Vrat katha and puja vidhi
Ahoi Ashtami 2027: star-sighting time, vrat katha and puja vidhi
Friday, 22 October 2027. Mothers fast for their children from sunrise until the first stars of the evening; in New Delhi the stars are out by about 6:09 pm.
Listen: Ahoi Ashtami 2027
A calm computer-voiced recitation over soft music, checked line by line against the text. It is an aid to reading along, not a replacement for a priest or a family elder.
Ahoi Ashtami 2027 at a glance
- Date: Friday, 22 October 2027, four days after Karwa Chauth and seven days before Diwali.
- Tithi: Kartik Krishna Ashtami, from 11:56 am on 22 October to 9:59 am on 23 October. The vrat is kept on 22 October because the Ashtami is running in the evening, when the puja is done.
- Sunset in New Delhi: 5:45 pm; the first stars are visible from about 6:09 pm. Moonrise is late, at 11:36 pm.
- The puja: in the evening, after sunset; the fast is opened after offering water to the stars.
What Ahoi Ashtami is
Ahoi Ashtami is a mothers' fast. On the eighth day of the waning Moon in Kartik, mothers in North India fast from sunrise until the stars come out, praying to Ahoi Mata, a gentle form of the Goddess as protector of children, for the long life and wellbeing of their sons and daughters. Women hoping for a child keep it too.
The day is simple: no food (and traditionally no water) through the day, a picture of Ahoi Mata on the wall with a mother porcupine (syahu) and her young, the katha in the evening, and water offered to the stars. Many families use the same karwa that was filled on Karwa Chauth. In some homes the mother wears a syahu mala, a thread with a silver Ahoi pendant and one silver bead for each child.
If you are unwell, pregnant or nursing, keep it with water and fruit. The vrat is a mother's prayer, not a hardship to prove.
When the stars come out on Ahoi Ashtami 2027, city by city
Times are for Friday, 22 October 2027, for New Delhi (UTC+5:30); for your city, see the panchang. The first bright stars appear about 20 to 25 minutes after sunset in a clear sky. Some families wait for the Moon instead; its time is in the last column.
| City | Sunset | Stars visible from about | Moonrise |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Delhi | 17:45 | 18:09 | 23:36 |
| Mumbai | 18:11 | 18:35 | 00:13 |
| Kolkata | 17:06 | 17:30 | 23:02 |
| Chennai | 17:46 | 18:10 | 23:53 |
| Jaipur | 17:52 | 18:16 | 23:46 |
| Lucknow | 17:31 | 17:55 | 23:24 |
| Chandigarh | 17:44 | 18:08 | 23:34 |
| Bengaluru | 17:57 | 18:21 | 00:04 |
| Hyderabad | 17:50 | 18:14 | 23:53 |
| Ahmedabad | 18:08 | 18:32 | 00:07 |
| Patna | 17:16 | 17:40 | 23:09 |
| Indore | 17:55 | 18:19 | 23:54 |
Computed with the Sunyra engine. ‘Stars visible from about’ is sunset plus 24 minutes, the end of civil twilight in North India at this season; city lights and haze can delay it a little.
Moonrise in your own city
Choose your town; the panchang below shows its moonrise for the date (the date is filled in for you).
Your panchang
Sunrise, sunset, moonrise and the full panchang for your town will appear here.
Puja samagri
- A picture of Ahoi Mata with the syahu and her young: drawn on the wall with geru (red ochre) or a printed Ahoi calendar picture.
- A karwa or lota filled with water (many use the Karwa Chauth karwa), with a red thread tied around it.
- Roli, rice, a ghee diya, incense, flowers, and a few grains of wheat to hold during the katha.
- Bhog: eight puris or puas, halwa, boiled chana or sweets (eight of each in many families, for the Ashtami).
- The syahu mala, if it is your family's custom, and a small gift (baya) for the mother-in-law or an elder woman.
Puja vidhi, step by step
The evening puja takes about 30 to 40 minutes. Where your family's custom differs, follow it.
- Morning sankalp. After bathing, hold water and rice and say in your own words that you are keeping the Ahoi Ashtami vrat for your children's long life and happiness.
- Draw or hang Ahoi Mata. In the afternoon, draw Ahoi Mata, the syahu and her young (and eight small corners, the ashta koshtak) on a clean wall, or put up the picture.
- Set the puja. Before sunset, place the filled karwa on the right of the picture, with the diya, roli, rice and the bhog.
- Worship. Light the diya and incense, offer roli, rice, flowers and the bhog to Ahoi Mata and the syahu, and pray for your children by name.
- The katha. With wheat grains in your hand, read or listen to the katha below; children often sit with their mother.
- Aarti and baya. Do the aarti of Ahoi Mata, touch your mother-in-law's feet and give her the baya.
- Arghya to the stars. When the stars are out, offer water from the karwa (with the wheat grains) towards them, then break the fast with water and the bhog. Many families keep the karwa's water and use it on Diwali.
