Teej is a cluster of related vrats observed by married women across northern, central and western India for their husbands’ longevity and for marital well-being. The umbrella name covers three distinct festivals in the Hindu calendar: Hariyali Teej, observed on the third day of the bright half of Shravana (in 2026 on Monday, 27 July); Kajari Teej, observed on the third day of the dark half of Bhadrapada (in 2026 on Wednesday, 12 August); and Hartalika Teej, observed on the third day of the bright half of Bhadrapada (in 2026 on Monday, 14 September). All three centre on the worship of Shiva and Parvati, but the practices, food, and regional weighting differ.
Hariyali Teej (the green Teej)
Hariyali Teej, the most widely observed of the three, falls during the monsoon when the landscape is at its greenest, hence the name. In 2026 the festival falls on 27 July. The festival commemorates the day on which Parvati, after her long tapas, was accepted by Shiva as his wife; the union is read as the divine marital ideal. The day’s principal observances:
- Wearing green: married women wear green sarees or suits, green bangles, green dupattas; the colour is the festival’s signature.
- Henna (mehndi): applied the evening before; an elaborate design is the day’s principal preparation.
- Fasting: the principal observance is a day-long fast, broken at moonrise. The strict form is Nirjala (without water); the standard form is phalahar (fruits and milk).
- Sindhara: gifts (mainly food, mehndi, bangles, clothes) sent from a married woman’s parents to her marital home in the days before the festival. The Sindhara is the festival’s principal exchange.
- Jhula (swing): swings hung from banyan or peepal trees; women gather in the afternoon to swing and sing traditional Teej songs (Teej geet) about Parvati’s marriage to Shiva.
- Shiva-Parvati puja: in the evening, a clay figure of Parvati (sometimes with Shiva or with a Shiva linga) is worshipped at home with the Sankalpa, the application of haldi-kumkum, the offering of green bangles and a yellow cloth, and the recitation of the Hariyali Teej Vrat Katha.
The festival is observed across north India; Rajasthan’s Jaipur holds the largest public observance, with a state procession of the Goddess Parvati (Teej Mata) through the old city, instituted by Sawai Pratap Singh in the 18th century. The Jaipur Teej Mela runs from Hariyali Teej to Sindhara Teej (a few days later) and draws over a hundred thousand visitors.
Kajari Teej (the dark Teej)
Kajari Teej, fifteen days after Hariyali Teej, falls on the third day of the dark half of Bhadrapada (12 August 2026). The festival is observed primarily in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan. “Kajari” refers to the dark monsoon clouds (kajal in Hindi being the dark eyeliner; kajari the related sense of cloud darkness). The festival is structured similarly to Hariyali Teej (married women fast, wear ornaments, gather) but the day’s food and ritual centre is different:
- The neem tree: worshipped on this day. Married women decorate the neem with garlands, offer water at its base, and apply haldi-kumkum to the trunk.
- The moon: the fast is broken at moonrise after sighting the moon directly; offerings of water and barley grain are made to the moon.
- Sattu: roasted gram flour mixed with water and salt (or with jaggery for the sweet version), the principal day’s food when the fast is broken.
- Kajari geet: folk songs in the Bhojpuri and Awadhi traditions, sung by women in groups; these are distinct from the Hariyali Teej geet and have their own musical structure.
Banaras, Mirzapur and the eastern Uttar Pradesh towns are the principal Kajari Teej centres; the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh also observes it strongly.
Hartalika Teej (the abducted Teej)
Hartalika Teej, the most austere of the three, falls on the third day of the bright half of Bhadrapada (14 September 2026). The name comes from “Harat” (abducted) and “Aalika” (female friend): the story behind the festival is that Parvati, in an earlier life, was being given by her father Himavan in marriage to Vishnu against her will. Her friend abducted her and hid her in a dense forest, where Parvati then performed tapas to win Shiva. The festival commemorates Parvati’s choice and her tapasya.
The Hartalika observance is the strictest:
- Nirjala fast: day-long and night-long, without food or water, breaking only on the morning of the next day after the morning puja. The fast is intended to mirror Parvati’s tapasya.
- Night vigil: the night is spent awake; women gather in the evening at one household and remain together through the night, reciting the Hartalika Vrat Katha, singing Teej geet, and performing the puja.
- Puja of Shiva, Parvati and Ganesha: three clay figures are made fresh for the puja (Parvati at the centre, Shiva to her right, Ganesha to her left), bathed with panchamrit, offered turmeric, sandalwood, kumkum, flowers, and a yellow cloth.
- Sixteen ornaments (solah shringar): the vrati wears the full set of sixteen traditional ornaments (sari, kumkum, bangles, anklets, nose ring, earrings, mangalsutra, mehndi, kajal, bindi, comb, mirror, sindoor, toe ring, waist chain, hair flowers).
The Hartalika observance is principally in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar; women in these regions take the Hartalika Vrat once and continue it annually for life. In Nepal the festival is observed on a slightly different calendrical alignment and is among the principal women’s festivals of the year; Pashupatinath in Kathmandu draws large numbers of Nepali Hartalika vratis.
What all three share
Across all three Teejs the structure is consistent:
- A day-long fast (degree varying from phalahar to Nirjala).
- The worship of Shiva and Parvati as the divine married couple.
- An emphasis on the marital well-being of the vrati’s husband; unmarried girls in some traditions also observe Teej to pray for a Shiva-like husband.
- The wearing of ornaments and traditional dress; mehndi.
- The Vrat Katha (the story of the vrat) read aloud during the puja.
- A women-only gathering at the evening puja or at the all-night vigil.
For what it’s worth, the most affecting Teej observance for a woman new to the practice is Hariyali Teej rather than Hartalika; the Hariyali form is gentler, has a richer cultural texture (the Sindhara, the swings, the Teej geet), and does not demand the night-long austerity of Hartalika. Households take the Hartalika Vrat seriously once committed; the conventional rule is that once a married woman has taken the Hartalika Vrat once, it cannot be skipped, since it is a Sankalpa-bound observance.
Common questions
Can unmarried girls observe Teej?
Yes; in north Indian and western Indian tradition, unmarried girls of marriageable age observe Hartalika Teej particularly to pray for a Shiva-like husband. The fast and puja procedure is identical to that of married women. Unmarried girls observe the vrat as a prayer for their future marriage; once married, the same observance continues as a prayer for the husband.
What is Sindhara?
Sindhara is a basket of gifts (mehndi, lac bangles, jewellery, sweets, sari, cosmetics) sent from a married woman’s parental home to her marital home in the days before Hariyali Teej. It is a token of continued parental connection across the marriage and a renewal of the woman’s tie to her natal family. The Sindhara is treated as obligatory in many Rajasthani and Uttar Pradesh households; failure to send it is read as a serious family breach.
Is the Nirjala fast safe?
The Nirjala fast on Hartalika Teej is over twenty-four hours; on Hariyali Teej it is generally sunrise to moonrise (sixteen to seventeen hours). Both are demanding. Pregnant women, the elderly, those with hypertension or diabetes, and those on medication are advised the phalahar form rather than Nirjala. The classical permission allows phalahar with no loss of merit for the medically constrained.
A limitation worth noting
Sub-regional Teej variants (Sindhara Teej in Rajasthan, Akha Teej in Gujarat) are distinct from the three principal observances above and have their own dates; some sources conflate them. The dates above are 2026 north Indian dates per Drik Panchang; states with different panchang traditions (Maharashtra Tilak, southern Smarta) may observe slightly different dates. For the broader background see the Wikipedia entries on Teej, Hartalika Teej, and Hariyali Teej.
