Ahoi Ashtami

Culture of origin: Hindu · Cultural

Holiday sources: Hinduism

Ahoi Ashtami, about eight days before Diwali, is kept by mothers for the well-being and long life of their children. After a morning bath they vow to fast without food or water; before sunset they draw the goddess Ahoi Mata on a wall, with children and a lion, or hang an embroidered image of her, and set up a water pot for the puja. The fast is broken on sighting the stars or the moon, as each family's custom has it.