Karva Chauth is an amalgamation of two words, the literal meaning of which amounts to, “Karva” meaning an earthen pot of water and “Chauth” meaning the fourth. “Chauth” or the fourth day is a reference to the auspicious day that falls on the fourth day called the “Krishna Paksh” or the dark fortnight in the month of “Kartik”.
In the month of “Kartika”, four days following the full moon or “Purnima”, the Hindu women celebrate Karva Chauth. This festival is generally celebrated in Northern India and being a Hindu festival it is in accordance to the lunisolar calendar. The lunisolar calendar as the name suggests accounts for the astronomical positions of the moon and the sun, it also functions as an important calendar to mark the auspicious dates and occasions.
During Karva Chauth the married women keep a fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and the long life of their spouse. Widely celebrated in the sates of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, Karva Chauth is also known as “Atla Tadde” in Andhra Pradesh.
The Stories of Karva Chauth
Queen Veervati and her Seven Brothers
There once was a queen named Veervati who had seven brothers. She was loved dearly by them, she being the only sister and the youngest among them. She soon got married and left for her husband’s house. It was a sad farewell.
After a year, on the day of Karva Chauth, following the tradition, the queen returned to her house. She observed fast for her husband’s long life, as per the ritual. Her brothers were exhilarated to have her back but were worried to see her hungry. They pleaded with her to at least have one meal with them but she refused, saying that she would only eat once she saw the moon.
The brothers unable to see their hungry sister in distress devised a plan. They installed a mirror in a Pipal tree, resembling the moon. The queen was convinced that it was the moon and broke her fast. Her first morsel of food caused her to sneeze, she found a hair in the second morsel and by the time she ate her third morsel she got the news of her husband’s, the King’s death.
Devastated by the news, Veervati cried all night. Seeing her distress a Goddess appeared to this devoted wife and asked her to undergo “Karva Chauth” fast again. This time Veervati performed the fast diligently and Yama, the God of Death was compelled to grant the King his life again.
Mahabharata
The practice of Karva Chauth can be traced way before the popular Indian epic, Mahabharata. In this the story goes, that Draupadi, the wife of the five Panadavas observed Karva Chauth. Once, Arjuna went to the Nilgiris to undergo penance, however, in his absence the rest of the Pandavas faced numerous difficulties and adversaries. Draupadi could no longer see her husband’s dilemma, so she prayed to Lord Krishna for his help.
Lord Krishna offered his advice by telling Draupadi that in a similar circumstance, Lord Shiva had advised Goddess Parvati to observe Karva Chauth as a solution to her problems. Draupadi after careful consideration of Lord Krishna’s advice observed Karva Chauth and this effectively ended the trials and tribulations the Pandavas were going through.
A Woman named Karva
Karva Chauth is rightfully symbolic of a devoted wife named Karva. Karva had undivided love and devotion for her husband, which in return had given her “shakti” or super power.
Legend has it that the husband of Karva was taking a river side bath, when he was caught by a crocodile, Karva using her super natural prowess tied the crocodile with cotton yarn and asked Yama or the God of Death to banish the crocodile to hell. Yama was obliged to comply as he feared the “shakti” of a devoted wife. Eventually, the crocodile was sent to hell and her husband was saved.
Satyavan and Savitri
Legend has it there once was a woman called Savitri, whose husband died and Yama, the God of Death came to claim his soul. Savitri pleaded to Yama to let her husband live, but Yama refused. However, after seeing her insistence and persuasion, Yama offered her any one wish except the life of her husband.
Savitri wisely wished to have children and Yama granted her wish. Savitri being a devoted wife would not allow any other man to touch her. This posed a problem and now Yama had no option but to return her husband from death.
Celebration and Rituals of Karva Chauth
The preparation for Karva Chauth begins a day before the actual day of Karva Chauth. The local shops cater to the need of the hour by putting on a festive look and displaying the essentials.
Women buy items such as cosmetics, jewellery and they also purchase the much needed puja items such as the “Karva” lamps, “Matthi”, henna and the customised “thaali” or plate for puja.
