We’ve had years and years of debates around this festival but that has not deterred North Indians from celebrating Karwa Chauth with the same enthusiasm. At least that’s what it looks like on the surface. Karwa Chauth or Karak Chaturthi is a festival celebrated by married women mostly in northern India. They observe a day-long fast and pray for their husband’s life. According to tradition, married women wake up before sunrise to eat sargi, a meal prepared by their mother-in-law. After this meal, they don’t eat or drink anything throughout the day, not even a sip of water as it’s a nirjala vrat. Women eagerly wait for the moon (and their husbands) to show up so they can break the fast. But have you ever wondered how this tradition came into existence? What is the historical significance of Karwa Chauth? Does Karwa Chauth in 2024 need a revamp?

Related: 7 Essential Karwa Chauth Tips For Bahu’s First KC, By Aunty Eve

Significance of Karwa Chauth

According to Drik Panchang, Veeravati is remembered as the first married woman to fast for her husband’s life. However, she fainted due to hunger and weakness. Her protective brothers then tricked her into breaking the fast by creating artificial moonlight. She broke the fast, but soon after that, her husband died. Veeravati hated herself for it until Indra’s wife asked her to keep fasts every month to bring her husband back to life.

Another Karwa Chauth story that is recited often is of Mahabharata‘s Draupadi who observed the fast for Arjun to return safely from his tapasya in the Nilgiris. It is said that Draupadi was instructed by Lord Krishna to keep the fast as strictly as Goddess Parvati did for Lord Shiva.

Karwa Chauth in 2024

As much as the festival reeks of patriarchy, Karwa Chauth has reformed over time. With changing ideologies (thanks to millennials and Gen Z), many men have started fasting for their wives too. The significance of Karwa Chauth in 2024 has now shifted to both partners putting equal effort into praying for each other’s long life. This makes the day and the vrat more of a celebration of their married life and love rather than a one-sided compulsion.

Free will > forced fasting

A festival or ritual is celebrated with happiness if it doesn’t burden you with bizarre expectations. Are you a newly married bride who doesn’t want to fast when all your family members and married friends are doing so? Well, you should not be forced into doing something you don’t want to do. It’s simple. Your way of praying for your partner’s healthy and long life doesn’t have to follow a template.

There are so many ways to show your partner how much they mean to you. Check out some of these ways to celebrate Karwa Chauth together. No matter what your beliefs are, there’s no harm in joining in the fun. Dress up and eat good food together because the festival is about you and your bae’s lambi umar. Also, don’t forget to buy cute gifts for each other!

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Related: Karwa Chauth In The 21st Century: A Tradition Or A Trap?