Women celebrate Karva Chauth in Delhi

Dressed in their bridal finery, Hindu women in the capital celebrate 'Karva Chauth', observing a day-long fast for the long life and prosperity of their husbands.

Dressed in their bridal finery, Hindu women in the capital celebrated 'Karva Chauth', observing a day-long fast for the long life and prosperity of their husbands.

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Following a tradition that dates back to ages, married women spent the day fasting, ending the fast after a pooja in the evening and witnessing the moon through a sieve.

Women, most of them dressed in colourful saris and sporting 'henna' on their hands, sat down together in the evening, performing a pooja and singing songs, after which they broke their fast with water offered by their husbands.

The day had begun for the women with sargi, a meal before sunrise. The fast was broken by looking at the moon through a sieve and then looking at the husband's face.

Karva means a clay pot and chauth means the fourth night after the full moon.

The festival is mostly practised in northern India.