Once married, Karwa chauth is one of the most important festival for a married woman. On the karwa chauth day a newly wed bride gets closer to her in-laws along with attempting to increase the life of her husband!! This fast is particularly important for the Indian /Hindu women as they believe it brings love and prosperity along with the well being of their husbands.
As the name suggest Karwa meaning “Pot“ and chauth meaning “fourth”. This festival is celebrated on the fourth day of the full moon in the Karthik month of the Hindu calendar. So you will see a lot of women shopping for stuff in the market in these days!!
New clothes, new bangles , cosmetics are some items which your mother in law gives you on this day as a token of love, In return you gift her something. These days karwa chauth is very social. So it’s more like all women gather for the pooja (Ceremony). Get all dressed up, songs, music, dance and just have a good time. So here’s a day in the life of a newly wed bride on the karwa chauth day! It’s her first karwa chauth and it carries a lot of significance.
Early morning.
Get up before sunrise. Mother –in law’s give daughter in laws sargi which includes things which she has to eat before the day starts . This is a very difficult fast as it starts from the sunrise and women eat only after seeing the moon at night. So early morning they can eat these things and be prepared for the day. They do not take food or water the whole day.
Getting ready:
Women apply mehndi (Henna) on their hands and get dressed like a new bride. Often when its first karwa chauth women wear their wedding lehenga or heavy sarees. They want to look their best. After getting dressed they get a gift from the Mother-in-law.
The Pooja in the evening.
After getting dressed the daughter in law gives the BAYA (Gift) which is like a bag of goodies which she gets from her mother to the mother in law. It contains fruits mathri and a sari/suit.
Before the sunset all the women in the society/locality get in the building or the location decided for the pooja. The pooja area is decorated and symbolic goddess Parvati are placed there. After the pooja women get together and perform a pooja of the moon and look at the husbands like in the movies 😛 The husband then gifts his wife a gift and feeds her with a sweet .
In Modern days karwa chauth has become like a big festival. Along with the mithaiwalas, mehndiwalas , eating joints ,now even online shopping portals have a dedicated sections for karwa chauth gifts. You might want to check www.fnp.com for sargi,baya,karwa chauth gifts. Even the beauty parlors have packages for karwa cauth related grooming!!
So all you ladies out there, theknotstory wishes you a happy karwa chauth and enjoy the day. Also do not forget to take a special gifts from your husband on the day.
P.S. For those who do not believe in this and absolutely want the husband to fast for you in order to make you fast on this day, I read an interesting article by shobha de ! Here’s a “link “. I always love her style of writing. May be a reality check for some of us! No enforcing if you should fast or not.
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