Karva Chauth

 

In olden days, the wives of Indian warriors used to fast and pray on the fourth day of the dark fortnight in the month of Kartik (October and November) every year for the safe return of their spouses. They called this day Karva Chauth or Karaka Chaturthi. Karwa or Karaka means a clay vase used for offering water to the deity: it refers to a religious service known as Arghya. The Chaturthi or Chauth denotes the fourth day. Married women observe a one-day fast for the long and happy lives of their husbands. Parents present their married daughters with gifts and freshly harvested grains.

Celebrants paint pictures of Lord Shiva, Mata Gauri, Ganesh, the Sun, the Moon, household articles and karawa on the walls; and in front of it they decorate the floor with rangoli in advance. They take feni and milk on the eve of the festival, as a pre-dawn meal known as sargi so that they may spend the day of fasting without water. The fast begins at dawn and ends at the visibility of moon in the evening and during this period they abstain from both food and water. Fasting women spend the day applying menhadi patterns, visiting friends and relations, exchanging bangles, ribbons, cloths and other such items in clay pots. In the evening, they look at the moon through a sieve. When the moon becomes visible, a group of the participants sits around the rangoli each with a thali i.e. pot containing an earthen lamp, Sindoor, incense sticks and rice. An older woman tells Karva Chauth stories. The listeners listen to a story holding flower petals and rice in their hands and at every interval they lay them on the altar. Afterwards they sing religious songs together. It is the festival of love between husband and wife.

A festival of this nature called Atla Tadde is celebrated in the delta regions of the Godavari and Krishna rivers in Andhra Pradesh by married women for the long lives of their husbands and unmarried women for a desired husband.

Greetings

The pleasantest part of love is the shade of being caring; and part of beauty is the book behind the eyes. When they caste spell, breath begins to leave fragrance; heart, to play music; and mind, to dance. May the flower of love between you two keep smiling for long! Happy Karva Chauth!

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Your love, when away,

Sends you, too, far away –

For you are then alone

Without the company of your own.

May Gauri Mayi make your love sweeter and deeper with each passing Karwa Chauth!

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The weather this winter was brutal –

Snows, heavy hail and the frozen sky –

If not for the warmth of your love,

O my love, I wouldn’t have survived.

May our love story be as cherished as the moon on the Karwa Chauth night!

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Each of your smiles adds a moment to my life;

Grave and grim your face takes away my days.

Look! As the Moon smiles, so you sound bright.

Happy Karwa Chauth to my strength, my love, my moon, my forever!

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While I sat picturing a piece of the sweet past –
Afraid I was lest something should my dreams wash –
The eyes creaked and the present barged in on my fancy and me.
Now I am what nobody would like to be.
You are always in my heart and I am missing you very much on this Karwa Chauth.
May the blessings of Shiv and Shiva grant you a long and happy life!

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If there would be no charm

Of returning home in the evening,

Nor would the flowers of my garden form

A smile for me in the morning –

My world would then be a desolate landscape.

You are my strength, my love, and my forever.

Wish you a Happy Karwa Chauth!

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Fondness finds a path

Through a fallen rock.

Your love completes me and makes my life beautiful.

On this Karava Chauth, to Gauri Shiv I am grateful!

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Know about your religious festivals, national holidays, and international days, each explained in only one or a maximum of three paragraphs. Each chapter contains poems for best wishes and motivational quotes as well. Shop the digital or physical edition of "Festivals with Poetic Greetings" online.