Preparing
During the day draw or paste a picture of Ahoi Mata on the wall, with the porcupine (syahu) and its young, and seven figures for the sons of the katha. Set a karwa filled with water before it, with its spout closed with a twig, and tie a red thread round it.
The evening puja
In the evening, before the stars appear, worship Ganesha and then Ahoi Mata with roli, rice, flowers and a lamp. Offer eight puas or puris, eight sweets, halwa, grain and money. Many women worship a silver pendant with silver beads (syau mala), adding a bead for each child, and wear it.
Hear the katha of the woman who killed a porcupine's young by accident while digging, lost her seven sons, and won them back by worshipping Ahoi Mata. Sing the Ahoi Mata aarti.
Breaking the fast
When the stars appear, offer water to them from the karwa, or to the Moon, which rises late on this day. Then eat, and give the offerings to the mother-in-law. The water in the karwa is kept and used on Diwali.
Who keeps it
Ahoi Ashtami is kept mainly in North India by mothers for their sons, and now for all their children, and by women who wish for a child, who often bathe in Radha Kund at Govardhan on this night. It falls eight days before Diwali and four days after Karwa Chauth.