Teej / Haryali Teej
Teej
Teej (Hindi: तीज, ISO 15919: Tīja) is the generic name for a number of
Hindu festivals that are celebrated by women in many parts of North India and
Nepal. Haryali Teej and Hartalika Teej welcome
the monsoon season and are
celebrated primarily by girls and women, with songs, dancing and prayer
rituals. The monsoon festivals of Teej are primarily dedicated
to Parvati and her union
with Shiva. Women often fast in celebration of Teej.
Etymology
Teej refers
to the third day that falls every month after the new moon (amavasya), and the third day after
the full moon night of every lunar
month. According to Kumar (1988), Kajari Teej and Hartalika
Teej fall in Bhadrapada.
Teej refers
to the monsoon festivals, observed particularly in western and northern states
of India and Nepal. The festivals celebrate the bounty of nature, arrival of
clouds and rain, greenery and birds with social activity, rituals and customs. The
festivals for women, include dancing, singing, getting together with friends
and telling stories, dressing up with henna-coloured hands and
feet, wearing red, green or orange clothes, sharing festive foods, and
playing under trees on swings on Haryali Teej. The monsoon
festival in Rajasthan is dedicated to Parvati.
Types
of Teej
Teej festivals
are traditionally observed by women to celebrate the monsoons during the months
of Shravan and Bhadrapada in the Hindu calendar. Women often pray to Parvati and Shiva during Teej.
Haryali
Teej
Haryali Teej (lit.
Green Teej) is celebrated on the third day after the full moon in
the month of Shraavana/Sawan (of the Hindu calendar). As Shraavana falls during the monsoon or rainy season
when the surroundings become green, the Shraavana Teej is also
called Hariyali Teej. A fast is often kept and the focus is the
moon.
The Hariyali Teej festival
is also celebrated to remember the reunion of Shiva and Parvati, the day when
Shiva accepted Parvati as his wife. Parvati fasted and was austere for many
years and was accepted by Shiva as his wife in her 108 birth. Parvati is also
known as Teej mata (lit. Teej mother).
Sindhara
On Teej married
daughters receive the gifts by her mother such clothes, bangles, bindi, mehandi,
etc. Ghevar, a special sweet, are given to them on this day. These
gifts are known as Sindhara. According to Bhatnager (1988), Sindhara is
derived from the Sanskrit word sringar "which means the decoration of
women and their charming beauty. These gifts include sweets, henna, new
bangles, and a new dress. The rich send expensive gifts. The unmarried girls
also receive new clothes and articles of decoration".
Observance of Haryali Teej
Teej is celebrated in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan
Punjab region
Haryali Teej is
a festival when girls play on swings that are set up under trees or open
courtyards. During Teej, in-laws, husbands and other family members
give gifts, typically new clothes and accessories, to girls and women. Sweets
are prepared especially ghevar in some parts of Punjab.
The festival is celebrated
in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
Chandigarh
Chandigarh administration makes special arrangements for Teej celebration
in the Rock Garden in the city. School children present plays and other
cultural programs on this day. The female members of the family, especially
daughters, are given gifts and dresses.
Haryana
Haryali Teej is
one of the famous festivals of Haryana, and is
celebrated as an official holiday. Many functions are organised by the Government
of Haryana to celebrate this festival, which
welcomes the rainy season. Boys
traditionally flew kites from
morning to evening, though this tradition is losing its charm in big cities due
to high rise buildings and lack of terrace space.
Swings are
set up in open courtyards, under trees for the season. Girls apply henna to their hands and feet and are excused from
household chores on this day. On Teej, girls often receive new
clothes from their parents.
On Teej, just as
on Karva Chauth, the mother sends a baya or gift. The
puja is performed in the morning. The baya, which consists of a variety
of foodstuffs, is placed on a thaali at a place of worship
where a chowk (square) has been decorated, and an idol or
picture of Parvati has been installed. The evenings are set aside for folk singing and
dancing, including the women's prayers for their
husbands' longevity and their families.
Punjab
Teej is known as Teeyan in Punjab and is seen as a seasonal festival which is
dedicated to the onset of the monsoon. The festival is celebrated by women of
all faiths, and lasts from the third day of the bright half of the lunar month
of Sawan as per the Bikrami calendar (Punjabi calendar) to the full moon of Sawan (about 13 days). Teeyan
involves women getting together and performing Gidda, married women
visiting their families and receiving gifts. It is also traditional for women
to ride on swings.
Fairs are organised in schools
and colleges where dance competitions are held.
Rajasthan
Teej welcomes
the monsoon and observed in the month of Shravan (July/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 Parvati, commemorating her union with Shiva. Parvati is
worshipped by seekers of conjugal bliss and happiness. An elaborate procession
is taken out in Jaipur for two continuous 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.
