Celebrations Karwa Chauth & Tradition of Henna Mehndi

"The Karwa Chauth Vrat" is of significant importance in India."The Karwa Chauth" is a ritual of fasting observed by married Hindu women seeking the longlife, well-being and prosperity of their husbands. Married women keep a strict fast and do not take even a drop of water. It is the most important and difficult fast observed by married Hindu women. It begins before sunrise and ends only after offering prayers and worshiping the moon at night. No food or water can be taken after sunrise. The fast is broken once the moon is sighted and rituals of the day have been performed. At night when the moon appears, women break their fast after offering water to the moon.  Newly married brides celebrate this fast with great rejoice in their first year of marriage. Nowadays unmarried girls also keep this fast to pray for a good husband. First Karwa Chauth

Karva Chauth is of great importance for married Hindu women but the festival is seen as a big occasion for women undertaking their first Karva Chauth fast after marriage. A newly married woman is given utmost importance by relatives and immediate family members when she observes her first fast for the long life of her husband. She is showered with blessings of blissful married life and loads of Karwa Chauth gifts especially by her mother-in-law. First Sargi

Mother-in-law prepares an elaborate Sargi (the pre-dawn Karwa Chauth meal) when her daughter-in-law observes her first fast. She wakes up much early to prepare a sumptuous and lavish meal inclusive of sweets and other delicacies for daughter-in-law. Saasu-ma blesses her bahu with an ashirvaad of ‘Sada Suhagan Raho’ which means, ‘may you always enjoy a blissful married life’ when the latter touches her feet with reverence. She also presents her daughter-in-law with gifts, which may be a piece of jewelry or a heavy saree on the first Karva Chauth.  Sargi includes various food items like fruits, sweets etc and clothes and is given in the form of good luck and prosperity. Married women eats this sargi before the sun rise. On this day married women wears special clothes, adorn themselves with jewelry, colorful bangles, bindi and vermilion on the forehead and apply design patterns of heena (Mehendi) on both hands. First Baya Baya is a gift given to a daughter’s mother-in-law by the bride's mother on the occasion of Karwa Chauth. It usually consists of :- * salted mathris,  * dry fruits * gifts for all her family members.  * some utensils are also included in the baya which are to be distributed amongst women who join the newly-wed on her first Karwa Chauth Puja.

Elaborate Puja Preparations

Elaborate preparations are made for the customary evening Karva Chauth Puja in a family where a newly wed daughter-in-law observes her first Karva-Chauth. Married female relatives are invited to participate in the puja. The newly married woman often wears her bridal lehanga or a heavy saree and adorns herself with lot of jewelry and make up. After the puja ceremony she seeks blessings for happy married life from all elder women. The newly wed woman distributes mathris and utensils amongst the ladies that were a part of baya.   The Tradition of Henna Mehndi   Henna Mehandi has its own significance in India and middle-east. It is like a tradition in India, and women used to adorn their hands and feet by using Henna Mehndi. Henna Mehandi is basically a paste that is obtained from the leaves of henna plant. It has a special place in the lives of married women (suhagans) who usually apply this on the occasions like Karwa Chauth.  Gifts from Husband Husband of the woman who observes her first Karva Chauth feel proud and great to see her better half observing such a rigorous fast for him. He gets overwhelmed with love and respect for her wife and pampers her with loads of Karva Chauth gifts. These days husbands also takes her wife out for a dinner to save her from the drudgery of day’s cooking work.  Celebrations 

One Day before Karwa Chauth –   One day before Karwa chauth mother-in-laws gives ‘sargi’ (a festive breakfast consisting of Jalebis, milk and Fenis etc.) to their daughter-in-laws .A sargi contains sari, sindoor, bangles, biridi, mehendi, red ribbon, coconut, a gift and seviyan which is eaten in the morning of Karwa Chauth.Women observing the Chauth vrat wash their hair and apply mehendi on this day. On the day of Karwa Chauth -—  Women wake-up before sunrise about 5 am, eat food from sargi (sent by mother-in-law) and drink water. They dress up in their fineries. The menu is as per preference of each house. One has to eat seviyan normally with milk as shagun