Sakat Chauth falls in the month of January. It is an auspicious day devoted to the worship of the Hindu God, Lord
Sakat Chauth
Ganesha who is considered to be the representative of benignant celebrations and likewise Goddess Sakat who is acknowledged to eliminate all afflictions. This day is additionally recognized as Sankat Chauth, Tilkuta Chauth, Vakra-Tundi Chaturthi, and Maghi Chathurthi. Rejoiced across India, Sakat Chauth descends on the Krishna Paksha Chaturthi throughout the month of Magha.
Celebrations and timings
Sakat Chauth tithi commences in January and it concludes in the same month after 24 hrs. Married women in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan keep fast on this day with a hope that all sorts of difficulties will be extracted from their life and Lord Ganesha and Goddess Sakat would bestow them with good destiny, fortune, affluence, and longevity of their husbands and prosperity of their children. According to Hindu culture, though Sakat Chauth fasting is performed each month on Krishna Paksha Chaturthi, and the most meaningful Sakat Chauth is the one which appears in this month of Magha.
Pooja Rituals
- Arise before dawn in the morning. Take a holy bath. Wear tidy clothes and do Ganesh pooja chanting Ganesha mantra – ‘Om Shri Ganeshaaya Namah’.
- Commemorate a fast till moonrise. Throughout the fasting phase water, milk, tea, and fruits can be eaten. Several people hold ‘Nirjala fast’ further. Continue chanting Ganesha mantra the entire day.
- In the twilight, create a miniature mandap and establish Lord Ganesha’s photo or idol in it. Alight a pure ghee lamp, incense sticks and keep a Kalash loaded with water in the appearance of Ganesha’s figure. Proffer flowers, Durva grass with three or five nodes, Til laddoo or Tilkut made of sesame seeds and jaggery, sugarcane and sweet potato to the elephant-headed Lord.
- A narrative explaining the kind-heartedness of Lord Ganesha and Sakat Mata is recited. There are numerous anecdotes linked to this fasting day. One of the most prominent is as follows:
“There were a capital lender and his wife. They did not consider in any devotion and virtue and did not have any child. One day the money lender’s wife ran to a neighbor’s home where she overheard to the story of Sakat Chauth. She asked her acquaintance about Sakat Mata. Her acquaintance described her regarding this fast and the goods which one gets by holding this fast. She said the money lender’s wife that people are endowed with health, wealth, children, their good health and a bright future, good fortune and long life of the husband and much more as an award of having this fast with full dedication. Money lender’s wife believed that she would do the Sakat fast with half kg Tilkut if she gets pregnant. After a remarkable time, she got pregnant. Then she said that she will hold the fast and do 2.5 kg Tilkut if she would be anointed with a baby boy. The days passed on and she was endowed with a baby boy. After the birth of this baby, she repeatedly suspended the fast and Tilkut routine until the period of the marriage of her son and pledged to do 5.25 kg Tilkut at that time. At the time of the wedding of her son, she misremembered to do fast and Tilkut. Consequently, Sakat Mata and Lord Ganesha got offended. They seized her son from the marriage asseverations and kept him on a Peepal tree in a nearby wood. Everyone returned back home dissatisfied externally without the groom and bride. One day the girl who was deemed to get married with money lender’s son moved to the corresponding forest with her confreres for Gangaur pooja. There she overheard a call from the Peepal tree – “come my half-married”. The girl could not conjecture anything. She told this event to her mother after moving back home. The next day, the mother of the girl traveled to the very forest and discovered that the man on the Peepal tree was her son-in-law. She requested him concerning the entire episode. The son-in-law explained that her mother skipped meeting her commitment to persisting Sakat fast and do 5.25 kg of Tilkut at the moment of his wedding. So Sakat Mata and Lord Ganesha punished them. Then the girl’s mother proceeded to the boy’s family and suggested his mother of Sakat fast and Tilkut. Money lender’s wife appealed to Sakat Mata and Lord Ganesha and admitted her mistake. She promised in front of them to do 100 kg Tilkut when her son would recover back home securely. Sakat Devi and Shri Ganesha became happy and reverted back her son. Since then people hold this fast with a strong faith that Sakat Chauth fasting will satisfy their wishes as the desires of money lender’s wife got answered.”
- Next interprets this story, do Ganesha Aarti.
- After Ganesha Pooja, wait till moonrise. Later sighting the Moon, pray it with sesame seeds and arghya (a mixture of water and milk). After these contributions to Moon God, the fast is divulged. Sometimes if the Moon is not apparent due to the clouds, the ceremonies can be completed later the moonrise timings.
Lord Ganesha, the supreme Lord of knowledge signifies the remover of all obstructions. Henceforth it is considered that one can get relieved of all dilemmas by complying this fast.
