Karva Chauth !

Today is Karva Chauth festival and it is celebrate by Indian across the globe wherever they reside. Karva Chauth originated as a social and seasonal festival, but many mythical tales has been added to it later. Karva Chauth is the festival that holds a lot of significance for married Hindu women, who keep a fast for the long life of their husband, on this day. Though the basic aim behind the festival remains the same, the particular customs and rituals may vary a bit, depending on the region to which the women belong On Karva Chauth day married woman fast for long and happy life of her husband. The idea behind Karva Chauth is very sweet and noble. Earlier, girls sometimes barely teenagers used to get married, go and live with their in-laws in very remote villages. Everyone would be a stranger there for the new bride. In case she had any problems with her husband or in-laws, she would have no one to talk to or seek support from. Her own parents and relatives would be quite far and unreachable. Telephones, buses and trains were not heard of in those days. People had to walk almost a whole day to go from one place to other. Once the girl left her parent's home for in-laws, she might not be back before long. Thus the custom started that, at the time of marriage, when bride would reach her in-laws, she would be friend another woman there who would be her friend (kangan-saheli) or sister (dharam-behn) for life. It would be like god-friends or god-sisters. Their friendship would be sanctified through a small Hindu ceremony right during the marriage. The bride's friend would usually be of the same age (or slightly older), married into the same village (so that she would not go away) and not directly related to her in-laws (so there was no conflict of interest later). Emotionally and psychologically, it would be very healthy and comforting for the bride to have her own 'relative' near her. Once the bride and this woman had become god-friends or god-sisters, they would recognize their relation as such. They would treat each other like real sisters. During any issues later in life, involving even the husband or in-laws, these women would be able to confidently talk or seek help from each other. Moreover, the bride's parents would treat her friend just like their own daughter. Thus Karva Chauth started as a festival to celebrate this special bond of friendship between the brides and their god-friends. The notion of praying and fasting for the husband came much later and is secondary. It was probably added, along with other mythical tales, to enhance the meaning of the festival. In any case, husbands would always be associated with this festival, because the day of starting this friendship between two god-sisters was essentially the day of bride's marriage to him. Hence praying and fasting for him by his wife during a celebration of her relationship with the god-friend would seem quite logical. Lot of legends related to Karva Chauth fast is found and below are some of them -

• Karva was a woman deeply devoted to her husband. It so happened that her husband was caught by a crocodile while bathing. Karva came running and bound the crocodile with a cotton yarn. She then went to Yama and requested him to send the crocodile to hell. She threatened to curse him when Yama refused to do so. Afraid of the power of a devoted wife, Yama accepted and sent the crocodile to hell and blessed Karva's husband with long life.
• According to the legend of Satyavan and Savitri, when Lord Yama, came to procure Satyavan's soul, Savitri begged him to grant him life. When he refused, she stopped eating and drinking and Yamraj finally relented. He fulfilled her wishes, and granted her husbands life.
• Karva Chauth also has a story dating back to the pre-Mahabharata times. Draupadi used to observe this fast after her marriage. It so happened that once Arjun went to the Nilgiris for penance and in his absence, the rest of the Pandavas faced many problems. Draupadi asked Lord Krishna for help. The Lord reminded her about Goddess Parvati, who had sought Lord Shiva's guidance under similar circumstances and was advised to observe the fast of Karva Chauth. Draupadi followed the instructions and observed the fast with all its rituals and the Pandavas were able to overcome their problems.
• A beautiful girl Veeravati, the only sister of her seven loving brothers, got married to a king. On her first Karva Chauth, she went to her parents' house and a strict fast, waiting for the moon rise to break it. The seven brothers could not see their loving sister go hungry throughout the day. They decided to end her fast, by reflecting a mirror through peepal tree leaves and making her believe that it is moon. The sister fell for it and broke the fast. The moment she ate food, she got news of her husband's serious illness. After coming to know that her husband is not well, she rushed to her palace and on her way, met Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. It was them that she came to know that her brothers had shown her false moon and made her break her fast before moonrise. The queen asked for forgiveness and was granted the boon that the king would be revived only if she undertakes seven Karva Chauth fast strictly, following all the rituals. The queen agreed and strictly followed all the rituals of Karva Chauth the next seven times and got her husband back.

So Karva Chauth is the day when married women observe fast until moon not rise on that day and after moon visible they do pooja and end their fast and woman fast on that day for the long and happy life of her husband.