Teej         

Teej is a festival celebrated by Nepali women, for the long life of her husband and long and firm relationship between them until the death this life and all the lives to come. Teej is observed for marital happiness, well-being of spouse and children and purification of own body and soul. Teej is  the most famous festival among Nepali women.The folk music and dances add more flavor to traditional values of Teej. It is fascinating to see women, in “Red” dancing and singing on the street, going to temple in holy and fasting mood. Teej is also called Hari Tamika Teej. This festival is celebrated by Nepali Hindu women all across the world. Teej is a small red insect that comes out of the soil during the rainy season. It is said Teej got its name from the same red insect. That is why Teej is celebrated in red.The eve (first day of Teej) is called DAR Khane Din. On this day all the family members especially the women, both married and unmarried gather at one place, in their finest outfits of red (called Saubhagya) and start dancing and singing devotional songs mixed with Nepali folk and Dohori songs.

Second day is the main day of Teej (the fasting day). Some women take it very rigid, they even live without a piece of food and drops of water while some others take liquid and fruit. On this day, they happily dress in red, married women wear their lagan ko pote, nathhi, other jewelries and chadke tilahari ( jewelries are optional but chadke tilahari, laganko pote and natthi is said to be most important) and visit a nearby Lord Shiva’s temple singing and dancing all the way.Most of devotees in Kathmandu go to Pashupatinath Temple. At the Shiva temple, women worship the Shiva lingam, the symbol of the lord Shiva, offering flowers, sweets and coins. The main puja (religious ceremony) takes place with offerings of flowers, fruits, etc., made to Shiva and Pārbati, pleading them to grant their blessing upon the husband and family. The most important part of the pooja is mostly done in the evening burning the oil lamp (108 sute batti in a diyo) which should be burning throughout the night. It is a tradition of giving the diyo of teej by her mother in law to the married woman.Women get up early in the dawn and get cleaned and do the puja once again to the diyo and goddess Parvati. The most important part of this puja is a banana and holy basil (Tulsi patta) leaf. Only after this puja, women take solid food. This third day of Teej is Ganesh Chaturthati. Women eat Karkalo ko Tarkari with chokho (pure) food made with pure ghee After the completion of the previous day's pooja, women pay homage to various deities and bathe with red mud found on the roots of the sacred Datiwan bush, along with its leaves. This act of purification is the final ritual of Teej, after which women are considered forgiven from all their sins. The recent years have witnessed an adjustment in the rituals, especially regarding the strictness, but its spirit remains the same Eating delicious food, popularly called dar, on the eve of Teej, and singing and dancing on the main day are the main features of this festival. On this particular day, the streets of Kathmandu turn into a sea of red with women dressed in red Sarees and Dhoties making their way to Shiva shrines, especially to the Pashupatinath Temple. 

These days it is becoming expensive to celebrate Teej as the people seem to be competing in inviting relatives and friends for the dar eating and spending more for others ritual practices.
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