Ahoi Ashtami अहोई अष्टमी
Ahoi Mata · Full-day vrat
Ahoi Ashtami falls on the Krishna Paksha Ashtami of Kartik month, observed primarily by mothers across North India — Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal and Uttarakhand — for the long life, health and prosperity of their children. Ahoi Mata, a benevolent form of Parvati, is depicted with eight corners (ashta-koshthaka) on a wall painting or pata along with her cubs, recalling the legend of a merchant's wife who accidentally killed a porcupine's young while digging clay and lost her own seven sons until Ahoi Mata's grace restored them. The vrata-katha is recited in the evening before sighting stars or the moon.
Rituals (vidhi)
- 1.Nirjala fast from sunrise observed by mothers until star-sighting at twilight
- 2.Drawing the Ahoi Mata pata with eight corners on the northern wall using geru and rice paste
- 3.Establishing a silver Syau (necklace with beads representing children) on the altar
- 4.Listening to the Ahoi Ashtami vrata-katha of the saahukar and the porcupine
- 5.Offering halwa-puri, sweet boiled chana, and singhare-ka-halwa as naivedya
- 6.Arghya to the stars (taraon ko arghya) with water from a karwa before breaking the fast
Significance
Ahoi Ashtami is held by Smarta and Vaishnava grhasthas to be the supreme putra-praapti and putra-rakshana vrata, complementing Karwa Chauth observed eight days earlier for the husband's longevity. The phala-shruti of the vrata-katha promises that mothers who observe the nirjala fast with shraddha shall never witness the death of their progeny, that barren women shall conceive, and that the lineage shall be protected from akala-mrityu (untimely death) and apamrityu. The silver Syau is passed down across generations as a family heirloom of Ahoi Mata's blessing.
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