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The festival of Karwa Chauth is celebrated by married women on the fourth day after the full moon in Kartik month of the Hindu calendar. This year the festival falls on October 11. Often on this day, the fasting women do not do any housework and they fast without water, apply henna to each other and finish fasting after seeing the moon-rise through a sieve.
In interior villages of Rajasthan, women begin their day by doing a wall painting to welcome the presiding deity of festival called Karwa Devi. The wall painting is done on ochre or geru paste as the background and various motifs are drawn with chalk or lime paste using a thin stick. Along with fasting, Karwa Devi is worshiped and her story is shared in groups as a part of social learning.
In its simplest form, Karwa Chauth mandana is drawn in doubled lined rectangle and its border is decorated with flowers or leaves. In the rectangle, simple line drawing of Karwa Devi in standing position wearing a crown and spread hands is shown.
In the rectangle, rest of the space is filled up with simple line drawings of motifs like the sun, moon, stars, urn, hand fan, bangles, peacock or parrot, necklace, mirror, bindi, Swastik, ladder, sieve, tree, lamp and some more make-up items. Thus, doing of mandana is meant to socialize, practice folk art, sing and set the tone for the festival.
In some rural areas, the day is nothing to do with the prayers for longevity for husbands; it is more of a harvest festival. Karwa means ‘pot’ and the festival coincides with the beginning of the Rabi crop cycle and wheat seeds are kept in big earthen pots called Karwas. And, the fast is seen a prayer for a good harvest and beginning of a new spell of toil.
http://u4uvoice.com/interior-rural-rajasthan-karwa-chauth-begins-mandana-painting-women-folk/
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