🌙 Karwa Chauth 2026

The married woman's waterless fast from sunrise to moonrise — for the husband's long life and the family's well-being.

Karwa Chauth is the most important vrat of married Hindu women, kept on the Chaturthi (4th tithi) of the Krishna Paksha of Kartik month. Women eat sargi before sunrise, stay without food and water through the day, and break the fast at night after offering arghya to the moon and looking at the moon and then at their husband's face through a sieve.

The vrat is most widely kept in North India — Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal — and is now observed across the country. Unmarried girls also keep it wishing for a good husband. Below you will find this year's exact date, the moonrise time, the puja vidhi, samagri list, the katha, what to eat in sargi, and how customs differ from region to region.

Significance — why this vrat

Karwa means a small earthen pot with a spout and Chauth means the fourth tithi. On this day Lord Ganesha, Shiva-Parvati, Kartikeya and the Moon are worshipped. It is believed that a woman who keeps this fast with faith secures a long life for her husband and lasting love in the marriage.

The fast lasts from sunrise to moonrise — which is why the Delhi moonrise time is shown on this page. If clouds hide the moon, offer arghya facing the moon's direction after the moonrise time; many families in that situation remember the moon on Lord Shiva's forehead and break the fast.

Puja vidhi (step by step)

This is the common North-Indian vidhi; your own family's custom comes first — follow what your mother-in-law or mother says.

1. Before sunrise (in Brahma Muhurat), bathe and eat the sargi given by your mother-in-law — pheni, sweets, fruit, dry fruits, mathri — and drink water. After sargi no food or water is taken all day.
2. Take the sankalp: 'I keep the waterless Karwa Chauth vrat for my husband's long life and good fortune.'
3. During the day do the solah shringar — red/pink saree or lehenga, mehndi, bangles, bindi, sindoor, mangalsutra, anklets, toe-rings.
4. In the evening set up the Karwa Chauth calendar/picture (Gauri, Ganesha, the Moon, the karwa) on a wall or wooden seat at the puja place. Fill an earthen or copper karwa with water, place rice and sugar on its lid, draw a swastik on it and tie mauli.
5. Prepare the thali — diya, roli, akshat, flowers, sweets, fruit, suhag items, a straw (seenk) to place in the karwa, and a sieve.
6. After sunset, in Pradosh Kaal, the married women of the family or neighbourhood sit together, listen to the Karwa Chauth katha and pass the thalis around in a circle (pheri), singing 'Veero kudiye karwada…' or 'Karwa Chauth Mata ki jai'.
7. Worship Ganesha, Shiva-Parvati and the Moon; keep the karwa water aside to offer to the Moon.
8. At moonrise (time shown above) go to the terrace or courtyard, look at the moon through the sieve, then at your husband's face through the same sieve. Offer arghya to the moon from the copper/earthen karwa and show the diya.
9. Break the fast with water and a sweet from your husband's hand. Touch his feet and take blessings.
10. Give baya — dry fruits, clothes, shringar items, sweets — to your mother-in-law (or the eldest married woman of the house) and touch her feet. Then eat with the family.

Puja samagri checklist

Collect everything a day before the puja using this list; tick the items as you go.

• Earthen or copper karwa (with spout) and its lid
• Sieve (chhalni)
• Karwa Chauth calendar/picture or Gauri-Ganesha idol
• Earthen diya, ghee, cotton wick
• Roli, kumkum, turmeric, akshat (rice), mauli (kalava)
• Straw (seenk) to place in the karwa
• Flowers and a garland
• Sweets (mathri, pheni, halwa or malpua)
• Fruit — banana, apple, pomegranate
• Suhag items — sindoor, bindi, bangles, mehndi, kajal, comb, mirror
• Gangajal, copper lota
• Rice and sugar (to keep on the karwa lid)
• Baya items — dry fruits, clothes, shringar, dakshina
• Puja thali and aasan (seat)

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Vrat katha (the story)

Long ago a merchant had seven sons and one daughter, Veeravati. After her marriage she was at her parents' home on her first Karwa Chauth. The beloved sister kept the waterless fast all day, but by evening she began to faint from hunger and thirst.

The brothers could not bear to see her suffer. They lit a lamp behind a peepal tree, placed a sieve before it and told her, 'Look, the moon has risen — offer your arghya.' Veeravati offered arghya to the false moon and broke her fast.

In the first morsel she found a hair, at the second she sneezed, and at the third a message came from her in-laws that her husband had died. Weeping, she reached her marital home; her sister-in-law explained that her broken vrat was the cause.

Veeravati did not allow the body to be cremated and kept every Chauth vrat of the year with full faith. On the next Karwa Chauth, Karwa Mata was pleased and her husband came back to life. Since then it is said — never hurry the vrat, offer arghya only to the real moon.

In another katha, a devoted wife named Karwa saw her husband caught in a crocodile's jaws in a river; she bound the crocodile with raw thread and demanded her husband's life from Yamraj, who had to yield before her tapasya. Both stories teach the same thing — a woman's faith and resolve hold great power.

Sargi and the fast-breaking meal

Sargi is eaten at 4-5 am, before sunrise. Choose foods that keep energy through the day and reduce thirst — avoid very salty or spicy items.

• Sargi: pheni/vermicelli in milk, mathri, halwa, coconut, almonds-cashews-raisins, banana-apple-pomegranate, a glass of water or coconut water
• Breaking the fast: first water and a sweet from the husband's hand; then a light meal — poori, aloo-matar sabzi, kheer or halwa, curd
• If you tend to feel dizzy or weak, speak less during the day, stay out of the sun and do the evening puja sitting down; pregnant and unwell women may keep the vrat with fruit and water — the shastras allow this

Regional customs

One vrat, but every region has its own way — what your family has always done is the right way.

Do's and don'ts

Frequently asked questions

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Also read: Ahoi Ashtami (same week) · Diwali — Lakshmi Puja · Shubh muhurat · Aarti & mantras

⚠️ This description follows traditional vidhi and folk belief; your own family custom comes first. Consult a doctor for any health condition.

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