Teej
Encyclopedia
Teej is a fasting festival for Hindu
women. It takes place on the third day of Shukla Paksha (bright moon fortnight) of the Shraavana
or Saawan month of Hindu calendar
that normally falls from late July to early September. Dedicated to the Goddess Parvati
, commemorating her union with Lord Shiva, the festival is celebrated for marital bliss, well-being of spouse and children and purification of own body and soul. The festival is a three-day-long celebration that combines sumptuous feasts as well as rigid fasting.
Falling on the Hindu month of Bhadrapada or Bhado (August/September), it also celebrates the arrival of monsoon after a season of oppressive heat. "Teej" is a small red insect that comes out of the soil during rains.
s. It marks the advent of the monsoon month of Shravan (August). The monsoon rains fall on the parched land and the pleasing scent of the wet soil rises into the air. Swings are hung from trees and women dressed in green clothes sing songs in celebration of the advent of the monsoon. This festival is dedicated to the Goddess Parvati, commemorating her union with Lord Shiva. Goddess Parvati is worshipped by seekers of conjugal bliss and happiness. An elaborate procession is taken out in Jaipur
for two consecutive days on the festive occasion which is watched by people in large numbers. The Teej idol is covered with a canopy whereas the Gangaur
idol is open. The traditional Ghevar
sweet is also associated with the festival.
in the city. School children present plays and other cultural programs on this day. The female members of family especially daughters are given gifts and dresses.
& Bihar
and in Rajasthan
, Haryana
& Punjab
in different forms. However, now it is also observed in Delhi
, NCR
and Madhya pradesh
. On this day Goddess Parvati
is worshiped. A day before this festival is celebrated as Sinjara wherein girls/ladies put on mehandi on their hands and eat ghewaand taken in a procession in the streets accompanied by singing, music, and dancing.
Teej Amongst the Baniya Community:
Teej is an important festival amongst the baniya and marwari community. In this area women are also given bangle
s and bindis
. Swings are also put on trees for the entertainment of young girls. Unlike the other states and communities amongst the baniyas and marwaris, the festival is meant as a celebration for women especially young girls. Girls of the house are given new clothes. A special and fun lunch is organized by the women of the house for the women in the house. It is the traditional women's day of the community. It is customary for mothers-in-law to give the newly married daughter-in-law a piece of jewellery on her first teej after marriage.
Traditionally daughters-in-law would go to their mothers house for teej and come back after Rakhi
, in this way they would spend about 10 days of the summer with their parents. It is customary that when a daughter goes to her parents house she takes with her sweet and salty savouries with her.
Daughters spend teej with their parents and after they come back they spend Buddhi Teej which is teej for the daughters-in-law in their marital home. Buddhi Teej normally falls within a week after Rakhi.
It is celebrated as Haritalika in Maharahstra,Tay or Tayi in Goa and other Konkanis in Karnataka,and Kerala and Gowri Habba
in Karnataka,Tamil Nadu and Andhra.
Today in Delhi there are numerous suits and sari exhibitions before Teej for women to buy clothing for the festival.
ethnicity, assemble at one place, in their finest attire and start dancing and singing devotional songs. Amidst all this, the grand feast takes place. The jollity often goes on till midnight, after which the 24-hour fast starts.
The second day is the fasting day. Some women live without a morsel of food and drops of water while others take liquid and fruit. On this day, they gaily dress and visit a nearbyShiva
temple singing and dancing on the way. The Pashupatinath Temple
gets the highest number of devotees. At the Shiva temple, women circumambulate the Shiva Linga, the symbol of the lord, offering flowers, sweets and coins. The main puja (religious ceremony) takes place with offerings of flowers, fruits, etc., made to Shiva and Parbati, beseeching them to grant their blessing upon the husband and family. The important part of the puja is the oil lamp which should be alight throughout the night.
The third day of the festival is Rishi Panchami. After the completion of the previous day's puja, women pay homage to various deities and bathe with red mud found on the roots of the sacred datiwan bush, along with its leaves. This act of purification is the final ritual of Teej, after which women are considered absolved from all their sins. The recent years have witnessed an alteration in the rituals, especially concerning the severity, but its essence remains the same.
