Food and fun complement each other. For Rajastanis, it was all the more reason to meet, indulge and make merry. With the lush green lawns and the setting sun at Tenneti Park offering a perfect backdrop, the community women celebrated ‘Hariyali Teej’ in a grand way.
Making green as the theme to pep up the festival spirit, most women turned up in green and let their hair down for a couple of hours on Thursday evening.
According to the faithful, Hariyali Teej’ is celebrated on the third day after Amavasya of Sraawan month. It represents abundance, freshness and happiness. “It is a festival observed by ‘suhagans’ to seek longevity of their husbands by applying ‘mehendi’ to their hands, performing ‘puja’ and seeking the blessing of the elderly. It was the day when goddess Parvati broke her century-long ‘tapasya’ to marry Lord Siva. Thus, the festival captures the happy moments of ‘Ma Shakti’ who pampers herself with ‘solah shringar’ as Siva agrees to marry her,” says Usha Gupta, a homemaker.
ADVERTISEMENT
For the elderly women, it is an occasion to shower their daughters and daughters-in-law with gifts and new clothes. “We receive a lot of gifts from our parents and in-laws. It’s time to break away from our mundane schedule and treat ourselves to a sumptuous spread of food,” says Vijayshri Pasari, a professional.
‘Ghevar’ made of besan flour, ghee and sugar syrup, kheer and ‘puri’ are some of the traditional delicacies prepared to mark Teej. “The best part is that we exchange gifts and receive cash as part of our family tradition,” added Uma Daga and Alka Kumar, who took part in the combined celebrations.