During Teej,
Parvati is worshipped. The day before Haryali Teej, is celebrated
as Sinjara, wherein women put mehandi on their hands and
eat.
Kajari
Teej
Kajari Teej is
celebrated in the North Indian Lunar month of Bhadrapud: the third day of the
dark fortnight of Bhadrapada. Kajari Teej is also called Boorhi
Teej In Rajasthan; Kajari Teej is called Badi
Teej (lit. Bigger Teej) as it follows Haryali Teej,
which is known as Chhoti Teej (lit. Smaller Teej).
Women in Uttar Pradesh pray to Shiva on Kajari
Teej. It is also customary to sing folk songs known as kajris.
The focus of the lyrics is usually on separation expressing the pining of a
woman for her beloved in her parents' home, where she has been sent to
celebrate Teej or waiting in anticipation to be collected by
brothers to celebrate Teej. The kajri is a folk song composed
and sung in the regions of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and
in parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Women who observe the Kajari
Teej fast go without food and water. Kajari Teej is
associated closely with Kajali Teej, which also involves praying to
the moon. The fast is broken by eating sattu. The other focus of the
day is to pray to the neem tree. A fair is held in Bundi in Rajasthan to celebrate Kajari Teej.
Hartalika
Teej
Hartalika is
a combination of the Hindi words harit and aalika which
means "abduction" and "female friend" respectively.
According to the legend of Hartalika Teej, Parvati, incarnated
as Shailaputri
On the third day of the bright
half of Bhadrapud, Parvati made a shiva lingam out of her hair
and prayed. Shiva was so impressed that he gave his word to marry Parvati.
Eventually, Parvati was united with Shiva and was married to him with her
father's blessing. Since then, the day is referred to as Hartalika Teej as
Parvati's female (aalika) friend had to abduct (harit) her in
order for the goddess to achieve her goal of marrying Shiva.
Accordingly, Hartalika
Teej is seen as a major festival and is celebrated on the third day of
the bright half of the North Indian Lunar month of Bhadrapud. The festival
women feasting during the evening of Hartalika Teej, praying to
Parvati and Shiva, remembering their wedding and staying up all night listening
to prayers. The fast (also called nishivasar nirjala vrat) commences
during the evening of Hartalika Teej and is broken the next
day after a full day's observance which involves women not even drinking
water. The focus is on praying to Parvati whom Shiva desired should be
worshipped under the name Hartalika. The main areas of celebration
are Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand. In Rajasthan,
an idol of Parvati is taken out in procession in the streets accompanied by
singing, and music. Hartalika Teej has also spread to parts
of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Hartalika Teej of
the north is not to be confused with Hartalika Teej of Maharashtra which is connected to the festival of Gowri
Habba.
Elsewhere in India
Akha Teej
Akha Teej (also
called Akshaya Tritiya) falls on the third day after full moon in the month
of Vaisakha. It is an auspicious day of the birthday of Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of Vishnu. On this day Veda Vyas and Ganesha began
to write the Mahabharata. Jains
celebrate this day to commemorate Tirthankara Rishabha's ending of
his fast by consuming sugarcane juice poured into his cupped hands. According
to Gagne (2013), Akha Teej is an important festival in the
Hindu calendar.
Awra Teej of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
Awra Teej is
celebrated in the month of Vaisakh in parts of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. This festival of Teej falls in Spring. The month
of Vaisakh occurs during spring.
Jhulan Utsav
Haryali Teej coincides
with the swing festival of Jhulan Leela also known as Jhulan
Utsav or Hindola Utsav which is associated
with Krishna and Radha,
and is celebrated at Banke Bihari Temple and other temples in
the Vrindavan area of Uttar Pradesh. The festival lasts until Krishna Janmashtami for 13 days.
On the day of Teej,
idols of Krishna and Radha are placed on swings in the temples and the focus
of Jhulan Leela is religious. The green theme, popular in
neighbouring Rajasthan and Haryana on Haryali
Teej, can also be seen in the Jhulan Utsav. Idols of Krishna
and Radha are dressed in green clothes.
Haryali Teej and Jhulan
Utsav fall on the same day, but the Teej is a monsoon
festival dedicated to Parvati whereas, Jhulan Utsav is dedicated to Krishna and
Radha.
Kajal Teej of Telangana
Teej in Telangana forms part of a wider celebration which is a
forerunner to other festivals being celebrated and is known as Kajal
Teej. Kajal Teej is one of the Banjara tribe's
biggest festivals.
Kevada Teej of Gujrat
Kevada Teej, also
known as Kevda Trij, is a festival observed mainly in Gujarat. The festival is celebrated on the third day of the
Shukla Paksha (waxing of the moon) of Bhadra in Gujarat. This
observance is similar to the Hartalika Teej fast (vrat).