Teej is celebrated just before the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi
. Women do 24-hour nirjala fasting (without water or fruit) for the wellness of their spouse and their married life and unmarried would be praying to get a nice husband.
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
women. It takes place on the third day of Shukla Paksha (bright moon fortnight) of the Shraavana
Shraavana
Shraavana is a month of the Hindu calendar, also known as Sawan. In India's national civil calendar, Shraavan is the fifth month of the Hindu year, beginning in late July and ending in the third week of August. In the Tamil calendar, it is known as Aavani and is the fifth month of the solar year...
or Saawan month of Hindu calendar
Hindu calendar
The hindu calendar used in ancient times has undergone many changes in the process of regionalization, and today there are several regional Indian calendars, as well as an Indian national calendar. Nepali calendar, Bengali calendar, Malayalam calendar, Tamil calendar, Telugu calendar, Kannada...
that normally falls from late July to early September. Dedicated to the Goddess Parvati
Parvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
, commemorating her union with Lord Shiva, the festival is celebrated for marital bliss, well-being of spouse and children and purification of own body and soul. The festival is a three-day-long celebration that combines sumptuous feasts as well as rigid fasting.
Falling on the Hindu month of Bhadrapada or Bhado (August/September), it also celebrates the arrival of monsoon after a season of oppressive heat. "Teej" is a small red insect that comes out of the soil during rains.
Teej in Jaipur
Teej is the festival of swingSwing (seat)
A swing is a hanging seat, usually found at playgrounds for children, a circus for acrobats, or on a porch for relaxing. The seat of a swing may be suspended from chains or ropes. Once a swing is in motion it continues to oscillate like a pendulum until external interference or drag brings it to a...
s. It marks the advent of the monsoon month of Shravan (August). The monsoon rains fall on the parched land and the pleasing scent of the wet soil rises into the air. Swings are hung from trees and women dressed in green clothes sing songs in celebration of the advent of the monsoon. This festival is dedicated to the Goddess Parvati, commemorating her union with Lord Shiva. Goddess Parvati is worshipped by seekers of conjugal bliss and happiness. An elaborate procession is taken out in Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
for two consecutive days on the festive occasion which is watched by people in large numbers. The Teej idol is covered with a canopy whereas the Gangaur
Gangaur
Gangaur is a festival celebrated in the Indian state of Rajasthan.Gangaur is the colourful and the one of the most important festivals of people of Rajasthan and is observed throughout the state with great fervour and devotion by womenfolk who worship Gauri, the consort of Lord Shiva during...
idol is open. The traditional Ghevar
Ghevar
Ghevar is a famous Rajasthani sweet traditionally associated with the Teej Festival. It is disc-shaped, and made from oil, flour and sugar syrup...
sweet is also associated with the festival.
Teej in Chandigarh
Chandigarh administration makes special arrangements for Teej celebration in Rock gardenRock Garden
The Rock Garden or Rock Garden of Chandigarh is a Sculpture garden in Chandigarh, India, also known as Nek Chand's Rock Garden after its founder Nek Chand, a government official who started the garden secretly in his spare time in 1957. Today it is spread over an area of forty-acres , it is...
in the city. School children present plays and other cultural programs on this day. The female members of family especially daughters are given gifts and dresses.
Teej in India's other states
Traditionally Teej is celebrated mainly in Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
& Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
and in Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
& Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
in different forms. However, now it is also observed in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, NCR
National Capital Region (India)
The National Capital Region in India is a name for the conurbation or metropolitan area which encompasses the entire National Capital Territory of Delhi as well as urban areas ringing it in neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan...
and Madhya pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
. On this day Goddess Parvati
Parvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
is worshiped. A day before this festival is celebrated as Sinjara wherein girls/ladies put on mehandi on their hands and eat ghewaand taken in a procession in the streets accompanied by singing, music, and dancing.
Teej Amongst the Baniya Community:
Teej is an important festival amongst the baniya and marwari community. In this area women are also given bangle
Bangle
Bangles or churi are traditional ornaments worn mostly by South Asian women in India and Bangladesh, especially Hindus. It is tradition that the bride will try to wear as many small glass bangles as possible at her wedding and the honeymoon will end when the last bangle breaks...
s and bindis
Bindi (decoration)
A bindi is a forehead decoration worn in South Asia . and Southeast Asia...
