When is Karwa Chauth 2024? Date, moonrise timing, shubh muhurat, vrat katha, fasting and puja rituals, significance

Karwa Chauth 2024: The Hindu festival of Karwa Chauth is almost here, and married and to-be-married Hindu women, particularly in north India, are all set to celebrate the festival rooted in age-old rituals.

Also known as Karaka Chaturthi or Karva Chauth, the festival will see married women observe an arduous nirjala vrat (sans water fast) during the festival from dawn to moonrise for their husband’s long lives and prosperity. Women only eat food or drink water after making offering to the moon.

If you are celebrating Karwa Chauth 2024, here’s what you should know about the date, rituals, breaking the fast, significance, muhurat, vrat katha and more.

Karwa Chauth 2024 date and timings

According to the Purnimanta calendar, Karwa Chauth falls on Krishna Paksha Chaturthi in the Hindu month of Kartik. Karwa Chauth is celebrated on the same day throughout India. This year, Karwa Chauth will be celebrated on October 20, Sunday, as per Drik Panchang. The Chaturthi Tithi commences at 6:46am on October 20, 2024, and concludes at 4:16am on October 21, 2024.

Karwa Chauth shubh muhurat, moonrise timing

Karwa Chauth puja muhurat is from 5:46pm to 7:02pm for a duration of 1 hour and 16 minutes. The moonrise on Karwa Chauth is expected to be at 7:54pm, but will vary from city to city.

Karwa Chauth fast rituals

For many women, Karwa Chauth begins with a pre-dawn feast known as sargi, prepared by mothers-in-law for their daughters-in-law. Following this, women spend the day in a strict fast, abstaining from food and water, which concludes with a puja in the evening. Dressed in heavy ethnic clothes, they gather to recite the legendary tales of Veeravati, Karwa, and Savitri, honouring their sacrifices and unwavering love. The fast ends with the sighting of the moon, after which husbands feed their wives, symbolically breaking the fast.

Karwa Chauth vrat katha and significance

Karwa Chauth is celebrated all across the country, especially in the northern parts of India, including Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan. While Karwa means earthen pots, Chauth means the fourth day.

According to the Drik Panchang, Veeravati was born to Brahmin Vedsharma in Indraprasthapur. She had seven brothers who deeply loved her, as she was the only sister. She married and fasted for her husband on Karwa Chauth. However, the fasting was physically overwhelming for her, and she fainted due to hunger.

Her brothers, unable to see their sister in physical discomfort, devised a plan. They knew Veeravati wouldn’t break the fast unless she saw a moon. The brother climbed a tall vat tree with a lamp and a sieve. The lamp would mimic the moon. When Veeravati came to her senses, the brothers convinced her that the moon had already risen and took her to the roof. In her weakened physical condition, she saw the lamp through the sieve and believed it was the moon.

She broke her fast but as soon as she ate her first meal, she encountered numerous bad omens that signaled impending misfortune. In the first morsel of food, she found a hair. She sneezed when she had her second bite. And before the third bite, she received an unexpected call to return to her in-laws’ home. Upon arrival, Veeravati was devastated to find her husband had died.

Veeravati wept uncontrollably, blaming herself for her husband’s death. Hearing her cries, Goddess Indrani, the wife of Lord Indra, appeared before her. She requested the Goddess to resurrect her husband. The Goddess reminded the mistake of breaking the fast before time and not providing argha (offering) to the moon. It caused her husband’s death. To bring him back, the Goddess advised her to observe a fast every month for a year to gain punya to revive her husband. After dutifully fasting for almost a year, her husband came back to life.

This katha represents a wife’s strength and devotion to her husband. It exhibits the power of unwavering commitment, faith, and steadfast resolve in the face of adversity.