Ahoi Ashtami vrat katha
This is the story most families tell, written fresh by us in simple Hindi with English below. It takes about five minutes to read aloud.
बहुत समय पहले एक नगर में एक साहूकार अपनी पत्नी और सात बेटों के साथ रहता था। दिवाली से कुछ दिन पहले साहूकार की पत्नी घर लीपने के लिए मिट्टी लेने जंगल गई।
Long ago, in a certain town, a moneylender lived with his wife and their seven sons. A few days before Diwali, the wife went to the forest to dig earth for plastering the house.
जिस जगह वह कुदाल से मिट्टी खोद रही थी, वहाँ एक सेही (स्याहू) की माँद थी। अनजाने में कुदाल लगने से सेही का एक बच्चा मर गया। यह देखकर उसका मन दुख और पछतावे से भर गया, पर अब कुछ हो नहीं सकता था, और वह मिट्टी लेकर घर लौट आई।
Where she was digging there was the den of a porcupine (syahu). Without knowing it, her spade struck and killed one of the porcupine's young. She was filled with grief and remorse, but nothing could be undone, and she went home with the earth.
कुछ समय बाद एक-एक करके उसके बेटे बीमार पड़ने लगे, और साल भर में उसके सातों बेटे चल बसे। वह दिन-रात रोती रहती। एक दिन उसने गाँव की बड़ी-बूढ़ी स्त्रियों को अपनी सारी बात बताई, कि उससे अनजाने में सेही का बच्चा मर गया था।
Some time later her sons fell ill one after another, and within a year all seven were gone. She wept day and night. One day she told the elder women of the village everything, including how she had killed the porcupine's young without meaning to.
बड़ी स्त्रियों ने उसे सांत्वना दी और कहा, “तुमने सच कहकर आधा पाप धो दिया। अब कार्तिक कृष्ण अष्टमी को अहोई माता का व्रत रखो। दीवार पर सेही और उसके बच्चों का चित्र बनाकर उनकी पूजा करो और सच्चे मन से क्षमा माँगो। माता प्रसन्न होंगी।”
The elder women comforted her and said, “By telling the truth you have already washed away half the wrong. Now keep the fast of Ahoi Mata on Kartik Krishna Ashtami. Draw the porcupine and her young on the wall, worship them, and ask forgiveness with a true heart. The Mother will be pleased.”
साहूकार की पत्नी ने वैसा ही किया। उसने अष्टमी के दिन निर्जल व्रत रखा, अहोई माता और सेही का चित्र बनाकर पूजा की, कथा सुनी और तारों को अर्घ्य दिया। वह हर साल यह व्रत पूरी श्रद्धा से करती रही।
The moneylender's wife did just that. On the Ashtami she fasted without water, drew Ahoi Mata and the porcupine and worshipped them, heard the katha and offered water to the stars. Every year she kept the vrat with complete faith.
उसकी सच्ची श्रद्धा और पश्चाताप से अहोई माता प्रसन्न हुईं। उनकी कृपा से उसके घर फिर से संतान का सुख लौटा, और उसका परिवार हँसी-ख़ुशी से भर गया। तभी से माताएँ अपनी संतान की रक्षा और लंबी आयु के लिए अहोई अष्टमी का व्रत रखती हैं।
Pleased by her true faith and repentance, Ahoi Mata blessed her, and by her grace the joy of children returned to her home and her family was full of laughter again. Since then mothers keep the Ahoi Ashtami fast for the protection and long life of their children.
कथा के अंत में माताएँ कहती हैं: “हे अहोई माता, जैसे आपने साहूकार की पत्नी की गोद भरी, वैसे ही सबकी संतान को सुखी और दीर्घायु रखना।”
At the end of the katha the mothers say: “O Ahoi Mata, as you filled the moneylender's wife's lap with children again, keep every child happy and long-lived.”
Another telling has seven daughters-in-law and the youngest, who serves a cow and a porcupine mother so that her children are spared. The meaning is the same: honesty, care for every living thing, and a mother's patient prayer.
Questions
When is Ahoi Ashtami in 2027?
Ahoi Ashtami 2027 is on Friday, 22 October 2027 (Kartik Krishna Ashtami), four days after Karwa Chauth.
What time can the Ahoi Ashtami fast be broken?
After the evening puja, once the stars are visible: from about 6:09 pm in New Delhi (sunset 5:45 pm). Families who wait for the Moon break it at moonrise, 11:36 pm in Delhi.
Who is Ahoi Mata?
Ahoi Mata is a gentle form of the Goddess, worshipped as the protector of children; many identify her with Parvati. She is drawn with a porcupine and its young because of the vrat katha.
Can the Ahoi Ashtami fast be kept for daughters too?
Yes. It was once described as a fast for sons, but today mothers keep it for all their children, and women hoping for a child keep it as well.
Text and sources
The date and times are computed with the Sunyra engine (sidereal Lahiri, purnimanta months as in North India) and move on to the next year by themselves the day after the vrat; they are the same numbers as our panchang. The katha and vidhi are written fresh by us from the common oral telling; customs differ from family to family.