Karwa Chauth 2026

Dates around the world · 2026

Date source: drikpanchang.com (New Delhi, Edison, New Jersey, San Jose, California, London, Toronto, Sydney). Dates are taken from the cited published panchang for each region and year; regions we could not verify are left out.

How to observe

Tick the steps as you go. The ticks are saved on this device only.

1. 1Before your local sunrise, eat the sargi and take a sankalp for the fast. Sunrise is 7:23 AM in Edison and 7:28 AM in San Jose on 28 October, and 6:49 AM in London on 29 October.
2. 2Keep the fast through the day. Most women keep it nirjala, without water. If you are pregnant, unwell or on regular medicine, many families keep it with water, milk or fruit instead. Health comes first.
3. 3In the evening, dress up and set up the puja: a picture of Gauri with Shiva and Ganesha (or the printed Karwa Chauth picture many families use), the karwa filled with water and tied with kalava, and a thali with a diya, roli, rice, sweets and the sieve.
4. 4In your city's puja muhurat, light the diya and begin with Ganesha: recite Vakratunda Mahakaya.
5. 5Read or listen to the Karwa Chauth vrat katha. If you are with other women, pass the thalis around the circle while the katha or the pheri song goes on. The number of rounds and the songs vary by family.
6. 6Sing the Parvati aarti (Jai Parvati Mata), and Om Jai Shiv Omkara if your family sings it.
7. 7From a few minutes before moonrise, watch the eastern sky from a balcony, window or the street outside. Buildings and trees can hide the moon for a while after the listed time, so be patient.
8. 8When you see the moon, look at it through the sieve, offer arghya from the karwa and pray. If you are indoors, many women pour the arghya into a bowl and later give that water to a plant.
9. 9Look at your husband through the sieve, take water and the first bite of food from his hand, and break the fast. Touch the elders' feet if they are with you, and eat lightly at first.
10. 10Apartment note: keep the diya on a steel plate, away from curtains and smoke detectors, and never leave it alone. Where open flames are not allowed, many families use an electric diya.

Customs differ by family and region. Follow your family tradition and temple where they differ from these steps.

What you will need

• Karwa: a small clay pot with a spout and lid. Indian grocery stores (Patel Brothers in the US, and the Indian shops in Southall, Wembley, Leicester, Brampton or Harris Park) usually stock them in October. If you can't find one, a small steel or brass lota works, and many families use one every year.
• Sieve (channi): the decorated puja channi from the Indian store, or any clean steel kitchen sieve.
• Kalava or mauli to tie around the karwa: from an Indian grocery or a temple shop. Plain red thread is fine.
• Puja thali: diya, roli or kumkum, akshat (unbroken rice), a few sweets. Ghee or oil for the diya, or an electric diya where flames are not allowed.
• Picture of Gauri with Shiva and Ganesha, or the Karwa Chauth picture. A printout or an image on a tablet is fine if that is what you have.
• Sargi: fruit, dry fruit, mathri, pheni and something sweet. If you can't find pheni, fine vermicelli (seviyan) cooked in milk is a common stand-in.
• Water for arghya, with a little milk if your family adds it, and a few drops of Ganga jal if you have some at home.
• Shringar: sindoor, bindi, bangles, mehendi, all sold at Indian stores. A baya (gift of sweets, dry fruit or clothes for the mother-in-law) is kept in many families.

Texts to recite

• Vakratunda MahakayaVakratunda Mahakaya is a two-line Sanskrit shloka to Lord Ganesh and one of the most widely recited. It asks the Lord with the curved trunk, radiant as ten million suns, to keep all our work free of obstacles. Tradition says it before any puja, study, journey or new venture, and many people chant it 11, 21 or 108 times on Wednesdays and on Ganesh Chaturthi.
• Karwa Chauth Vrat KathaThe Karwa Chauth vrat katha is the story married women read or hear on Karwa Chauth evening, before the moon rises. Its main story is of Veeravati, whose seven brothers tricked her into breaking her fast with a false moon, and who won her husband back by keeping the fast faithfully. A shorter second story tells how a devoted wife named Karva saved her husband from a crocodile.
• Jai Parvati MataJai Parvati Mata is a short Hindi aarti to Goddess Parvati, Shiva's consort and the mother of Ganesha. Its refrain and seven stanzas recall her birth as Sati and then as the daughter of the Himalaya, her victory over Shumbha and Nishumbha, and her joyful life with Shiva. Women sing it at Teej, Karwa Chauth and Gauri puja, and on Mondays.
• Om Jai Shiv OmkaraOm Jai Shiv Omkara is one of the most widely sung Hindi aartis of Lord Shiva. Its refrain and eleven stanzas praise him as Om itself, in whom Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are one, and the closing stanza names Swami Shivanand as the poet. Families sing it with a lamp at the end of Shiva puja, especially on Mondays, in Shravan and on Maha Shivratri.
• Jai Ganesh DevaJai Ganesh Deva is a Hindi aarti to Lord Ganesh and one of the most widely sung aartis in Hindu homes. It opens "Jai Ganesh Jai Ganesh Jai Ganesh Deva, Mata Jaki Parvati Pita Mahadeva" and has a refrain and five short stanzas about the one-tusked, kind Lord, one of which names "Sur Shyam". Most household pujas open with it, and it is sung on Wednesdays, on Sankashti Chaturthi and every evening of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Questions

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