Important days in Teej and how it is celebrated
Aug 23, 2017 under
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 (calledSaubhagya) and start dancing and singing devotional songs mixed with Nepali folk and Dohori songs.
This evening the grand feast takes place. The grand feast is called “Dar”. The fun often goes on till midnight, after midnight the 24-hour fasting starts.
What is Dar - दर
Women who go in fasting the very next day eat a very big feast...."daro khana" (दरà¥à¤¹à¥‹ खाना) that means a heavy food in Nepali....it is said daro khane became dar. Whatever, the meaning is, they go for big feast that evening with deserts, mithai, nepali foods like sel, puri, fruits and non vegitarian foods like mottons and chicken by some communities.
The second day
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 PÄrbati, 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.
Third day morning
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.
Rishi Panchami
The fourth day of the festival
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.
The actual date of inception of Teej is not known. However, it is celebrated by the women of Nepal and some part of India with lots of joy and enthusiasm. Most married women rich or poor observe this festival with fun.
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.
Tags: teej, haritalika, dar