Married and unmarried women observe a fast on the day and offer the kevada flower
(pine screw) to Parvati and Shiva.
Observance
in Nepal of Haritalika Teej
Dedicated to Parvati,
commemorating her union with Shiva, the festival is celebrated for well-being
of spouse and children and purification of one's body and soul. The festival is a three-day-long celebration that
combines sumptuous feasts as well as rigid fasting. Teej (also
romanised Tij) is celebrated by women, for the long life of her
husband and long and firm relationship between them in this life and all the
lives to come. It is particularly celebrated by women from various castes of
Nepalese society, particularly the Bahun Chettri and others, on the
third day after the new moon of the month of Bhadra (mid-August to
mid-September).
Amongst some communities it is
viewed as a "festival of sisterhood", Teej has traditional and
modern values as a festival of celebrating good times with siblings. Although
it looks like it is celebration of sisterhood because when married women get
rare chance to meet with sisters and friends from their birthplace, there is a
strong role of brothers to celebrate the festival as they are to call their
sisters in this auspicious occasion and cook special food for their sisters,
and all the girls enjoy time doing make up to look the best and dance to forget
the pain they get from their inlaws, which is expressed in the form of folk
songs with particular rhythm.
Traditional values
According to Hindu mythology,
Shree Swosthani Bratakatha, Parvati ran away from her home with her
friends to jungle as she was afraid that her father Himalaya promised to Vishnu
to give his daughter Parvati in marriage. She then went to jungle and started
praying Shiva to fulfil her wish to marry him. He said "tathastu"
meaning he will fulfil her wish. That was the day of Teej when
Parvati got her husband as her undying wish. So this day is celebrated to get
the husband of their dream by unmarried women and for long, healthy and
prosperous life of husband by married women.
First day
The first day of Teej is
called Dar Khane Din. On this day the women assemble at one place
in their finest attire and start dancing and singing devotional songs. Amidst
all this, the grand feast takes place. What is unusual about this day is that
the feast is hosted by men. Women, who work hard throughout the year, do not
have to do anything that day. That is the day for them to embellish themselves
in sorha singaar — dressing up and using make up to the full
extent, indulge in good food, and dance. Oftentimes, because women are invited
by multiple brothers for the feast, they try to dance off some food before they
are ready to eat more. The food served is supposed to be rich and abundant.
This is probably the only day
in a year that allows women full freedom of expression. Consequently, women
have traditionally used this occasion to express their pains and pang in the
songs they sing while dancing. With the advancement of communication and
awareness, women these days use this occasion to voice their concerns about
social issues and discrimination against women. The jollity often goes on till
midnight, after which the 24-hour fast starts.
Second day
The second day is the day of
fasting. Some women don't eat or drink food and water while others drink liquids
and eat fruit. The fasting is observed by married and unmarried women. Married
women abstain strictly from food and drinks with a belief that their devotion
to the gods will be blessed with longevity, peace and prosperity of their
husband and family. Unmarried women observe the fast with a hope of being
blessed with a good husband.
They dress gaily and visit a
nearby Shiva temple singing and dancing on the way. The Pashupatinath
Temple gets the highest number of devotees. At the temple, women
circumambulate the shiva lingam, which symbolizes Shiva, offers the
praying with flowers, sweets and coins. The main puja (religious ceremony)
takes place with offerings of flowers, fruits, etc., made to Shiva and his wife
Parvati, 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. It is believed that by the light of an oil lamp all night
will bring peace and prosperity to the husband and family.
Third day
The third day of the festival
is Rishi Panchami. After the completion of the previous day's puja, women
pay homage to seven saints or sages, offer prayers to deities, and bathe with
red mud found on the roots of the sacred datiwan bush, along with its leaves.
The Rishi Panchami revolves around the purity of women. It is a time when women
cleanse themselves of the possible "sin of touching a man during
menstruation." During this festival, which occurs two days after the Tij,
the women participate in ritual baths and puja (worship). One of the defining characteristics of
the Tij Festival is the songs the women sing. Traditionally, these songs
emphasized the subservient role of women in Nepalese society in addition to
reinforcing traditional Hindu ideology
of gender relations. Within the past few decades, as Nepal and the surrounding
area experiences rapid development and modernization, the Tij songs have become
more of a critical commentary on gender relations from women's perspectives.
These songs "extend the women's thoughts and experiences of hardships from
a intimate conversation to a public setting". The Tij songs allow
women to effect change in their respective societies by giving them a public
voice.
Sindh
The Sindhi community in India and Pakistan celebrate Teej which is known as Teejdi or Teejri. However, Sindhis celebrate Teejri on the third day after the full moon of Sawan.
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