A CLAY POT AND CHAUTH

Moon was never more beautiful… :)

Karva Chauth, karva (karuaa) means a clay pot, and chauth (from char meaning four) corresponds to the fourth. Specifically, in this case Chauth (signifying the day of Karva Chauth festival) is the fourth night (day) after the Full Moon in Kartik month (of Hindu calendar) following the Autumnal Equinox.

The idea behind Karva Chauth is very sweet and noble,celebrated by all married Hindu women. They observe a fast for the long life of her husband and in the evening, they adorn bridal makeup.

Marriages in India are a sacred union of not just two individuals but also two families. Many such successful unions are testament to the fact that marriages are considered with utmost seriousness in India and are lifelong alliances.

Fasts are kept by married hindu women and they pray for the long life of their husbands. Lot of tradition is associated with the festival of Karwa Chauth. Breaking the day long fasting after moon-sighting is one such long tradition which has been passed over from one generation to the other. The fasting ritual during Karwa Chauth signifies the unending love, respect and devotion of a wife towards her husband.

On the festive day married women wears special clothes usually red or pink saree/ suit, adorn themselves with best jewelry, colorful bangles, bindi and vermilion on the forehead and apply design patterns of heena (Mehendi) on both hands.

Karwa Chauth Rituals

There are some differences in Karva Chauth rituals about starting and breaking the fast, and worshipping the moon within regions, groups, and communities in India. On the day of Karvachauth, married women get up early in the morning and perform their ablutions. Karva Chauth is dedicated to Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati and their son Kartikeya (Lord Muruga). They are worshiped on this day along with the 10 ‘karwas’ (earthen pots) filled with sweets.

Married women start observing fast before sunrise and ends only after offering prayers and worshipping the moon. They won’t even take food or a drop of water till the moon is sighted. In the late afternoon women gather at a common place like temple, an elderly lady or the pujarin narrates the legend and history of Karwa Chouth.

Once the moon rises, the women see its reflection in a thali of water, or through a dupatta or a sieve. They pray for their husband’s well-being and long life, and break their fast after offering water to the moon. Then they receive their first bite of food and water from their husbands. This marks the end of the day long Karwa Chauth fast.

There are differences in how the fast begins and ends depending on where you are from in India. For example, in Punjab, the women start their fast after eating sergi, food sent or given by their mother-in-laws, before dawn. After sunrise and before moonrise, women do not eat or drink anything. They don't even drink water.

The wives would paint their hands and feet with henna.

The women decorate their pooja (prayer) thalis (plates) for when they do prayers in the evenings. The thali holds a karwa, clay pot and a metal urn filled with water

All the women who are observing this karwa chauth gather in a circle. They all exchange their thalis seven times around the circle. They chant a prayer while exchanging the thalis.

The women see the reflection of the moon on the water in the metal urn once the moon rises. They offer water and seek blessings. They then turn to their husbands and touch their feet to get their blessings. This ends the day of their fast.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shri Krishna – The Teacher of Teachers

Image
Shri Krishna is considered as Jagat Guru . There is no Guru equal to him – Krishna Vande Jagat Guru . We consider bhagvan Sri Krishna as incarnation of the supreme being. In the Gita , Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that his duty is to fight and he has the right only to fight. The duty of a person as a Karma Yogi is to do the rightful Dharma, as worship almost, without expecting anything in return for the deeds thus performed. In Geeta, Krishna teachings was meant to facilitate the merging of Arjun’s individualished consciousness with the infinite consciousness. Krishna recommended = “Karma-yoga” and “Bhakti-yoga” as two methods of reaching the divine. One who did good things in life moved up the ladder of success. Lord Krishna tells in Bhagvad-Gita – “Karma Karo Phal Ki Iccha Mat Karo.” “Hare Rama Hare Krishna”
Read more

POVERTY IN INDIA

Image
India is a country of extremes. On the one hand, the booming IT branch has caused a furor around the world. However, on the other hand, a large part of the population still lives in extreme poverty. Nevertheless, people with professional qualifications have a realistic chance of getting a job in this threshold country, India is more connected than ever before. Mobile towers, internet lines and television poles stretch from one end of the country to the other. Yet underneath these growing technological networks, much of India’s rickety infrastructure is in desperate need of attention. Broken roads prevent goods from being transported to market. India’s power grid is frightfully overburdened, especially in densely populated urban areas. In India, 54% of rural households have no access to electricity. Progress on electrification in rural areas has been very slow over the last two decades. Kerosene is the main source of energy used for lighting in rural households without access
Read more

Magic Behind the Flute

Image
One of the most widely revered and most popular of all Indian divinities, Krishna worshipped as the eighth incarnation {avtar} of Vishnu ,Krishna became the focus of a large number of devotional cults, which over the centuries have produced a wealth of religious poetry ,music,paintings and sculptures. Lord Shri Krishna is regarded as complete incarnation of God ,full of "sixteen kalas". All the other incarnations that occured before him were not complete in themselves. Even Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram had only twelve Kalas. Lord Krishna----One whose hand is adorned by flute, whose complexion is like the newly formed clouds, who dons yellow clothes, whose lips are red like the fruit of Kundan,whose face is like the full moon,whose eyes are like lotus flower,Lord Krishna holds nothing but only a seemingly ordinary flute. Now it is upto the devotees to interpret the meaning of flute with their own view. Even the flute of Lord Krishna is full of all the kalas and
Read more