Chaurchan is special festival of the

Mithila region Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothill ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. It is a very important fasting for married women in

Mithila Mithila may refer to: Places * Mithilā, a synonym for the ancient Videha state ** Mithilā (ancient city), the ancient capital city of Videha * Mithila (region), a cultural region (historical and contemporary), now divided between India and Nepal ...

. It is also known as Charchanna Pabni, Chauth Chand or Chauth Chandra or Chorchan Puja. It is dedicated to

Lord Ganesha Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu de ...

and Chandra Deva. It has a lot of religious significance. On this day, married women keep a fast. Different types of dishes are prepared as prasad.

Ganesh Chaturthi Ganesh Chaturthi (ISO: ), also known as Vinayak Chaturthi (), or Ganeshotsav () is a Hindu festival commemorating the birth of the Hindu god Ganesha. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's clay idols privately in homes and p ...

fast is also observed on this day. Along with

Lord Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

Goddess Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in ...

and the moon god is worshipped. The story of Chorchan Puja is also heard on this day after that Arghya is offered to the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

god ( Chandra Deva ). Chaurchan Puja celebration by Maithil married women

Discription of Chaurchan Puja

In the Chaurchan Puja, the fasting is observed for the whole day. Married women in

clean the courtyard of their houses by smearing it with cow dung. After that some local religious pictures are drawn at the place where the puja will be performed with Pithar made of raw rice and some vermilion are placed on them. Various types of dishes, kheer, sweets, fruits, curd are served on large banana leaves in the courtyard. After that in the evening fasting women turn towards the west and offer Arghya to the lord

. One by one, keeping the bowl of sweets, dishes, curd, banana, fruits etc, in their hand is offered to the

by chanting

mantras A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

. The following

are chanted while offering Arghya which are as follows सिंहः प्रसेनमवधिस्सिंहो जाम्बवता हतः सुकुमार मन्दिस्तव ह्येष स्यामन्तकः स्त'

Story of the Chaurchan Puja

One day

was roaming on

Kailash Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; ''Kangrinboqê'' or ''Gang Rinpoche''; Tibetan: གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ; ; sa, कैलास, ), is a mountain in the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It has an altitude of ...

with his vehicle mouse. Then suddenly Chandra Deva started laughing seeing him,

did not understand the reason for his laughter. He asked Chandra Deva "Why are you laughing". Responding to this,

Chandra Chandra ( sa, चन्द्र, Candra, shining' or 'moon), also known as Soma ( sa, सोम), is the Hindu god of the Moon, and is associated with the night, plants and vegetation. He is one of the Navagraha (nine planets of Hinduism) and ...

Deva said that he is laughing seeing the strange form of

. At the same time, he also revealed his form. Lord Ganesha got angry at Chandra Deva's tendency to make fun of him. He cursed Chandra Deva that you are very proud of your appearance that you look very beautiful but from today you would become ugly. Anyone who sees you will get a false stigma. He will be called a criminal even though he has not committed any offence. On hearing the curse, Chandra Deva's pride was shattered. He apologized to Lord Ganesha and said, "Lord, free me from this curse". Seeing Chandra Deva repenting, Lord Ganesha forgave him. The curse could not be withdrawn completely so it was said that anyone who would see the moon god on the day of

. He will be falsely accused. To avoid this, moon is worshiped in

on the evening of

.{{Cite web , title=चौरचन के दिन की जाती है श्रापित चंद्र की पूजा, जानिये महत्व, कथा और शुभ मुहूर्त , url=https://www.jansatta.com/religion/chaurchan-festival-celebrated-in-mithila-bihar-is-tomorrow-know-auspicious-muhurat-importance-and-vrat-katha/1502109/ , access-date=2022-08-30 , website=Jansatta , language=hi Chandra the Moon, by Ravi Varma Press

References

Mithila Hindu festivals Festivals in India Festivals in Nepal Maithili language Maithil Brahmin Ancient culture