Experience on herbal plants

                                                      Teej

               Teej is a festival celebrated by Nepali women, for the long life of her husband and long and firm relationship between them until the death this life and all the lives to come. Teej is observed for marital happiness, well-being of spouse and children and purification of own body and soul. Teej is  the most famous festival among Nepali women.The folk music and dances add more flavor to traditional values of Teej. It is fascinating to see women, in “Red” dancing and singing on the street, going to temple in holy and fasting mood. Teej is also called Hari Talika Teej. This festival is celebrated by Nepali Hindu women all across the world.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 (called Saubhagya) and start dancing and singing devotional songs mixed with Nepali folk and Dohori songs. 

              Teej is celebrated for three pious days. Each day has its own singnificance.

    

1. First day is called “Dar Khane Din”, the day to make merry.
2. Second day is a fasting day.
3. The last day is called “Rishi Panchami”. This is the fourth day of Teej puja. Dar Khane Din:
4. The first day of Teej in Nepal is called the “Dar Khane Din”. On this day, the women gathers at one place in their finest attires and perform traditional dance and sing devotional songs mixed with Nepali folk and Dohori songs. A special food called “dar” is eaten. Women who go in fasting the very next day eat a very big feast--"daro khana" (दर्हो खाना) that means a heavy food in Nepali. It is said that “daro khane”  became “dar khane”. Whatever, the meaning is, they go for big feast that evening with deserts (mithai), nepali foods like sel, puri, fruits and non-vegetarian foods  like muttons and chicken by some communities. Celebrations continue till midnight after which the 24-hour long fast begins.
   Fasting Day:
   This day is dedicated to pujas and prayers. Some women live without a morsel of food and drops of water while others take liquid and fruit. On this day, they gaily dress. 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 Shiva temple singing and dancing on the way. The Pashupatinath temple gets the highest number of devotees. At the Shiva temple, women circumambulate the Linga, 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 Parbati. Lighting of an oil lamp (diyo) is very important part of the puja ceremony. It is said that the oil lamp should be kept lit all night to avoid bad omen. 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:
   On this day, the seven sages (sapta rishi) of the Hindu pantheon are worshiped by women in a belief that it will cleanse all sins committed during their monthly periods throughout the year. In Hindu religion, menstruation is taken as a symbol of impurity and women are not supposed to take part in religious practices during their periods. Thus, it is believed that Rishi Panchami is the occasion to wash off one’s impurity of the whole year.  Women take a holy bath with red mud found on the roots of the sacred Datiwan bush, along with its leaves. After three hours of rigorous cleansing, they come out purified and absolved from all sins. After this they sit in a semicircle while a priest sitting in the middle chants devotional prayers.
   On this day of the Shrawan full moon, stars other than the planets are worshipped. In Vedic times it was believed that the spirits of certain departed great sages of the earth were believed to inhabit certain stars, the most famous being the constellation Ursa Major i.e. the seven brightest stars of the north (The Great Bear). Later, the seers became identified with the stars they inhabited. The seven worshipped on Rishi Fifth are – Kasyapa, Atri, Bharadvaja, Visvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Vashishta. Rishi Panchami (Seers fifth) is also observed on Bhadrapada sukla fifth as Atonement.