Teej

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Teej
तीज
Teej तीज
Women celebrating Teej
Observed byWomen
TypeMonsoon festivals
DateJuly–September

Teej is a common name for a group of Hindu festivals. These festivals are mainly celebrated by girls and women. They involve songs, dances and prayers. The rainy season festivals of Teej are mainly about the reunion of Parvati and Shiva.[1] Women often fast during Teej celebrations.

Description[change | change source]

Teej means the monsoon festival. It is celebrated in the western and northern states of India and Nepal. Generally, women celebrated the festivals. The monsoon season is welcomed with hariyali teejand hartalika teej. According to the Hindu calendar in the month of Shravan and Bhadra, women traditionally celebrate Teej Utsav to celebrate the monsoon. Women often pray to Parvati and Shiva during Teej.[2][3][4][5]

Hariyali Teej (Green Teej) is celebrated on the third day after the new moon in the month of Sravan (in Hindu calendar). Since the month of Shravan means rainy season and around this time it becomes green, so Shravan Teej is also called Hariyali Teej.

The Hariyali Tij festival is also celebrated to commemorate the reunion of Shiva and Parvati. In this day Shiva adopted Parvati as his wife. Parvati fasted and practiced severe austerities for many years. At the 108th rebirth of Parvati, Shiva took her as his wife. Parvati is also known as Teej Mata (Teej Mother).[6]

Hartalika teej is observed in all parts of Nepal and in most parts of northern India (Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Rajasthan). The festival celebrates the generosity of nature, the arrival of clouds and rain, green nature and birds and with it social activities, rituals and customs. The women's festivals include dancing, singing, gathering with friends and telling stories, designing henna on the hands and feet, wearing red, green or orange, sharing festive food, and playing under the green rocking trees. The monsoon festival of Rajasthan is dedicated to Parvati.

References[change | change source]

  1. "The Dream of India". Aperture. No. 105. January 1, 1987. pp. 52–57. ISBN 978-0893812379.
  2. Alop Ho Raha Punjabi Virsa: Harkesh Singh KehalUnistar Books PVT Ltd ISBN 81-7142-869-X
  3. Bandyopadhyay, Sumana; Magsi, Habibullah; Sen, Sucharita; Dentinho, Tomaz Ponce (2020-01-29). Water Management in South Asia: Socio-economic, Infrastructural, Environmental and Institutional Aspects. Springer. p. 224. ISBN 978-3-030-35237-0.
  4. Mathur, Barkha (23 August 2013). "Rajasthani women celebrate sinjara on eve of badi teej". The Times of India. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
  5. Mathur, Barkha (23 August 2013). "Marwari community celebrates Badi Teej the traditional way". The Times of India. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
  6. Art Culture and Heritage of Rajasthan Study Material With MCQ: Useful for RPSC RAS Prelims and Other Exams. (n.d.). (n.p.): New Era Publication.