Ahoi Ashtami significance and story
According to the Narada Purana, the fast called Karkashtami is observed on the eighth day of the dark fortnight of Kartik month, the best of all months.
It is also known as Ahoi Aathe or Ahoi Ashtami in the local language. Ahoi literally means “Mother who transforms the impossible into possible.”
In this entire universe, the Adishakti Goddess Parvati is the one who averts any untoward incident or misfortune, hence on this day, Mother Parvati is worshipped in the form of Ahoi Mata. The Ahoi Ashtami fast will be observed tomorrow, Monday, October 13th. This year, the Ahoi Ashtami puja will be celebrated during the auspicious conjunction of the Adra and Punarvasu nakshatras. This fast is observed on the fourth day of Karva Chauth in the month of Kartika and eight days before Diwali.
Ahoi Ashtami Puja Muhurta: 5:53 PM to 7:08 PM (Duration – 1 hour 15 minutes)
Evening time for stargazing: 6:17 PM
Moonrise time on Ahoi Ashtami: 11:20 PM
Ashtami Tithi begins – October 13th at 12:24 PM
Ashtami Tithi ends – October 14th at 11:09 AM
The Importance of Ahoi Ashtami Fast
The Ahoi Ashtami fast is considered very important. Observing this fast ensures happiness and longevity for your children. They are protected from all kinds of diseases, and Syaun Mata ensures children’s fortune and protects them from every evil eye. Observing this fast brings happiness and prosperity to your home, and your children achieve great career success. This fast is observed from sunrise to sunset and is broken only after offering water to the stars without consuming any food or water.
Ahoi Ashtami Puja Rituals
It is best to perform the Ahoi Ashtami Puja rituals in the evening during Pradosh time. After fasting all day, begin your prayers in the evening after sunset, when the stars appear in the sky, and offer prayers to the moon at night when the moon rises. Those observing the fast should wake up early in the morning and take a bath. Next, clean a wall of your house and draw a picture of Ahoi Mata on it. Use turmeric or kumkum to create this image. Then, light a ghee lamp in front of the Ahoi Mata image. Then, offer delicacies such as halwa, puri, sweets, etc. to Ahoi Mata. After this, read the story of Ahoi Mata and chant her mantras and pray to her that Ahoi Mata always protects your children.
Mantras for Ahoi Ashtami
Chanting “Om Parvati Priyanandanaya Namaha” 11 times a day for 45 days from Ahoi Ashtami will alleviate all problems related to children.
The Story of Ahoi Ashtami Vrat
Various mythological stories are associated with the Ahoi Ashtami festival. Women recount these stories to each other during the puja. The following are two popular stories related to Ahoi Ashtami:
Story 1: In ancient times, there was a moneylender who had seven sons and seven daughters-in-law. He also had a daughter who had come to her parents’ home from her in-laws’ house for Diwali. When the seven daughters-in-law went to the forest to collect mud to plaster their house, the sister-in-law also followed them. A porcupine (scorpion) lived with her seven sons at the very spot where the moneylender’s daughter was digging the soil. While digging the soil, one of the porcupine’s children was accidentally killed by the moneylender’s daughter’s hoe. Angered by this, the porcupine declared, “I will bind your womb.”
Hearing this from the innkeeper, the moneylender’s daughter begs her seven sisters-in-law, one by one, to have their wombs tied in exchange for hers. The youngest sister-in-law agrees to have her womb tied in exchange for her sister-in-law. After this, all the children of the younger sister-in-law died within seven days. After the deaths of all seven sons, she summoned a priest and inquired about the cause. The priest advised her to serve a Surahi cow.
Surahi is pleased with his service and takes him to Syahu. Tired along the way, they both rest. Suddenly, the moneylender’s younger daughter-in-law glances to the side. She sees a snake about to bite Garuda Pankhani’s child and kills it. Garuda Pankhani arrives just then and, seeing the blood, assumes the younger daughter-in-law has killed her child. She begins pecking at her younger daughter-in-law. She replies that she saved her child’s life. Garuda Pankhani is delighted and takes them, along with Surahi, to Syahu.
Pleased with the younger daughter-in-law’s service, Syahu blesses her with seven sons and seven daughters-in-law. With Syahu’s blessings, the younger daughter-in-law’s home is filled with sons and their wives. In a way, Ahoi Ashtami also means “making the impossible possible” as the moneylender’s younger daughter-in-law did.
Story 2: According to the legend, a woman once lived in a village with her seven sons. One day in the month of Kartik, the woman went into the forest to dig soil. There, she accidentally killed a fawn with her axe.
After that incident, all seven of the woman’s sons died one after another. Grieved by this, the woman told her story to every woman in the village. An elder suggested that she worship Goddess Ahoi Ashtami. To repent for killing the animal’s cub in its sleep, the woman drew a picture of the cub and placed it alongside the image of Goddess Ahoi Ashtami and began worshipping it. That woman observed the fast of Ahoi Ashtami for 7 years and finally all her seven sons came back to life.
Aarti of Ahoi Ashtami
jay ahoee maata, jay ahoee maata.
tumako nit vinatee, hari vishnu dhaata.
brahmaanee rudraanee kamala, tum hee jagat kee daata.
jo koee tumako dhyaavat nit mangal paata..
too hee hai paataal basantee too hee hai sukh daata.
karm prabhaav prakaashak jaganidhi se traata..
jis ghar thaaro vaas usee mein gun aata hai.
