Mysore/Mysuru: Karva Chauth, which is specially celebrated in North India, was observed  by tribals belonging to Hakki-Pikki Community at Pakshirajapura in Hunsur taluk of Mysuru last night.

The festival falls on the fourth day after the full moon, in the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Kartik. 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 Paksh, of the month of Kartik). On Karva Chauth, married women, especially in North-West India, observe fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands.  The fasting women, dressed like a bride, collectively sit in a circle, offer puja to Goddess Chamundi and exchange the sweets brought from their homes.

Once the moon is visible, depending on the region and community, it is customary for a fasting woman, to view moon or its reflection in a vessel filled with water, through a sieve, or through the cloth of a dupatta.

Water is offered (arka) to the moon (som or chandra, the lunar deity) to secure its blessings. In some regions, the woman says a brief prayer asking for her husband’s life. Then the married women view their husbands through sieve and share sweets.