The beauty of Karwa Chauth: Its Rituals

Every woman is a part of ‘ Shakti’, the goddess. Fasting(Vrat) is a kind of tapasya(deep meditation) through which the hidden powers are invoked. The Karwa Chauth vrat is one of the method of invoking the inner powers of woman. There are many rituals associated with this vrat. Following are the key rituals and some important points which should be kept in mind  –

1)The first Karwa Chauth should never be missed.

2)Never wakeup any other person

3)Not to use knife in kitchen.

4)Don’t put thread in the needle for sewing.

5)Donot make any agreement with annoyed person.

6)In a pre dawn meal(called sargi), 7 kinds of food has to be eaten.

7)A shape of crescent is drawn with Haldi(turmeric) on the wall (munder) and water is offered at the start of vrat.

8) Sargi(pre dawn meal) has to be prepared by mother in law.

9)The ‘sargi’ has to be consumed before sun rise.

10)The Evening pooja before the sun set is very significant

11)A thali(plate) consisting of sweets called “Baya” is prepared to be given to Mother in law.

12)Prepare a corner with the help of rangoli for pooja called “Chowk”

13)Place the deity in the centre of the chowk

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14)Then the ‘shakti’ is invoked by mantras in the deity.

15)Place Karwa(a small pitcher of clay) filled with water with the ‘Thaali’

16)All the women sit around the image and exchange the ‘thaali’ seven times.

17)Then comes  the sensitive time when an old lady re narrates the story of Karwa chauth, which has to be listened very carefully.

18) The’Thaali(baya)’ is offered to mother in law to seek blessings. This process is called “mansana”

19) In a house where a daughter in law give ‘Baya’ to mother in law , it is prohibited for a spouse(of daughter in law),her children or other male children of younger age to eat the things given in ‘Baya’.

20)After the pooja, at the moon rise first ardhya(water offering) has to be given to moon through the sieve. It is important to note that the fast has to be broken only after offering water to the moon. (As all Chaturthi fast is linked with moon as per blessings of Lord Ganesha)

21) Parikrama(turn full circle standing at one place) has to be done while breaking the fast.

22)The woman has to touch the feet of the husband and husband inturns blessed her by offering water in karwa to drink.

23) It is custom to cook unbroken pulse(sabut daal) and it is auspicious to prepare any thing which requires Kadai(a kind of utencil) after the fast. Its a mark of "barkat"

This marks the completion of fast.