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🌙 October 20, 2026 · Tuesday

Karva Chauth 2026
Date, Moonrise Time & Puja Vidhi

Complete guide to Karva Chauth 2026 — moonrise time by city, step-by-step puja vidhi, the katha, and the Sanskrit meaning behind karva and chauth.

Date
Oct 20, 2026
Tuesday
Tithi
Chaturthi
Krishna Paksha, Kartik
Fast begins
Sunrise
~6:20 AM IST
Puja muhurat
6:00–7:10 PM
Evening
Delhi moonrise
~8:15 PM
Oct 20, IST
Fast breaks
After moonrise
8–9 PM by city

🌕 Moonrise Time by City — Karva Chauth 2026

Delhi8:15 PM
Mumbai8:45 PM
Bangalore8:55 PM
Chennai8:50 PM
Kolkata7:45 PM
Pune8:42 PM
Hyderabad8:38 PM
Jaipur8:20 PM
Ahmedabad8:40 PM
Chandigarh8:10 PM
Lucknow7:58 PM
Bhopal8:15 PM
Times are approximate IST. Verify with your local Panchang for exact timing.

Sanskrit Meaning of Karva Chauth

करवा
Karva

An earthen pot or vessel — specifically a small clay pot with a spout, used to offer water (arghya) to the moon during the puja. From the Sanskrit root karv — related to action or doing. The karva symbolizes the vessel of life — the wife's body that sustains and nurtures.

चौथ
Chauth

Fourth — from the Sanskrit chaturthi (चतुर्थी), the fourth lunar day. The festival falls on the Chaturthi tithi (fourth day) of Krishna Paksha (the waning fortnight) of the month of Kartik. Four is sacred — four Vedas, four Purusharths, four Ashramas.

Together: Karva Chauth = "The fourth-day fast observed with the earthen pot."It is named for the two essential elements of the ritual — the clay karva (the vessel for the moon offering) and the tithi (fourth lunar day).

Karva Chauth Puja Vidhi 2026 — Step by Step

1
Sargi (Pre-dawn meal)
Before sunrise, the mother-in-law prepares Sargi — a meal including fruits, sweets, and feni (a wheat vermicelli). The wife eats before 4 AM and begins the fast.
2
Nirjala fast begins
From sunrise, a nirjala (without water) fast is observed. No food or water until after moonrise. Some women observe a partial fast (with water); the stricter form is nirjala.
3
Afternoon puja gathering
Women gather in the afternoon, dressed in bridal wear (red or pink), with karva pots and puja thali. The Karva Chauth katha is recited by an elder.
4
Moonrise puja
After moonrise, the wife performs puja: lights a diya, shows the moon through a sieve (chalni), then sees her husband's face through the same sieve. This is the central ritual.
5
Arghya to the moon
Water is offered to the moon using the karva pot: "Om Chandramasе namah — I offer this water to the moon deity." The husband then gives water to his wife to break the fast.
6
Fast broken
The fast is broken with water given by the husband, followed by the meal prepared for the occasion.

Sanskrit Mantras for Karva Chauth Puja

Moon offering (Arghya mantra)
ॐ चन्द्राय नमः। ॐ सोमाय नमः।
Om Chandrāya namaḥ। Om Somāya namaḥ।
"I bow to the Moon. I bow to Soma (the moon as deity of immortality)." Offered while pouring water from the karva.
Gauri prayer (for blessings)
ॐ गौर्यै नमः। सुहागं देहि मे शिवे।
Om Gauryai namaḥ। Suhāgaṃ dehi me śive।
"I bow to Gauri (Parvati). O auspicious one, grant me the blessing of a long marriage." Parvati is invoked as the ideal wife who kept strict fasts for Shiva.
Karva Chauth sankalpa (vow)
मम पतिः दीर्घायुः स्वस्थः सुखी च भवतु।
Mama patiḥ dīrghāyuḥ svasthaḥ sukhī ca bhavatu।
"May my husband have long life, health, and happiness." The core intention behind the entire fast — said at the beginning of the sankalpa.

The Story Behind Karva Chauth — Savitri & Satyavan

The deepest story behind Karva Chauth is not the folk tale of Veeravati (commonly told during the katha) — it is the Mahabharata story of Savitri and Satyavan.

Savitri chose Satyavan as her husband despite knowing he would die within one year. When Yama (the god of death) came to take Satyavan's soul, Savitri followed him into the realm of death — fasting, praying, refusing to turn back.

Yama, moved by her devotion and the sharpness of her arguments, offered her boons — but she refused all boons except her husband's life. She had practiced the Savitri Vrata — a fast in honor of the Sun deity — which gave her the spiritual power to face death itself.

Karva Chauth is the Kartik version of this same devotion — a one-day fast that invokes the moon (as the deity of life, nectar, and longevity) with a prayer for a husband's long life. The chalni (sieve) ritual — seeing the moon through the sieve, then seeing the husband — is a symbolic merging: the husband is the moon, the moon is the husband.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can unmarried women observe Karva Chauth?

Yes. Many unmarried women keep the fast for their future husband or for a loved one. The fast is not exclusively for married women in all regional traditions.

Can the fast be broken if health doesn't allow?

According to Sanskrit dharmashastra, a fast kept with sincere intention (sankalpa) has merit even if broken for health reasons. Consulting a doctor first is important; the spiritual tradition values life above ritual.

What if clouds cover the moon?

If the moon is not visible due to clouds, one may offer arghya to the sky in the direction of the moon. The ritual is complete with sincere intention even without direct sighting.

Is Karva Chauth only in North India?

Karva Chauth is primarily observed in North India — Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi. In Maharashtra and the South, similar fasts like Vat Purnima and Savitri Vrata serve the same devotional purpose.

Related Reading

Diwali Meaning in Sanskrit →Navratri 2026 →Dussehra 2026 →16 Hindu Samskaras →

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