through a sieve at the moon and pray for the good health and wealth of their husbands, as icons of love. The puja also helps after marriage, inaugurates a new relationship of togetherness and enhances the togetherness between couples.
Story Behind The Festival
This festival has its origin from the ancient mythology of India and is known for a festival of love, sacrifice, and devotion. Among the most known stories amateur folklorists tend to describe is the one of a wife named Veeravati, who was the only girl in the family of seven brothers. But on the first Karwa Chauth that she had to celebrate, it became very evident that she wanted to observe the fast for her husband’s long life.
Her brothers, fearing for her safety over such berating, continued to fool her that the moon had risen when it was not there. Hearing her hunger, she took food contrary to the advice, and her husband died instantly.
Overwhelmed, she began to pray to goddess Parvati for the resurrection of her husband. Taken by her devotion, the goddess said that Veeravati should only observe the fast and sincerely in the next year.
When she did so, her husband came back to life again, and they were together once again. There is hardly a more inspiring and heartwarming story than this one, which is why Karwa Chauth is all about women’s love for their husbands.
6 Tips For A Successful Fast
Here are some tips for a successful Karwa Chauth fast:
- Prepare a Sargi: Have plenty of protein and water in your pre-dawn breakfast to keep you going in the day and well into the evening.
- Stay Hydrated: Ensure that you take a lot of water at night in readiness for the fasting period of the night.
- Keep Busy: People should participate in other activities such as cooking for a pooja, going out to meet the family, or doing a few household chores so as not to have much time to feel hungry.
- Dress Comfortably: There should be some basic dress code, yet comfortable dress should be maintained for participation in the rituals.
- Follow Rituals: To add meaning to the fast, confine yourself to puja and chant mantras with much ardour.
- Plan for Moon Sighting: Prepare a good site to observe the moon with adequate arrangements to join the breaking of the fast.
