Karwa Chauth

Kundli.me · Festivals A wife's fast for her husband's long life. 18 October 2027 · 352 days to go 👉

18 October 2027

When is it? Monday 352 days to go The date follows the tithi in the panchang; when a tithi shortens or lengthens, some places keep the festival a day earlier or later.

Why it is celebrated Karwa Chauth is kept on the fourth day of the waning fortnight of Kartik, and it is one of the few vrats in the calendar that is defined by two objects rather than by a temple. The first is the karwa — the small earthen pot with a spout that gives the day its name, filled with water, and used for the arghya offered to the moon.

The story and belief More than one katha is read on this day, and which one a family reads is usually decided by which book has been in the house longest. The best known is the story of Veeravati (in some tellings Karva, and the name of the day is read from her).

The story and belief · continued She was the only sister of seven brothers, greatly loved, and she kept her first Karwa Chauth after marriage at her parents’ home.

The story and belief · continued By evening she was faint with the fast, and her brothers — unable to watch her suffer — lit a fire behind a peepal tree, or in some versions held up a mirror or a cloth with a lamp behind it, so that a false moon appeared. They told her the moon had risen. She broke her fast on that.

Main rituals • Sargi before sunrise • Take the sankalp • Prepare the puja place in the evening • Worship Gauri, Ganesha, Shiva and Kartikeya • Read the katha

Across India • Rajasthan — women dress in the poshak and lehariya, the karwa is decorated, and songs specific to the region are sung through the afternoon. • The east and the south — the same tithi is generally kept as Sankashti Chaturthi or Karaka Chaturthi, a Ganesha vrat also broken after seeing the moon. Customs differ from home to home and region to region; these are the main forms, not a rule everywhere.

Often asked What if I fall ill or feel faint during the fast? Sit or lie down and take water. Do not wait to see whether it passes. A vrat set aside to protect the body is not a broken vrat — the tradition has always exempted the ill, the pregnant, the nursing and the elderly, and no benefit is held to come from a fast that damages health.

Often asked · answer continued Say plainly to yourself that you are ending it, complete the puja and the arghya in whatever form you can, and keep the sankalp for next year. If symptoms are more than mild — chest pain, repeated vomiting, confusion — that is a doctor, not a question of vrat.

Key facts

Karwa Chauth Tithi — Kartik Krishna Chaturthi Deities — Gauri and Ganesha, Shiva and Kartikeya; and the Moon, to whom arghya is given Read the full guide

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