Jitiya Vrat (Jivitputrika)

An exceptionally strict 36-hour waterless fast observed by mothers to pray for the survival and success of their children.

Legend tells that King Jimutavahana heroically saved the serpent-mother's son from the great bird-king Garuda. Mothers therefore worship Lord Jimutavahana for the protection of their children.

Day one is Nahai-Khai - a river bath followed by a traditional meal of noni greens and madua roti. On the second day mothers keep a waterless (nirjala) fast of over 24 hours, gathering to recite the vrat katha.

On the main night, figures of the kite (chill) and jackal (siyar) are shaped from earth and cow-dung and worshipped. Lamps are floated on the river, and the fast is broken with the Parana ritual on the final day.

It is firmly believed that keeping the Jitiya vrat wards off calamity, accident and illness from one's children, with Lord Jimutavahana himself standing as their protector.

The tradition is linked to the Mahabharata, in which Krishna revived Uttara's stillborn son struck by Ashwatthama's brahmastra - making the vrat especially significant across Purvanchal.

A fast kept by mothers for their sons' long life, across Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Women go a full day without water, hear the story of Jimutavahana told on mud-plastered courtyards, and tie a thread at the end of it. This is a household festival rather than a public one — there is nothing staged to watch.