Women celebrate Karwa Chauth across the country with fervour

dynamitenews.com
New Delhi/ 19 October 2016. The festival of Karwa Chauth is being celebrated in many parts of the country with fervour and gaiety.  

Hindu married women and those reaching the marriageable age are observing fast from sunrise to moonrise praying for the safety and longevity of their husbands, fiancés or desired husbands. 

Women rigorously observe fasting and do prayers on this day, without even drinking water after sunrise. It is only when the moon rises that women eat something to break their fast. The moonrise is seen by women through a filter (chalni) to avoid any harmful effects of directly looking at it. 

Men are generally expected to feed the first bite of food to their wives after the fast. 

On Karwa Chauth all women ensure that their look for the occasion is just beautiful. Colourful saris, fabulous jewellery and superb makeup and lot more is done to make sure that they look sweetest possible. 

Many women dress in bright and colourful ethnic wear, similar to bridal wear.

And the most important is the mehendi which all women apply on this festival. The mehendi artists offer hundreds of designs to choose from and every woman has the choicest mehendi decoration on their hands. 

It is an important part of the rituals to offer prayers to the moon after the moonrise before breaking the fast.  After this, the women offer earthen pots (karwa) containing rice, urad dal to their mother-in-laws.

Dynamite News exclusively spoke to Veteran Indian Astrologer/ Nakshatra Gatanveshi Dr. Shanker Charan Tripathi on the importance of Karwa Chauth. 

Dr. Tripathi syas that Karwa Chauth is a celebrity ‘Tithi’ or date in the Hindu calendar. This is because on this day 4 Numbers meaning the moon is in transitory phase of the 4th day, which is very beloved to Lord Ganesha. Hence, the name Karwa Chauth or Ganesh Chaturthi has been given to this unique celebration. 

On the 4th day, the moon is not supposed to be seen with naked eyes. It is seen through either a cloth or filter (Chalni). When women look at the moon through a filter, they do not suffer any harmful effects. It is believed that they seek blessings from the moon for the long and healthy lives of their husbands.