Women mark Karwa Chauth with devotion in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: City women celebrated Karwa Chauth with traditional pomp and fervour on Thursday.

The festival, in which a woman prays for her husband's health, is celebrated after Sharad Purnima following the Navaratri. Women fast from sunrise and break the fast at night after looking at the moon and then at their husbands through a sieve.

Unmarried women also took part in the fast, to pray for their partners’ and fiances’ health. Pregnant women, however, eat fruits during the fast.

“The Sargi (pre-dawn meal) is supposed to be given by the mother-in-law and is beautifully decorated with all the ‘solah sringar’ items, fruits, dry fruits, kheer and more. We eat the meal before sunrise and fast till we see the moon at night without even drinking water,” said Kalpana Kumari, who has been married for 33 years.

Prayers are offered to Karwa Mata, an avatar of Goddess Parvati, from which the festival derives its name.

“We fast every year as a family and forget hunger as we get busy in conducting pujas, aartis and going to temples,” a woman said.

Women said that it is a special day as they dress in traditional attires, in bright colours, and apply mehendi.