Karva Chauth Preparation Checklist

23 items · Lifestyle · Medium difficulty · 2 days

Get ready for Karva Chauth: the date and your city's moonrise, the sargi, mehendi, the puja thali, the evening puja, and breaking the fast gently.

• Confirm this year's date

  Check with your family, your temple or a calendar you trust.

• Look up the moonrise time for your own city
• Talk to your doctor first if you are pregnant, diabetic or on medication
• Decide with your family how strict the fast will be

  Some women keep it nirjala, with no food or water, and some allow water or fruit.

• Plan the sargi, the meal eaten before dawn

  In many families, Punjabi ones especially, the mother-in-law prepares or sends it.

• Buy the sargi food

  Fruit, dry fruit, mathri and feni are common; add something filling, such as paneer or curd.

• Book or plan mehendi for the day before
• Choose your outfit and jewellery

  Many women wear red or their wedding clothes, with bangles, bindi and sindoor.

• Gather the puja thali
• A karva filled with water

  Many families use an earthen pot with a spout; others use a metal one.

• A diya, ghee or oil, and a wick
• Roli or kumkum, rice grains and sweets
• A sieve for looking at the moon
• A glass or lota of water to offer to the moon
• Find out where and when the evening puja will be

  In many Punjabi families the women sit in a circle, pass their thalis round and listen to the Karva Chauth katha.

• Have the evening meal cooked the day before, or ask someone else to cook it
• Agree in advance what you will do if cloud hides the moon

  Ask the elders the day before, so nobody has to decide late at night.

• Eat the sargi before sunrise

  Drink plenty of water with it if your fast will be without water.

• Keep the day light and rest in the afternoon
• Light the diya and have the thali ready before moonrise
• Look at the moon through the sieve, then at your husband

  Not every family uses a sieve. Many wives also offer water to the moon, and the husband gives her the first sip of water and a bite of sweet.

• Break the fast with water and something light before the full meal

  A big, rich meal straight after a day without water can upset your stomach.

• Give or exchange gifts if your family does

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