. Swings are also put on trees for the entertainment of young girls. Unlike the other states and communities amongst the baniyas and marwaris, the festival is meant as a celebration for women especially young girls. Girls of the house are given new clothes. A special and fun lunch is organized by the women of the house for the women in the house. It is the traditional women's day of the community. It is customary for mothers-in-law to give the newly married daughter-in-law a piece of jewellery on her first teej after marriage.
Traditionally daughters-in-law would go to their mothers house for teej and come back after Rakhi
Rakhi
Raksha Bandhan , , , or Rakhi , is a festival primarily observed in India, which celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. It is also called Rakhi Purnima in certain parts of India, like the south. The festival is observed by Hindus and Jains...
, in this way they would spend about 10 days of the summer with their parents. It is customary that when a daughter goes to her parents house she takes with her sweet and salty savouries with her.
Daughters spend teej with their parents and after they come back they spend Buddhi Teej which is teej for the daughters-in-law in their marital home. Buddhi Teej normally falls within a week after Rakhi.
It is celebrated as Haritalika in Maharahstra,Tay or Tayi in Goa and other Konkanis in Karnataka,and Kerala and Gowri Habba
Gowri Habba
Gowri Habba is a Hindu festival celebrated a day before Ganesh Chaturthi.It is a significant festival in parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. It is known as Hartalika in Maharashtra and Tay orTayi i.e...
in Karnataka,Tamil Nadu and Andhra.
Today in Delhi there are numerous suits and sari exhibitions before Teej for women to buy clothing for the festival.
Teej in Nepal
The first day of Teej is called Dar Khane Din. On this day the women, both married and unmarried, mainly of KhasKhas
Originally the Khas / Khasas or Khasiyas are the mountain dwellers living in the southern shadow of the Himalayan range from Kashmir to Bhutan, but mostly in Nepal, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, North Bengal, Sikkim and Bhutan,...
ethnicity, assemble at one place, in their finest attire and start dancing and singing devotional songs. Amidst all this, the grand feast takes place. The jollity often goes on till midnight, after which the 24-hour fast starts.
The second day is the fasting day. Some women live without a morsel of food and drops of water while others take liquid and fruit. On this day, they gaily dress and visit a nearbyShiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
temple singing and dancing on the way. The Pashupatinath Temple
Pashupatinath temple
Pashupatinath Temple is one of the most significant Hindu temples of Lord Shiva in the world, located on the banks of the Bagmati River in the eastern part of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The temple served as the seat of the national deity, Lord Pashupatinath, Nepal is a secular country...
gets the highest number of devotees. At the Shiva temple, women circumambulate the Shiva Linga, the symbol of the lord, offering flowers, sweets and coins. The main puja (religious ceremony) takes place with offerings of flowers, fruits, etc., made to Shiva and Parbati, beseeching them to grant their blessing upon the husband and family. The important part of the puja is the oil lamp which should be alight throughout the night.
The third day of the festival is Rishi Panchami. After the completion of the previous day's puja, women pay homage to various deities and bathe with red mud found on the roots of the sacred datiwan bush, along with its leaves. This act of purification is the final ritual of Teej, after which women are considered absolved from all their sins. The recent years have witnessed an alteration in the rituals, especially concerning the severity, but its essence remains the same.
Teej is celebrated just before the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesh Chaturthi , also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is the Hindu festival of Ganesha also called Vinayagar in Tamil Nadu, the son of Shiva and Parvati, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival...
. Women do 24-hour nirjala fasting (without water or fruit) for the wellness of their spouse and their married life and unmarried would be praying to get a nice husband.
External links
- Hartalika Teej
- http://www.nepalhomepage.com/society/festivals/teej.html
- http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=84065
- http://www.archive.org/download/teej_2063/teej_2063.wmv
- http://www.surfindia.com/festivals/teej.html
- http://www.youngsindhiadults.org/Documents/GuidelinesforTeejri.pdf