Teej
Teej (Sanskrit: तीज, meaning "third") is a collective term for three Hindu festivals dedicated to the goddess Parvati and her consort Shiva. It is mainly celebrated by married women and unmarried girls, to pray for the long life of their husband or future husband and to welcome the arrival of the monsoon through singing, swinging, dancing, joyous celebration, pūjā, and often fasting.
Tīja collectively refers to three festivals: Haryālī Tīja, Kajari Tīja, and Hartālikā Tīja. Haryālī Tīja (literally, "green Tīja"), also known as Sindhārā Tīja, Chhoṭī Tīja, Śrāvaṇa Tīja, or Sāvana Tīja, falls on the third day after the new moon in the month of Śrāvaṇa. It marks the day when Śiva consented to Pārvatī’s wish to marry him. Women visit their parental homes, prepare swings, and celebrate with song and dance.
Kajari Tīja (literally, "dark Tīja"), also known as Baṛī Tīja, is celebrated 15 days after Haryālī Tīja during the dark (waning) phase of the moon.
Hartālikā Tīja (from Harat meaning "abduction" and Ālikā meaning "female friend") falls one lunar month after Haryālī Tīja on the third day after the new moon in the month of Bhādrapada. It commemorates the occasion when Pārvatī encouraged her friends to abduct her to avoid marriage with Viṣṇu, which her father Himālaya had arranged. Married women observe nirjala vrata (a fast without water) on this day for the well-being of their husbands.
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