Kajari Teej
Kajari Teej History :
Kajari Teej is one of the most celebrated and loved festivals in India. The celebrations, observed by married women who worship Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, take place during the monsoon season. Women fast on this festival for the well-being and long life of their husbands.
There are three Teej festivals celebrated in India, including Hariyali Teej, Kajari Teej and Hartalika Teej. Kajari Teej, also known as Badi Teej or Satudi Teej is one of the most significant festivals celebrated by women who hail from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and some parts of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
As per the Hindu calendar, this auspicious festival falls on the third day (Tritiya Tithi) in the month of Bhadrapada, i.e. three days after Raksha Bandhan.
Kajari Teej Significance :
Kajari or Badi Teej is an age-old festival during which women visit their parental homes to participate in the celebrations and perform various rituals. This is why the Kajari folk songs performed during the Badi Teej signifies the women’s sweet pain of short separation from their husbands.
They also perform fast to seek blessings from Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva, who are the divine representation of a happily married couple.
Kajari Teej Vrat Vidhi :
Women should wake up early in the morning, take a bath and wear new clothes.
Take a vow to fast for a whole day without eating or drinking
Worship both Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva and offer 16 items known as solah sringar, including, saree, bindi, sindoor, bangles, nail polish, lipstick, etc to Goddess Parvati .
Recite Kajari Teej Katha and conclude the puja with aarti
On the day of Kajari Teej, women make a pind (ball) of Sattu and worship it. The Sattu comes from the woman's maternal home. The pind must be made of Sattu, ghee and sugar and must be shaped like a mountain ( See how the pind looks like in the image shown below). According to another tradition, the Puja Vidhi also includes worshipping Lord Ganesha.
For the Teej puja, you would need, kajal, mehendi, kumkum, roli, oil lamp, a neem tree twig with leaves, some natural clay or mud, lemon, cucumber, a kalash with water, fruits, Red Chunari/dupatta,dakshina, Naivedhya, Sattu pind and raw milk.
Make a small well with the clay and plant the Neem twig in one of the corners. ( See image at the starting of the post ).
Offer raw milk and water to it in such a way that the well gets filled with the liquid.
Then offer kumkum, mehendi, kajal and Akshat to the Neem plant followed by a red chunri.
Apply kumkum, mehendi, kajal to all the four corner of the pooja platform.
Then see the reflection of seven items in the well. You may choose any seven of the puja items like lemon, cucumber, Naivedhya, Sattum Oil lamp etc.
Worship the neem flower, and then listen to the vrat Katha.
Women break their fast only after offering food to the cow, sighting the moon and worshipping Chandra Dev.
Kajari Teej Vrat Katha
There lived a farmer who had four sons and four daughters-in-law. The first three daughters-in-law hailed from well-to-do families but the youngest was an orphan. She often felt left out, especially during festivals.
Once, a few days before Kajari Teej, the woman saw her co-sisters receiving Sattu from their maternal homes. She also hoped that someone would send her Sattu. But since she had no one, she wondered who could fulfill her desire. Therefore, she asked her husband to get some Sattu while returning from work.
But her husband couldn't get it as it wasn't available anywhere. In order to make his wife happy, he secretly entered a grocery shop to prepare Sattu for his wife. As he started grinding the lentil in a mortar, the grocery shop owner got hold of him and wondered who he is and what is he doing in his shop.
When the man narrated his sad story, the grocery shop owner asked him not to worry and assured him that he would send Sattu to his wife on the next day. As promised, the grocery shop owner not only sent Sattu but also gifts for the fourth daughter-in-law of the farmer. And she was delighted that her sincere prayers were answered.