Haritalika Teej is a well-known and most significant Hindu festival celebrated by women from various Nepalese Hindu societies. The festival begins in late August or early September. It refers to the monsoon festival, which also celebrates nature, greenery, the arrival of clouds & rain, birds, and social activities and ritual costumes. On this day, according to Hindu tradition, Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati got married. The festival is primarily dedicated to goddess Parvati, commemorating her marriage to Lord Shiva. On that day, goddess Parvati got her husband as per her wish. The festival lasts three days and includes sumptuous feasts as well as strict fasting. It is the festival that women celebrate in order to request special favors. It is a festival in which women ask Lord Shiva for special blessings to have a good husband in life, a prosperous married life, and a long life for her husband.
Haritalika Teej in 2023 falls on a Monday, the 18th of September, in Nepal, as per the popular Nepali calendar, Hamro Patro.
Haritalika Teej is celebrated with love and dedication by married and unmarried women of all ages. Women wear red sarees with gold adornment from head to toe during the festival. Following a lengthy feast known as Dar, the woman sits for a 24-hour fast during which she does not eat or even drink water. What is fascinating is watching young and old women dance for hours in the heat and rain for an entire day without a drop of water or food.
Haritalika Teej has traditional and modern values as a festival of celebrating good times with siblings and is regarded as a “festival of sisterhood” in some communities. Although it appears to be a celebration of sisterhood because married women have a rare opportunity to meet with sisters and friends from their birthplace, there is a vital role of brothers in celebrating the festival as they are to call their sisters on this auspicious occasion and cook exceptional food for their sisters, and all the girls enjoy time doing make-up to look their best and dance to forget the pain they receive from their in-laws, which is expressed in the form of folk dance.
