Karwa Chauth is an important festival for all the married women. It is specially a North Indian festival but now, is being celebrated across the country. This festival is also known as Dussehra and Navratre in some regions of India. It is celebrated nine days before Diwali.

Traditionally the Indian woman was expected to uphold family honour and in order to do that she was compared to myriad goddesses and heroines in Hindu mythology whose personal and spiritual achievements thus set the way of life for every Indian woman who, in turn, was expected to emulate them. As a child, she submitted to the dictates of the paterfamilias – the father, and after marriage to those of the husband. Her failure to do so supposedly brought doom and dishonor upon the concerned families and their genealogical ramifications.

Karwa Chauth Fast
Married women, old and young, begin their fast on the day of Karwa Chauth well before sunrise (around 4 a.m.), and eventually partake of food and water only after spotting the moon, which generally rises at about 8.30 p.m. But this is not to say that it is a solemn day solely symbolic of privation, as a good measure of festivity, rituals and merriment complement its more serious implications. In fact many women do not adhere very strictly to the guidelines laid down for the fast, and while they choose to abstain from food, they drink water, tea and coffee.

Preparation of Karwa Chauth
People start preparing for this festival few days before the festival. Those who are observing type fast for the first time get dressed in their bridal clothes and receive a basket of 'sargi' beautifully wrapped with colored papers, laces and ribbons. The fasting women of the neighbourhood get together before sunrise to eat the sargai that mainly consists of thirst quenching foods like fruits, along with a main course of potatoes eaten with hot puris. Traditionally the newly wed woman spent the day before the fast in her mother’s house and came to her mother-in-law’s house only on the day of Karwa Chauth.

The Evening Pooja
In the evening, all the married women gather together at a common place to perform all the rituals of Karwa Chauth festival. A small area is prepared for the ceremony that can be performed in any part of the house as well as in the open. A small square platform is placed against the wall and kharia matti (powdery mud) is used to cleanse, make anew and decorate the puja area. An idol of A sudden flurry of activities in the evening indicates that the preparations for the big puja (prayer ceremony) are afoot.