Karva Chauth Puja Vidhi

Karva Chauth is a one-day fast kept mainly by married women in north and west India for the long life and wellbeing of their husbands. It falls on Kartika Krishna Chaturthi, the fourth day of the waning moon, which some calendars call Ashvina; the day is the same in every state, and only the month's name differs. The fast runs from sunrise to moonrise, without food or water in its strict form, and ends when the moon is seen. The name comes from the karva, the earthen water pot, called karaka in Sanskrit. This page gives the worship in order. The stories told on the day are in the Karva Chauth festival page.

The tithi is the fourth day after the full moon in the month the north counts as Kartika. It is fixed by the panchang, and the hour of moonrise changes from city to city, so use a local calendar for the year. As one example, Drik Panchang gives New Delhi on 29 October 2026 as chaturthi from 01:06 AM to 10:09 PM, an evening puja time of 05:38 to 06:56 PM, and moonrise at 08:17 PM. The same day is also Sankashti Chaturthi, the monthly fast of Ganesha. No page we read states how many days it falls before Diwali, so we do not give a figure.

A karva, an earthen pot with a spout and lid, or a metal one, filled with water. A thali holding a lamp with cotton wicks, roli and rice, flowers, incense, sweets and fruit, a sieve, a lota of water for the offering to the moon, and a copy of the katha. Images or a drawing of Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha and Kartikeya, or of Gaura and Chauth Mata on the wall. Many homes also set out kumkum, turmeric, a red cloth, and the sixteen adornments worn by a married woman. In some regions the day begins with sargi, a meal eaten before dawn and sent by the mother-in-law.

The numbered steps above follow the order most sources give; where they differ, the difference is stated below. In the morning, after a bath, the woman takes the sankalp. In the evening the karvas are set in a circle, Ganesha is called first, then Shiva and Parvati are worshipped with the offerings, and the katha is heard with grains of rice in the hand. The thalis are passed round the circle seven times. When the moon rises, she looks at it through the sieve, offers water, and then looks at her husband. He gives her the first sip of water, and the fast is broken.

These lines are given by priestly and almanac pages. None of them names an early text for the verse, so they are best understood as long-standing worship formulas, not scripture.

The sankalp, as printed by Drik Panchang, which cites the Vratraj: मम सुखसौभाग्यपुत्रपौत्रादि सुस्थिर श्रीप्राप्तये करकचतुर्थीव्रतमहं करिष्ये। Romanised: mama sukhasaubhāgyaputrapautrādi susthira śrīprāptaye karakacaturthīvratam ahaṃ kariṣye. It means, in Drik's rendering, that she keeps the Karaka Chaturthi fast for the wellbeing of her husband, sons and grandsons, and for lasting prosperity.

The prayer to Parvati, from the same page: नमः शिवायै शर्वाण्यै सौभाग्यं सन्ततिं शुभाम्। प्रयच्छ भक्तियुक्तानां नारीणां हरवल्लभे॥ Romanised: namaḥ śivāyai śarvāṇyai saubhāgyaṃ santatiṃ śubhām | prayaccha bhaktiyuktānāṃ nārīṇāṃ haravallabhe ||. It asks the beloved of Shiva to grant her devoted women the good fortune of a husband and fine children.

The gift of the karva, from the same page: करकं क्षीरसम्पूर्णं तोयपूर्णमथापि वा। ददामि रत्नसंयुक्तं चिरञ्जीवतु मे पतिः॥ Romanised: karakaṃ kṣīrasampūrṇaṃ toyapūrṇam athāpi vā | dadāmi ratnasaṃyuktaṃ cirañjīvatu me patiḥ ||. The pot, filled with milk or water and holding a coin or a small jewel, is given to a Brahmin or a married woman, with the wish that her husband may live long.

The short names used in the puja are ॐ गं गणपतये नमः (oṃ gaṃ gaṇapataye namaḥ), ॐ नमः शिवाय (oṃ namaḥ śivāya), ॐ पार्वत्यै नमः (oṃ pārvatyai namaḥ) and, for the moon, ॐ चन्द्राय नमः (oṃ candrāya namaḥ) and ॐ सोमाय नमः (oṃ somāya namaḥ), as given by VedPanchang.

One page quotes a translation of the Narada Purana, Purva Bhaga, chapter 113, as saying that the rite called Karaka Vrata is to be performed on the chaturthi in the dark half of Kartika. We did not read the Sanskrit, and the passage rests on that page's translation. Drik Panchang says the later digests Dharmasindhu, Nirnayasindhu and Vratraj call the day Karaka Chaturthi. We found no early text that prescribes the sieve, the exchange of pots, the baya gifts or the sargi. They are regional and household custom, and the pages that describe them say so.

The best-known story, of Veeravati and her seven brothers, is told on most pages, but none names a Purana that holds it. The tellings agree on the core: she breaks her fast early, deceived by a false moon made with a lamp and a sieve, and her husband is lost to her until the fast is kept again with care. The details of how he is restored differ from page to page. Other stories name Karva, who holds a crocodile with cotton thread, and Draupadi, who keeps the fast on Krishna's advice while Arjuna is away. We give them as the tradition tells them and do not claim a textual source.

In Punjab the day often begins with sargi from the mother-in-law, and mothers send baya, a gift of sweets, clothes and a little money, to their married daughters. In Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan the thalis are passed in a circle, seven times, with songs. Unmarried women in some places keep the fast for a future husband and see a star in place of the moon, and some pages say husbands now fast with their wives, though only one source we read describes that. The strict fast is not for everyone: a doctor should be asked before a waterless fast by anyone who is ill, pregnant or elderly, and many families keep a milder form. A simple version is to pray to Parvati, see the moon and eat with the family.