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The Ahoi Ashtami katha
Long ago, in a town, there lived a moneylender (sahukar). He had seven sons, and his house was full and prosperous. A few days before Diwali, the moneylender's wife went to the edge of the forest to fetch clay to plaster the house.
There she was digging the earth with a spade. In that very spot was the burrow of a syahu (porcupine). Without knowing it, the spade struck one of the syahu's young ones, and it died. The moneylender's wife was deeply grieved, but nothing could be done now. Full of regret, she carried the clay home.
It is said that, having lost her child, the syahu cursed her. Within a year, the moneylender's seven sons passed away, one after another. The house fell silent, and the moneylender's wife wept day and night.
One day she told her sorrow to the elder women of the village, and said that she had unknowingly caused the death of the syahu's young one. The elders said, 'You did not sin on purpose, and you are repenting with a sincere heart. On Kartik Krishna Ashtami, keep the fast of Ahoi Mata. Draw a picture of the syahu and her young ones on the wall, worship it, and ask forgiveness for your mistake.'
The moneylender's wife did just that. She kept the fast wholeheartedly, worshipped Ahoi Mata and the syahu, and kept the fast every year. Ahoi Mata was pleased with her devotion and, as the katha tells it, she was blessed once again with seven sons.
Since then, mothers keep the Ahoi Ashtami fast for the happiness and long life of their children.
Other versions of this katha are told in different regions, such as the story of the nanad and bhabhi (sister-in-law and brother's wife). Read the katha that has been passed down in your own family.
Ahoi Ashtami puja vidhi
- Bathe in the morning and take the sankalp (resolve) to keep the fast for your children's wellbeing.
- Before evening, draw a picture of Ahoi Mata, the syahu (porcupine) and her young ones on the wall with gerua (red ochre) or colour, or put up a market-bought Ahoi Mata calendar.
- Place a kalash (pot) filled with water in front of the picture. In many homes the karwa used on Karwa Chauth is kept on the kalash.
- Offer roli, rice, milk and bhog (usually puri, halwa or eight pua).
- Sit with the family and listen to or read the katha of Ahoi Mata.
- Do the aarti.
- When the stars appear, offer arghya (a water offering) to the stars and then break the fast. In some homes this is done after moonrise.
- Many families also have a tradition of wearing a silver syahu (Ahoi) garland, to which one bead is added every year.