Karva Chauth 2027करवा चौथ

When is Karva Chauth?

Observed on Krishna Chaturthi, Kartik month. Dates follow the Panchang for New Delhi and can differ by a day in other places — check the Panchang for your city.

What Karva Chauth means

Karva Chauth falls on the fourth day (chauth) of the dark half of Kartik in the North Indian calendar — Ashvin in the amanta calendar — four days after Sharad Purnima. Married women keep a nirjala fast from sunrise until moonrise for the long life, health and well-being of their husbands, and break it only after offering water to the moon.

The 'karva' is the small earthen pot with a spout at the heart of the puja. Women worship Gauri (Parvati) — the ideal wife, who won Shiva by her devotion — together with Shiva, Ganesha and Kartikeya, exchange their karvas in a circle while singing, hear the vrat katha, and in the evening look at the moon through a sieve before taking their first sip of water from their husband's hand.

The festival is also a celebration among women: the sargi meal before dawn, given by the mother-in-law; mehndi, new clothes and solah shringar; and the evening gathering for the katha. Today many husbands fast alongside their wives, and some unmarried women keep the fast for a good marriage. Women who are pregnant, unwell or diabetic should keep a lighter fast with water and fruit — the tradition values devotion over hardship.

The story of Karva Chauth

The best-known katha is of Veervati, the only sister of seven brothers, who kept her first Karva Chauth fast at her parents' home. As the day wore on she grew faint with hunger and thirst. Unable to bear it, her brothers lit a fire behind a tree and held a sieve before it, so that it looked like the rising moon. Veervati broke her fast — and at once came news that her husband had died.

Grief-stricken, she went to her husband's house and sat by his body for a year, until the next Karva Chauth. Then she kept the fast with complete devotion, and by the grace of Gauri (in some tellings, of the goddess Karva or of Indrani) her husband was restored to life. The story is read every year so that the fast is kept truly, until the real moon is seen.

Another katha tells of a devoted wife named Karva whose husband was seized by a crocodile while bathing. She bound the crocodile with a cotton thread and went to Yama, the lord of death, demanding that the crocodile be punished and her husband spared; moved by her devotion, Yama agreed. A popular tradition also says that when Arjuna was away doing penance in the Nilgiri hills, Draupadi asked Krishna for help and was told to keep this fast, as Parvati had for Shiva.

Karva Chauth puja vidhi, step by step

How Karva Chauth is usually kept in North Indian homes. Punjabi, Rajasthani and Uttar Pradesh customs differ in details — follow your family's way.

What you need

• Sargi before dawn: fruit, dry fruits, pheni or mathri, sweets and a little milk or tea
• A karva (earthen or metal pot with a spout) filled with water, and a lid with sweets or grain
• An image or printed Karva Chauth calendar of Gauri with Shiva, Ganesha and Kartikeya, or a Gauri made of clay or cow-dung
• Roli, sindoor, akshat, flowers, a ghee diya and incense
• A sieve (chalni) and a lota of water for the moon arghya
• Baya for the mother-in-law (sweets, clothes, suhag items), and the katha book

When to do the puja

In 2026 Karva Chauth falls on Thursday, 29 October; in 2027, on Monday, 18 October. Chaturthi prevails at moonrise on these days. The fast runs from sunrise until moonrise. Moonrise time varies by several minutes from city to city — check the Panchang or a local moonrise table for your city. See the Panchang for your city.

Steps

1. Sargi before dawn. Eat the sargi sent by your mother-in-law before sunrise, then take a sankalp for the nirjala fast.
2. Through the day. Keep the fast without food or water if health allows. Apply mehndi and dress in bridal finery or new clothes.
3. Evening puja. Set up the image of Gauri and the karva. Women often gather in a circle, worship Gauri with roli, sindoor, akshat and flowers, and pass their thalis around seven times while singing the Karva Chauth geet.
4. Katha. Hear or read the Karva Chauth katha of Veervati. Give the baya to your mother-in-law and touch her feet.
5. Moon arghya. When the moon rises, look at it through the sieve, offer water (arghya) from the karva, then look at your husband through the sieve.
6. Breaking the fast. Your husband gives you the first sip of water and a bite of sweet. Then the family eats the festive meal together.

Offerings & food: Pua, puri-sabzi, kheer, matthi, sweets, sargi items (dry fruits, pheni, mithai)

Mantras for Karva Chauth

Karva Chauth across India

Primarily North India — Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, UP, Rajasthan. In recent decades spread nationally through films.

Punjab, Haryana and Delhi

Sargi from the mother-in-law before dawn, the evening circle of women passing thalis while singing 'Veero kudiye karvara', and the sieve and moon ritual.

Rajasthan

Women worship Chauth Mata — the Chauth Mata temple at Barwara in Sawai Madhopur is famous — and an image of Gauri drawn on the wall.

Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh

A picture of Gauri, the moon and the karva is drawn or printed for the puja, and the baya of sweets and clothes is sent to the mother-in-law.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

A similar fast, Atla Taddi, is kept by women a day earlier, on Ashvin Krishna Tritiya, and broken after moonrise with offerings of dosas (atlu).

Across India and abroad

Films and television have carried Karva Chauth well beyond its northern home; today it is kept in cities across India and in the diaspora, often by couples together.

Prayers to recite

Do’s and don’ts

Frequently asked questions