FREMONT: Karva Chauth is a religious event celebrated with zeal and fervor by married Indian women every year. On the 4th day of auspicious Kartik month of Hindu calendar, the festival is celebrated to pray for long life of husbands. Women fast whole day and break their fast in the evening after offering prayers and seeing a glimpse of the moon. Husbands offer the first bite to wives.
This year, for the first time, Fremont Hindu Temple organized a special event to celebrate Karva Chauth. A specific area was earmarked for special puja and hymns. Priest Brij Bhushan conducted the puja and explained the rationale behind the event and the fast. He said that this event is celebrated by married women to pray for their husband’s long life, health and progress.
Ladies dressed in beautiful red saris came with brightly decorated puja thalis and eagerly offered prayers. They waited for the moon to rise in the sky before they could break their fasts. One of the devotees, Archana Ahuja said that this reminded her of puja done in India where all neighborhood ladies get together, offer prayers and sing religious songs.
Dr. Japra, convener of Hindu temple was actively involved in making arrangements and in providing prasad to every participant. He said that Fremont temple strives to keep the Indian culture and traditions alive by organizing key functions for every important religious occasion. Earlier in the year, similar celebrations were held for Ganesh Chaturthi and Janmashtami.
Rekha Malik and Leela Ji helped conduct the puja as per tradition and also regaled the ladies by telling stories about origin of Karva Chauth. Puja was conducted in batches with a new batch starting every 30 minutes. Puja started at 2.30pm and finished around 8.30pm in the evening.
Ritu Maheshwari
India Post News Service
