Women Balance Work And Fasting On Karwa Chauth
Women across Hyderabad observed Karwa Chauth with traditional fasting, moon-sighting rituals and community prayers, balancing festive celebrations with work and family commitments.
Women observed Karwa Chauth on Thursday, fasting and joining community prayers before breaking their fast after sighting the Moon.
The celebrations maonly drew families with roots in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Women gathered for puja and rituals in residential communities and homes, while some balanced the day’s observances with work.
Dr Sumitra Jaiswal, an assistant professor, said women traditionally observed a nirjala fast, abstaining from food and water from sunrise to moonrise, and prayed to the moon and Goddess Gauri for their husbands’ health and longevity. She said the festival celebrated love and commitment between spouses. In some traditions, women viewed the moon and then their husbands through a sieve, with husbands offering water and food to help them break the fast.
Gated communities organised group pujas, gatherings for newly-weds and celebrations featuring traditional attire, with many women dressed in red. Hotels and private residences also hosted themed events.
At Prestige High Fields in the Financial District, celebrations were spread over three days, with mehendi artists at the clubhouse and themed dressing, resident Mukta Kumar said. Women in traditional attire gathered for puja and katha, she said, describing the celebrations as an occasion of warmth and togetherness.