channeled into maintaining the welfare
and prosperity of the family. Although
such vows are voluntary in the strictest
sense, there is great social pressure for
women to perform them, thus fulfilling
their expected role as “good” wives. Karva
Chauth is a very strict vow; women observ-
ing it neither eat nor drink until they see
the moonrising that evening. When the
moon appears, the women offer water to it
and then are permitted to drink. On this
evening, women may also worshipthe
deities Shivaand Parvati (the divine
example of a happily married couple) and
Karttikeya, their son. Women also give
each other small pots (karva) filled with
sweets, hence the festival’s name.
The charter myth for this observance
tells how a young bride, while performing
this fast at the home of her birth, grows
faint and nearly lifeless. Her brothers are
so worried about her health that one of
them climbs into a tree with a lantern,
while the others convince her that the
light is coming from the rising moon. The
young woman is greatly relieved, but as
soon as she drinks water her husband falls
down dead. Her brothers eventually have
to confess what they have done. As the
woman lays lamenting her newly gained
widowhood, she is discovered by the god-
dessParvati, who assures her that her hus-
band will be restored to life if she faithfully
observes Karva Chauth the following year.
The young woman does as she is told and
regains her husband.
This tale contains significant cultural
information, particularly on people’s dif-
fering obligations. A brother’s duty is to
protect his sister. A wife’s primary duty is
to her husband, and her efforts should be
devoted to his welfare. As in many such
tales, the consequences of failing to keep a
religious observance are swift and severe,
and the rewards from faithfully perform-
ing it are equally grand.
Kashi
(“shining”) One of the traditional names
for the city of Benares. Benares is men-
tioned in the list of the Seven Sacred
Cities, where death brings final liberation
of the soul. In a more strict local sense, the
name Kashidesignates the largest of the
three traditional sacred zones in Benares.
It includes everything within the
Panchakroshi Yatra road, a circuit
around the city that marks the outer limit
of the region. The name Kashi refers to the
mythic story of the jyotirlinga, the “pillar
of light” in which the god Shivais said to
have first appeared. According to tradi-
tion, the pillar of light did not just land in
Kashi but was itself a form of Kashi, thus
indicating the city’s sanctity over all other
places on earth.Kashmir
One of the three distinct cultural areas,
along with Jammuand Ladakh, in the
modern Indian state of Jammu and
Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir is a former
princely state, in which the Hindu Dogra
kings also ruled over the minoritypopula-
tions of the mostly Muslim Kashmiris and
the mostly Buddhist Ladakhis. Since
Indian independence in 1947, this ethnic
and religious division continues to be a
source of trouble, and nowhere more than
in Kashmir. At independence, Pakistan
attempted to take the region by force and
claimed a section of Kashmir. In the time
since then, India and Pakistan have fought
several wars over it; Pakistan claims it by
virtue of their shared religion of Islam;
India claims it by virtue of a document
signed by the last of its kings, Maharaja
Hari Singh. The Kashmiris themselves
have been caught in this regional clash,
and their demands for greater self-deter-
mination have been largely ignored.
After the 1986 state elections, which were
widely regarded as rigged, tensions
in Kashmir came to a boil. Since 1990 the
tension has turned into an open rebellion,
assisted by covert aid from Pakistan.
Most Kashmiris became Muslims
during medieval times. Before that time
the region was a Hindu cultural area.
Kashmir still has some stunning exam-
ples of early Hindu architecture, such as
the sun templeat Martand, a temple to
the god Shivaat Pandrenthan, and the
shrine to Shiva at Amarnathcave whichKashi