Monday, August 17th, 2015
The country is going bright once again with women clad in their all time favorite color –Red. Haritalika teej or Teej is a festival celebrated by women to mark the union of goddess Parvati with Lord Shiva. This festival is observed for marital happiness and well being of family members. Though people from other cultural backgrounds think it’s really hard for women who celebrate teej because of the difficult fasting ritual the festival holds , it is actually a festival women enjoy celebrating.
Listed are six things every woman who celebrates Teej loves about it.
Having Dar before the tough fasting day has its own charm. Moreover, meeting friends and relatives who are sharing similar experiences is what adds to the charm of the festival. We might have delicious food before and after, but Daar always has a special significance to women celebrating teej.
Buying and exchanging accessories is another important part of teej. We love to embellish ourselves as well our experience sharers with beautiful accessories on this day. So our teej shopping starts a month before and sometimes even before that. After all, shopping is an art and women are masters in this art!
This is the day we dress up in our best traditional attire. We might not step out of our houses but still we prefer to look our very best. Unmarried girls usually prefer red kurtas while most married women are seen in beautiful red sarees and a green tilhari that fully complements their attire.
No matter what belief we have throughout the year about staying hungry, we love to fast on this day of the year. Some women fast without having a single drop of water while some spend the day with fruits and other pious edibles. We give up our meals for our family especially for the wellness of our husband and in return we get self satisfaction and peace of mind.
Women queue up from midnight in Lord Shiva’s temples just to get a glimpse of Lord Shiva on this day. Most of the time women have to queue up for an entire day to keep their wishes in front of Lord Shiva. No matter how great the hardship, teej is never complete without visiting Shiva ji’s temples.
No food to burn calories, no water to trench the thirst, yet we always have that unmatchable energy to dance our heart out on this day. This is the only day when even our mom and aunts dance like nobody’s watching and it gives us immense pleasure to watch them pour all their sorrows and happiness through their dances.