Hartalika Teej


Hartlika teej is an annual festival celebrated by women from UP, Bihar, Rajasthan & Maharashtra .It falls on the day before Ganesh Chaturthi, celebrated in the bhadrapad month of Hindu calendar. The word haritalika is made up of “harit” which means abduction & “aalika” which means a friend. Goddess Parvati who was reincarnated as Shailputri, was to be married off by her father to Lord Vishnu. Her friend came to her rescue and abducted her to a forest thus evading the undesired alliance. Here she religiously underwent penance to win Shiva back and on the 3rd day made a Shivalinga out of her own hair as the object of her worship and was assured by the lord of marrying her. Since then this day is celebrated as hartalika teej.  Married women fast on this day to procure the blessings of Shiva and Goddess Parvati so that they may be blessed with happy marriages. Maidens fast to get a good husband.

Rules to observe-
Get up early in the morning and bathe.
Although most women observe nirjala or fast without water, for some it may not be possible to do so. Since this is a 24 hour fast. One may take fruits and juices during the fasting period. One must find time to worship Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, by chanting their mantras.
Hartalika teej katha is also recited on this occasion.
Married women touch their husbands’ feet asking for their blessings.
The next day ,Women visit temples to offer  5 types of food items to the priest along with some trinkets and vermillion that are associated with matrimony.
This year hartalika Teej falls on the 16th of September.

To know more about this festival visit https://www.facebook.com/HartalikaTeej

Comments

  1. Married women touch their husbands’ feet asking for their blessings?? so filmi!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely story of the fest. I had no idea it's about friendship and a hand of help. I get so interested that I continued my exploration of this story. Look more details on my web page.

    ReplyDelete

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