Karva Chauth
The Krishna paksha Chaturthi of Kartik, kept by married women for the long life of their husbands — and by many unmarried women for a good match. The fast is nirjala: it begins with sargi eaten before dawn, and not even water is taken until the moon has risen. The karva, the small spouted pot that gives the vrat its name, and the chhalni through which first the moon and then the husband are seen, sit at the centre of the evening ritual. The day closes with arghya to the moon, after which the husband offers the first water and the first morsel.
Next date: 2026-10-29
vidhi
Wake well before dawn and eat the sargi sent by your mother-in-law — pheni, fruit, dry fruits and sweets — finishing before sunrise, and take the sankalp of a nirjala vrat until moonrise.,Bathe, do the solah shringar and wear red or bridal clothes; apply mehndi a day earlier if you keep that custom.,In the evening, set the puja place with the traditional Chauth Mata picture, or images of Gauri, Ganesh, Shiv and Kartikeya, and fill the karva with water, placing a little jaggery or wheat on its lid.,Sit with the other women of the family or mohalla for the katha; the karvas are passed around the circle — the pheri — while the traditional song is sung.,Give the baayna — mathri, sweets, a suit or sari and some dakshina — to your mother-in-law or an elder suhagin, and touch her feet.,When the moon rises, place a lit diya in the chhalni, look at the moon through it, and offer arghya from the karva.,Look at your husband through the same chhalni; he then offers you water and the first morsel, and only then is the fast broken.,Eat the evening meal together, and keep aside a portion of the food for a cow or someone in need.katha
Veervati, the only sister of seven brothers, kept her first Karva Chauth at her parents' home. By evening the nirjala fast had left her faint, and her brothers could not bear it. One climbed a peepal tree and held a lamp behind a chhalni, and the others told her the moon had risen. She offered arghya to that false moon and ate — and news came almost at once that her husband lay dying. On her way to him she met Parvati herself, who told her what had actually broken: not her strength, but the vrat. She was to keep Karva Chauth again, with full vidhi and unshaken faith. Veervati did — waiting this time for the true moon — and her husband was given back to her whole. This is why the katha is heard before every moonrise: the fast answers only to the moon itself, however late it climbs, and no reflection, no lamp, and no kindness offered in its place can complete it.mantra
[object Object]samagri
An earthen or metal karva with its lid, and water to fill it,A chhalni, and a small diya to place in it at moonrise,A picture or wall image of Chauth Mata, or murtis of Gauri, Ganesh, Shiv and Kartikeya,Solah shringar items — sindoor, bindi, mehndi, bangles, mahavar,Roli, akshat, chandan, flowers, dhoop and a ghee lamp,Sargi from the mother-in-law — pheni, fruit, dry fruits, sweets,Baayna — mathri, sweets, a suit or sari, and dakshina,Halwa-puri or kheer for the bhogUpcoming dates
- 2026-10-29