During Karva Chauth, the married women in Punjab wake up before sunrise and eat their food and drink. Women include “sargi” as a necessary item in their pre dawn meal. This traditional item called “sargi’ is usually given by the mother-in-law to her daughter-in-law and is also prepared by her if the daughter-in-law lives with her.
Accompanying “sargi” is another essential item called “fenia” which is basically a kind of vermicelli, popular in the areas in and around North India and Pakistan.
In areas such as Uttar Pradesh, the women primarily consume soot feni with milk and sugar. This is considered beneficial as it helps the celebrants stay hydrated during the entire fasting period.
In traditional practices, the women who are fasting do not perform any household tasks during Karva Chauth. The women adorn themselves with jewellery and make up, they apply “mehendi” or henna and meet friends and relatives.
The celebrants also buy new clothes such as sarees and lehengas. In some states the fasting women prefer their traditional attire during Karva Chauth. In certain parts of India among women, a tradition of exchanging painted clay pots filled with ribbons, bangles, cosmetics, scarves and home-made sweets or candies is practised.
In rural areas since Karva Chauth immediately follows their crop harvest festival, this day is considered a favourable occasion to exchange gifts and pleasantries. The maternal parents also send gifts to their married daughters and their children during Karva Chauth.
A “women only” celebration is held in the evening of the Karva Chauth. The women participating in this ceremony wear only orange, red and gold coloured clothing as these colours are considered auspicious and lucky for the wearer.
The women sit in a circle with their puja thali and narrate sacred Karva Chauth stories, the Chatakminar and his “kheer” story.
Chatakminar and his Kheer:
Chatakminar is an incarnation of Lord Ganesh as a saint. Chatakminar went to a small village with a few grains of rice tied in a cloth and a small bowl filled with milk.
Inside this village Chatakminar asked the villagers to help him make “kheer” or rice pudding. However the villagers did not comply with Chatakminar’s request and turned him down.
Disappointed Chatakminar reached the outskirts of the village where he came across the house of an old woman. This old woman was kind and agreed to help him prepare “kheer”.
“Go inside and get me the largest vessel you can” implied Chatakminar. She responded to this saying that she was poor and did not possess any large vessel except for a few basic utensils for cooking
Chatakminar politely asked her to have faith in him and insisted that she go inside and look for the big vessel. She gave in and to her pleasant surprise, she found a big, gleaming copper vessel in the kitchen. She realised that this was no ordinary man. Nevertheless she took the copper bowl outside and as Chatakminar poured the milk from his little bowl, the copper vessel miraculously filled to the brim.
Now the old lady proceeded to untie Chatakminar’s small pouch of rice but as she put her hands in it, she realised it was as deep as a sack.
Chatakminar asked her to keep the “kheer” boiling and in the meantime, invite the villagers to eat some of the “kheer” they were preparing. The old woman was bemused but did as she was instructed. She asked her daughter to watch the boiling “kheer” and went to call the villagers. The villagers were surprised at the invitation knowing that she was poor, yet they complied out of curiosity.
The villagers, however, reached the old woman’s home and ate their fill, the huge copper vessel satiated the hunger of the entire village and there was still a lot of leftover “kheer”. Chatakminar then instructed the old woman to take the vessel of leftover “kheer” and to bury it in her backyard. Chatakminar further asked her to dig the vessel out the next morning and assured her that she would find gold instead of the leftover “kheer”.
The daughter after overhearing this conversation was overcome by greed. Instead of waiting till the morning she dug it up at night intending to keep all the gold for herself. To her dismay, she found rocks instead of gold in the vessel and when she returned home, she saw that all the pots and pans in the house had also turned to stone.
The daughter on seeing this cried inconsolably. Hearing her daughter cry the mother rushed outside and became aware of the mishap. She then ran after the wise saint and finally met him.
The old woman told him her dilemma. Chatakminar tells her that her daughter had acted out of immense greed and had accordingly paid the price. So Chatakminar asked the old lady to return home and to bury the vessel again and wait till the next morning. She humbly agreed and was rewarded with abundant gold in the morning.
“Fera”
One has to take note that during the narration of this story along with many others, there are frequent pauses and in this pause the women sing the Karva Chauth songs. While singing these Karva Chauth puja songs the women also perform, what is known as “fera”, which is the custom of passing the puja thalis among themselves.
