Karva Chauth or Karwa Chauth or Karaka Chaturthi (Sanskrit: करकचतुर्थी, romanized: Karakachaturthī)[3] is a Hindu festival celebrated by Hindu women of Nepal, Northern India and Western Indiain October or November on the Bikram Sambat month of Kartika.

Karva Chauth, originally a local Northern Indian festival, attained widespread pan-India popularity among newer generations due to the influence of Bollywood movies like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge[9][10] Karva is another word for 'pot' (a small earthen pot of water) and chauth means 'fourth' in Hindi (a reference to the fact that the festival falls on the fourth day of the dark-fortnight, or Krishna paksha, of the month of Kartika).

Big earthen pots in which wheat is stored are sometimes called karvas, so the fast may have begun as a prayer for a good harvest in this predominantly wheat-eating Northwestern region.

The bride's friend would usually be of the same age (or slightly older), typically married into the same village (so that she would not go away) and not directly related to her in-laws (so there was no conflict of interest later).

Inside, they would put bangles and ribbons, home-made candy and sweets, make-up items, and small clothes.

Local bazaars take on a festive look as shopkeepers put their Karva Chauth related products on display.

[20] Hindu wives perform various kind of rituals along with a vrata (fast) on Karva Chauth for their husband's long life.

In some regions, it is customary to give and exchange painted clay pots filled with bangles, ribbons, home-made candy, cosmetics and small cloth items (e.g., handkerchiefs).

Since Karva Chauth follows soon after the Kharif crop harvest in the rural areas, it is a good time for community festivities and gift exchanges.

[22] The dresses (Saris or Lehangas) are frequently red, gold, pink, yellow or orange, which are considered auspicious colors.

Specifically, celebrants will take a bit of soil, sprinkle water, and then place kumkum on it, treating it as an idol/manifestation of the fertile Mother Earth.

[25] In Rajasthan, stories are told by older women in the family, including narratives of Karva Chauth, Shiva, Parvati, and Ganesh.

Celebrants make idols of Shiva, Parvati, and Ganesha with mud and decorate them with colourful and bright clothes and jewellery.

It is believed that at this stage, spiritually strengthened by her fast, the woman can successfully confront and defeat death (personified by Yama).

[28][29][30] News coverage of celebrities sometimes highlights the keeping of the fast by an unmarried public figure because it indicates a strong and likely permanent romantic attachment.

[33] Since Karva Chauth is celebrated primarily by women (men are entirely excluded from the festival's observances until moonrise, though they are expected to demonstrate attention and concern for their fasting wives) and because beauty rituals and dressing-up are a significant part of the day, the festival is seen as an event that bonds women together.

[34] In the present day, groups of unmarried women sometimes keep the fast out of a sense of friendship, though this practice is far from universal.

[36] Karva Chauth 2018 Date 27 October In certain regions of Bengal, Northeast India, and Bhutan, notably during the Karva Chauth celebrations, a distinctive tradition is observed where teenage boys actively participate in the festivities and join married women in the fasting rituals.

The practice is believed to symbolize a collective aspiration for the boys to find suitable life partners in the future.

There is also a spiritual dimension to this tradition, as it is said to be an act of devotion to the deity Parvati, who is venerated for her role as a symbol of marital harmony and longevity.

She began a strict fast after sunrise but, by evening, was desperately waiting for the moonrise as she suffered severe thirst and hunger.

Her seven brothers couldn't bear to see their sister in such distress and created a mirror in a pipal tree that made it look as though the moon had risen.

When the queen explained her distress, the goddess revealed how she had been tricked by her brothers and instructed her to repeat the Karva Chauth fast with complete devotion.

[38][39] In a variant of this story, the brothers build a massive fire behind a mountain instead and trick their sister by convincing her that the glow is the moon.

Parvati reveals the trickery to her, cuts her own little finger to give the wife a few drops of her holy blood, and instructs her to be careful in keeping the complete fast in the future.

Krishna reminded her that on an earlier occasion, when Parvati had sought Shiva's guidance under similar circumstances, she had been advised to observe the fast of Karva Chauth.

Yama, afraid of being cursed by a pativrata (devoted) wife, sent the crocodile to hell and blessed Karva's husband with a long life.