How to Celebrate KARVACHAUTH!!

RiddhimaT · Jul 26, 2012

Hi,

I need to give a speech on "How do Indians celebrate Karvachauth festival" to a group of married NRI women.

I need to explain all the customs and rituals that are performed during the day. On a broader sense, it should include:

1) Fasting/ No fasting: Taking scenarios like, if pregnant or not well etc.
2) What to wear : Some compulsory accessories that should be worn like bindi, bangles, magalsutra etc.
3) Till what time to eat before keeping the fast.
4) What you give your mMother in law
5) What your mother in law gives you
6) Evening Prayer
7) What to do after moon rise?

If there is any other information too, please let me know.
Will look forward for your inputs.

Thanks a lot in advance!

cutemonster · Jul 26, 2012

hey dont mind , but if u dont know about karva chauth how come they choose you to give speech?

but i can share the tips which i know,
1. karva chauth is a popular festival in north india which is observed by hindu as well as sikh women, karva chauth comes from the word karva which is a earthen pot and chauth because the festival festival falls on the fourth day of the dark-fortnight, or krishna paksh, of the month of Kartik.
2.In punjab the festival holds importance for newly married women, the parents send lot of gifts which can include new dress , bangles and solah singar things.
The festival also helps in the bonding between mil and dil, early morning before the sunrises the woman keeping fast gets up , takes bath , and dresses up nicely , then she takes sargi, sargi is the traditional feast which is given by the mil . sargi includes dry fruits, fresh fruits and fenia which is a type of fine seeviya or vermecelli . also you can eat matthi and what ever you like. after this meal you cant eat or drink anything till the moon comes.A sargi contains sari, sindoor, bangles, bindi, mehendi, red ribbon, coconut, a gift and seviyan which is eaten in the morning of Karva Chauth.
3. In evening all the women in the area gather at one place , may be temple or any place, they wear their finest clothes and dress up like brides. then women sit in the circle with their thalis. one of the lady reads the story of karva chauth and then they do feri's which is passing around the thali seven times.
4. after the pooja women wait for moon to come and see the moon through a chalni and then see the face of their husband. they then seek blessings from elders and give some gift to their mil.
5.then the whole family sits together for a wonderful meal!!

ok now the points you asked
1. as far as i think fasting is not advised for women who r pregnant.
2. even some young unmarried girls keep fast just for fun to get a good husband ,i did , we break the fast by seeing the star only.
3.what to wear: mostly bridal finery, but sindoor , mehandi and red colour clothes are popular.
4. till what time to eat: before sunrises
5.what u give to ur mil: my mom always gave new dress and dry fruits and thats what i have seen in my family.
6. what ur mil gave: In first karva chauth usually it is a big gift like some gold or Jewellary, but usually people give some money as shagun or clothes and sweets and dry fruits.
7.evening prayers: its different in different regions. i can tell u about punjab but i have seen puja is different in UP and other northern areas.
in punjab women After sunset, with the sighting of the moon, the women go up to the terrace with their puja thalis, light deepak and through a sieve look at the moon while simultaneously offering water from the glass. They offer water and sweet mathri 7 times to the moon after saying a short prayer for the husband.

IN punjab the story of queen veeravati is followed its like as follows
A long time ago, there lived a beautiful princess by the name of Veeravati. When she grew up, she was married to a king. On the occasion of the first Karva Chauth after her marriage, she went to her parents house to do the vrat.

After sunrise, she observed a strict fast. However, Veeravati was very delicate and could not stand the rigours of fasting. By evening, Veeravati felt very weak, and fainted. Veeravati had seven brothers who loved her dearly. They couldn’t stand the plight of their sister and decided to end her fast. They made a fire at the nearby hill and asked their sister to see the glow. They assured her that it was the moonlight and since the moon had risen, she could break her fast.

However, the moment the gullible queen Veeravati ate her dinner, she received the news that her husband, the king, was dead. She was heartbroken and rushed to her husband’s palace. On the way, she met Shivji and Parvati Mata. Parvati Mata told her that her husband the king had died because she had broken her fast by watching a false moon. However, when
Veeravati asked her for forgiveness, Parvati Mata granted her the boon that her husband, the king would come to life but would be still very ill.

When the Veeravati reached the palace, she found the king lying unconscious with hundreds of needles inserted in his body. Each day she managed to remove one needle from the kihg’s body Next year, on the day of Karva Chauth, only one needle remained embedded in the body of the unconscious king.

The queen Veeravati observed a strict fast that day and when she went to the market to buy the karva for the puja, her maid removed the remaining needle from the king’s body. The king regained consciousness, and mistook the maid for his queen. When the real queen Veeravati returned to the palace, she was made to serve as a maid.

However, \/eeravati was true to her faith and religiously observed the Karva Chauth vrat. Once when the king was going to some other kingdom, he asked the real queen Veeravati (now turned maid) if she wanted anything. Veeravati asked for a pair of identical dolls. The king brought back the dolls for her.

The queen Veeravati always used to chant this song “Roli ki Goli ho gayi... Goli ki Roli ho gayi" (the queen has turned into a maid and the maid has turned into a queen). On being asked by the king as to why did she keep repeating that song, Veeravati narrated the entire story. The king repented and restored the queen Veeravati to her royal status. It was blessings of
Goddess Parvati and the queen's devotion and Her faith that won back her husband’s affection.

i hope my post helps u but i will say its a way the festival is celebrated in punjab please check other states also!

RiddhimaT · Jul 27, 2012

Hi,

I work for an NGO and they are having some US NRI's coming for a project to India and in an informal chit chat, they asked me to tell them about karvachauth , me being an Indian.
So it was a matter of knowing your culture more than practicising it.

I hope you understand and yes thanks for a good description...will surely be able to impress them