The Karva Chauth Song:
The puja thali in the hands of women participants contain “Baya”, which is money, sweets and a small earthen pitcher. This sacred song goes on for six circles or “fera” and is performed until the plate has been passed onto each hand and everyone has their own “thali” with them eventually.
However, there is a different song for the seventh circle and in this the plates or “thali” are rotated anti clockwise.
The first song for the six circles (fera) is as follows:
“Veero Kudiye Karvara, Sarv Suhangan Karvara, Aye Katti teri naa, Kumbh chakra feri naa, Aar pair payeen naa, Ruthda maniyen naa, Suthra jagayeen naa, Vee veera Kuriye Karvara, Ve Sari Suhagan Karvara.”
These lines generally infer to the practices deemed taboo for a woman observing fast during Karva Chauth, which include activities such as weaving cloth, pleading and or attempting to please others and awakening any person who is sleeping.
For the seventh circle the song changes to the following:
“Veero Kudiya Karvara, Sarv Suhagan Karvara, Aye Katti naya teri neee, Kumbh Chrakhra feri bhee, Suthra jagayen bhee, Ve veero kuriye Karvara, Ve Sarv Suhagan Karvara.”
The above stanzas generally imply the lifting of all restrictions imposed during the day as the fast comes to an end.
In places such as Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the women exchange water or “Karvas” among themselves. In other places like Rajasthan, “Dhapi ki Ni Dhapi?” a ritualistic question is asked before exchanging water seven times.
“Dhapi ki Ni Dhapi?” as a question means, “are u satisfied?” to which the subject replies, “Jal se Dhapi, Suhag se na Dhapi.” which implies that she is satisfied with water but she is not satiated from the love of her husband.
Another ritual followed by others in Uttar Pradesh is the worshipping of mother earth which is “Gaur Mata” in their local lingo. In this type of ritual the women take a little bit of soil, sprinkle it with water and then apply kumkum on it.
After this they worship it as an idol manifestation of mother earth. In places such as Rajasthan, the idol manifestation of “Gaur Mata” was made using earth and cow dung but the recent trend of worshipping mother earth has shifted to the idol worship of Parvati.
Stories of Karva Chauth including narratives of Shiv, Parvati and Ganesha are passed on by the elder women to the younger ones during this occasion. Each woman has to light a lamp or “diya” during the Karva Chauth story.
In Uttar Pradesh usually a priest or the elder indulges in the narration of the story of “Beejabeti” or “Veervati”. After the story sessions the women get involved in making mud idols of Goddess Parvati, Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesha.
These idols are then decorated with colourful clothing and accessories after which the exchanging of “Karva” resumes. While they exchange the “Karva” seven times, the following song has to be sung:
“Sada suhagan karve lo, pati ki pyari karve lo, saat bhaiyon ki behen karve lo, vart karni karve lo, saas ki pyaari ka karve lo”
The lines roughly translate to the offering of “Karva” to the woman who would never lose her husband, to the doting husband’s wife, to the sister of seven brothers, the women fasting on Karva Chauth and to the mother-in-law’s beloved daughter-in-law.
“Arka” or water is offered by the wife to the Moon God known as “Som” or “Chandra” and this lunar deity is believed to bestow his blessings unto the women. The women while offering water pray for the well being ad long life of their husbands.
At this stage, the woman is believed to have gained immense spiritual strength through her fasting. So much so that she is believd to be stronger than the God of Death, “Yama”. The women of Rajasthan, during this time chant the following lines;
“Like the gold necklace and the pearl bracelet, just like the moon, may my suhag (husband) always shine brightly.”
Once the ceremony is over the husband has to take the water from the thali (plate) and has to give it to his wife. This is the first sip of water the woman has taken the entire day, which effectively breaks her fast too. Now the wife can eat a complete meal.
Conclusively, India is a diverse nation with multi-faceted customs and traditions. Hence, in some cultural circles, not just a married woman but an unmarried woman can also observe Karva Chauth. The unmarried girls follow all the traditions of Karva Chauth and pray for the well being and longevity of their “would be” husbands or fiancé.
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