Hariyali Teej: What, Why, When, How

What it is

Hariyali Teej, "the green third", is a women's festival of the monsoon, kept on the third day (Tritiya) of the bright half of Shravana, when the fields and trees are green after the first rains. Women worship Parvati, who is called Teej Mata here, and remember the day she was united with Shiva after her long austerity. Many married women fast for a long and happy married life.

It is a day of joy for women and girls: swings hung from trees, songs of the rainy season, henna on the hands, new bangles and new clothes, often green. A married daughter often visits her mother's home, and her parents send her a gift of clothes, bangles and sweets, called the sindhara. It is kept most in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and by families from these states abroad.

It is the first of three Teej festivals. Kajari Teej follows on the third day of the next dark half, and Hartalika Teej on the third day of the bright half of Bhadrapada. Each has its own day in the app.

Why it is kept

Parvati's austerity. Parvati, the daughter of the Himalaya, wished to marry Shiva, who sat lost in meditation. Kalidasa's poem the Kumarasambhava tells how, when her beauty alone could not win him, she turned to austerity. She lived in the forest through the heat, the rains and the cold, until Shiva came to her in disguise to test her, saw how steady her heart was, and accepted her as his wife.

The day of their meeting. James Tod, who lived in Mewar two centuries ago, wrote down what the people of Rajasthan said of this day. They held that the third day of Shravana was the day on which Parvati, after her long austerities, was united with Shiva, and that she declared the day holy for those who call on her. So the women of Rajasthan honour it, and farmers held it a good day to take up land or to return to a home they had left. Tod records red clothes worn by everyone on that day, an image of Parvati carried on a throne at Jaipur by women singing hymns, and fathers giving red clothes to their daughters, much like the sindhara that families still send.

Girls together. Near Saharanpur, in the north, W. Crooke recorded that at the Tij festival of the rainy season, girls dressed in their best went together to a pond, played games and teased one another, and returned home full of fun. The swings, the songs and the gathering of women and girls are as much a part of Teej as the puja.

The texts behind the story

• The Birth of the War-God (Kumarasambhava), a poem by Kalidasa, translated into English verse by Ralph T. H. Griffith (London: Wm. H. Allen, 1853) (Canto V, Uma's austerity and Shiva's test, pp. 41–54 (leaves n54–n67))
• James Tod, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, vol. I, chapter “Festivals and Customs of Mewar” (first published London, 1829; read in the Calcutta reprint, Indian Publication Society, 1898): the third of Sawun, “the teej”, sacred to Parvati as the day she was re-united to Shiva after long austerities; red garments; the procession of Parvati's image at Jaipur; fathers giving red clothes to their daughters. Tod died 1835. Summarised in our words; his comparisons with Greek myth are not repeated. Checked on the page image. (p. 603 (leaf n644))

When it is kept

Hariyali Teej is on Shravana Shukla Tritiya, the third lunar day of the bright half of Shravana. The app gives the day on which Tritiya is present at sunrise at your location. If it is present at sunrise on two days, the app gives the first; if it is present at no sunrise, the app gives the first day on which it is present. Shravana Shukla is the same fortnight in the amanta and the purnimanta calendars, so families from the north and the west agree on the month.

The date, from the calendar engine

• Hariyali Teej 2027: Puja falls on Wednesday, August 4, 2027 in Washington DC (computed for this city). The date is the same in New Delhi.

The date depends on your city. Every city we cover is on the year page.

Traditions and regional customs

• North Indian (Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh): Shravana Shukla Tritiya at sunrise (engine id hariyali-teej)
• Kajari Teej: Shravana Krishna Tritiya in amanta, Bhadrapada Krishna in purnimanta (engine id kajari-teej)
• Hartalika Teej: Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya (engine id hartalika-teej; see the Hartalika Teej guide)

Why the day can differ

Sunrise is local, so in some years a family abroad keeps Teej a day apart from relatives in India. Names differ by region: Shravani Teej, Sindhara Teej or Chhoti Teej in parts of the north, and Teeyan in Punjab, where girls gather for songs and dances through the season. Customs differ too: some women keep a full fast, some a fast with fruit, and some no fast, keeping the day as a festival.

How to keep it at home

1. A day or two before, the married daughter receives the sindhara from her parents' home: clothes, bangles, henna and sweets such as ghevar. Women and girls put henna on their hands the evening before.
2. On the day, bathe and wear new clothes, often green, with bangles. Set up a picture or an image of Parvati (Teej Mata) and Shiva, or shape them from clay, on a clean cloth.
3. Offer water, flowers, green leaves, a lamp and incense, and offer Parvati the signs of a married woman: bangles, a bindi, henna and a red or green cloth. Women gather to hear the story of Parvati and Shiva and to sing Teej songs.
4. Hang a swing from a tree or a frame, decorate it with flowers, and take turns on it while singing the songs of Sawan.
5. In the evening, those who fasted break the fast after the puja, as their family does.

Fasting

Many married women fast for the day, some without water, and break the fast in the evening after the puja. Some unmarried girls fast as Parvati did. Many keep a lighter fast with fruit and milk. Anyone who is pregnant, unwell, diabetic, elderly or on regular medicine should keep a light fast, or none, and talk to a doctor first. A fast without water in the heat of the monsoon needs special care.

Food

Ghevar, the honeycomb sweet of Rajasthan, is the sweet of the season, with feni, malpua and kheer. Families share sweets from the sindhara with neighbours.

For children

Long ago, Princess Parvati, the daughter of the snowy mountains, wanted to marry Lord Shiva. But Shiva sat with his eyes closed, thinking deep thoughts, and did not notice her. So Parvati went to the forest and prayed, day after day, in sun, in rain and in snow. She never gave up. At last Shiva came to her and said, "Your heart is strong and true." The two were married, and the whole world was glad. On Teej, when the rain makes everything green, families remember Parvati's patience, sing songs and play on swings.

Something to do together

Make a paper swing: tie two strings to a small piece of card and hang it from a pencil. Draw green leaves and flowers on it, and sing a rain song while it swings.

Sources

• Panchang engine rules hariyali-teej, kajari-teej and hartalika-teej (packages/panchang/data/festivals.json), with the sources each lists; the New Delhi and Washington dates checked in packages/panchang/test/festivals-traditions.test.ts.
• James Tod, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, vol. I (Calcutta reprint, 1898, of the London edition of 1829), “Festivals and Customs of Mewar”, p. 603: the teej of Sawun. Tod died 1835. (p. 603 (leaf n644))
• The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, by W. Crooke, new edition, vol. II (Westminster: Archibald Constable, 1896) (“Tree and Serpent Worship”, pp. 118–119: the Tij festival of the rainy season near Saharanpur, girls in their best clothes at the tank, games and teasing (read in the Toronto copy of the same edition, archive.org popularreligionf02croouoft, leaves n135–n136))
• The Birth of the War-God (Kumarasambhava), a poem by Kalidasa, translated into English verse by Ralph T. H. Griffith (London: Wm. H. Allen, 1853) (Canto V, pp. 41–54 (leaves n54–n67))

Related guides

• Hartalika Teej
• Nag Panchami
• Raksha Bandhan