9/8/10

Don't Forget !! >>> TEEJ CELEBRATION - Sunday, September 12th - 10 am to 1 pm, Battery Park, Burlington, Vermont



http://vermont-bhutanese-association.blogspot.com/

Greetings !! YOU ARE INVITED !!

WHAT >> Teej Festival - The Woman's Festival
WHY >> The festival is celebrated for marital and relationship bliss,
well-being of spouses, partners and children, and purification of
your own body and soul.

WHERE >>Battery Park, Burlington

WHEN >> Sunday, September 12,from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm

WHO >> This festival is for everyone, ladies and men, from all creeds, nationalities and religions.

If you are unfamiliar with Teej, please read about it HERE (click)

HOW >> Wear your best festival clothes !! Ladies are encouraged to wear red. If you would like to contribute and participate, you may also bring flowers, fruits, sweets and coins for offerings and praises. Cameras are allowed, however, please respect privacy and show discretion.

IF you want more information >>>>>>
Please call Narad Timsina at 802-310-8128.



Hello Everyone,

This is to inform you all that we are going to celebrate "Teej", one of our highly esteemed cultural festivals.

Please come to Battery Park, Burlington on September 12, Sunday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.

All volunteers and family friends are invited too.

For further information about the celebration, please call Narad Timsina at 802-310-8128.

Contact Rehman (Remu Timsina) to request him to make a copy of your best Teej Song.

All Bhutanese families are invited to celebrate this festive occasion together. We hope this
celebration will bring happiness, joy, success and peace to all.



Teej

"Teej" is the fasting festival for women. It takes place in August or early September. The
festival is a three-day long celebration that combines sumptuous feasts as well as rigid
fasting. Through this religious fasting, hindu women pray for marital bliss, well being
of their spouse and children and purification of their own body and soul.

Traditionally, the ritual of Teej is obligatory for all Hindu married women and girls who
have reached puberty. Exception is made for the ones who are ill or physically unfit. In
such circumstances a priest performs the rites. According to the holy books, the Goddess
Parbati fasted and prayed fervently for the great Lord Shiva to become her spouse.
Touched by her devotion, he took her for his wife. Goddess Parbati, in gratitude sent her
emissary to preach and disseminate this religious fasting among mortal women, promising
prosperity and longevity with their family. Thus was born the festival of Teej.

The first day of Teej is called the "Dar Khane Din". On this day the women, both married
and unmarried, assemble at one place, in there finest attires and start dancing and
singing devotional songs. Admist all this, the grand feast takes place. The jollity
goes on till midnight, after which the 24 - hour fast commences. Some women without a
morsel of food or drops of water while others take liquid and fruit.

Gaily dressed women can be seen dancing and singing on the street leading to Shiva
temples. But the main activities take place around the Pashupatinath temple where women
circumambulate the Lingam, the phallic symbol of the lord, offering flowers, sweets and
coins. The main puja (religious ceremony) takes place with offerings of flowers, fruits
etc made to Shiva and Parbati, beseeching their blessing upon the husband and family.
The important part of the puja is the oil lamp which should be alight throughout the
night for it is bad omen if it dies away.

The third day of the festival is Rishi Panchami. After the completion of the
day's puja, 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 absolved from all sins. The
recent years have witnessed alteration in the rituals, especially concerning the
severity, but its essence remains. No matter how agonizing the fast may be Nepalese
women have and will always continue to have faith in the austerities of Teej.

Article by Padmakshi Rana
Photographs collected from Deependra Bajracharya and Min Bajracharya.