India is one of the countries where festivals have special meaning and are threaded so much into our culture that you would fall in love with them. Today we will be talking about the Festival Teej, which is special for every Indian woman. In this post, I am sharing step by step guide to perform Teej Puja.
How to perform Teej Puja?
- Purpose
- History
- When is it celebrated
- Puja process
1] Purpose of Teej
It is a fasting festival performed by women for well being of their husband. Even girls who are not married do this for a good life partner.
2] History of Teej
The ancient story says that Teej is a significance of the union of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. If you believe in rebirth, Parvati was reborn, and she wanted Lord Shiva to be her husband again like in first life. She did fasting of 108 days. Lord Shiva was pleased and married her again.
3] When is Teej Celebrated?
Teej generally falls on 3rd after the full moon in the month of Sawan ( July / August ).
4] Puja process of Teej
Required Materials:
- Kumkum,
- Chawal
- Kacha Doodh
- Coins,
- Soil
- Red cloth.
- Five types of fruits.
- Mehandi, Kajal, Roli, Water, Flowers
- and Sattu ( A type of Indian Sweet made of rice, gram, ghee, sugar etc.
The first thing is to make a small pond out of soil or mud we talked above. This little pond is made in a circle on any platform which is comfortable. You can make it on a wooden plank or corner of the house. To this small lake, a small branch of neem is stuck to give it a complete feel of a pond.
Steps of Performing Teej
- The puja process starts by making circles of the paal or lake and filling it with water and milk.
- A diya of ghee is lightened close to the pond.
- Small prints of Kajal, Mehandi and roli are made on the point with ring finger. It is done seven times.
- Shadow of all fruits is seen in the lake. That’s is the reason diya is lightened and placed close to the pond.
- The story of Teej is read and heard.
- After the story is completed, five rounds are made of the pond.
- Then the women would go and see the moon and offer water and sattu to him.
The women complete the fast by eating fruits alone. They are the same fruits, the shadow of which was seen in the pond. These fruits should be given by their husband to eat. It is done on purpose, so it brings both of them closer. Since this is a special festival for women, there is a lot of importance given on dressing, ornaments and makeup. After all, they do a lot of hard work here. 🙂
We hope it was easy for you to understand, especially if you are new to Teej, and nobody is around to help you.