India's Teej Festival

India's Teej Festival takes place during the Hindu month of Sawan, which begins July 16 and ends August 16. Because of this, it is sometimes referred to as the Sawan Festival.

The Teej Festival heralds the beginning of the monsoon season and to a large degree celebrates the renewal of the earth after a very hot and dry summer.

Celebrated mainly by women, the Teej Festival's primary focus however is that of deific worship. Legend has it that the Goddess Parvati once underwent a self-imposed penance in an effort to demonstrate her devotion to Lord Shiva and was born and reborn on earth 108 times before he took her as his wife.

Upon her success, Parvati declared the day to be propitious toward women and promised to bless any who invoked her during that day with a happy marriage and general well-being. And so during the Teej Festival women engage in various forms of worship to receive these blessings.

Certain festivities and acts of veneration take place according to the different stages of the Teej Festival itself, of which there are three.

Hariyali Teej:

With a focus on the earth and moon, Hariyali Teej is filled with traditional song and dance, feasting and boisterous merrymaking.

Many women dress in green to celebrate the replenishment of the earth by the coming rains. It is also believed that such clothing will bring good luck.

Extremely ornate gifts such as intricately painted coconuts are given to female relatives and offerings of green fruit and vegetables are given to the Goddess, Parvati.

The moon as well is worshipped and offerings of flowers and milk are made by way of a special puja, which is a small Hindu ceremony in which various gifts are given to deities in order to receive their blessings.

Special swings are hung in shrines for statues of various deities to sit on and to swing their divine beloved during a ceremony called Jhulan Leela. It is also customary for the women themselves to sit in swings in imitation of those deities.

Kajari Teej:

Taking place on the third day of Sawan, the Kajari Teej incorporates worship of Lord Krishna. Women wear new clothes and sing and dance joyously in honor of Krishna, the monsoons and married couples.

A special puja is performed as well, known as the puja of neem. In it, women gather around sacred neem trees and display various offerings.

Hartalika Teej:

Celebrated over a three day period during the Hindu month of Bhadra, Hartalika Teej is the largest of all the Teej Festivals. Women will fast for 24 hours during this festival without so much as even drinking water. This is done so that the husbands of married women will be blessed with a long and healthy life. For unwed women, they will be blessed with a husband reminiscent of Lord Shiva himself.

The Hartalika Teej specifically focuses on the union of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and a specially decorated statue of the Goddess will be displayed during an extremely elegant procession that includes both elephants and camels.

The next Teej Festival, the Hariyali Teej, begins on Friday, July 23, 2010.

Sources:

Teej Festival, SCFI

Teej, Wikipedia