Teej is a beautiful festival of red color, music, dance, feast, fasting, worshipping, purity, and joy that is popular among Hindu women in Nepal. The festival is most exciting at Pashupatinath Temple, which is the most popular Hindu temple of Lord Shiva in Nepal. The temple is full of women in red and green sari, mainly young and adult women, who perform fasting for Lord Shiva for the entire day.

The day is special as it has religious significance too. Unmarried women, who perform fast on the day of Teej, are believed to receive a good and loving husband just like Lord Shiva, and the married ones, who perform fast on this day are adding more years to the life of their husbands.

Hindu women have been celebrating this festival from ancient time and even today the festival is celebrated traditionally. The festival is for two main days. On the eve of Teej, women come together and eat delicious food. Traditionally, before midnight, women on the eve of Teej ate rice-pudding or Kheer. Nowadays, women come along a day before, and sometimes even before few days, dance, sing, and enjoy the feast and prepare themselves for the major feast on the day of Teej.

On the day of Teej, women wear a red sari, jewelry, and gather at Lord Shiva’s temples, sing and dance all day and finally accomplish the fast. Some of them end their fast after sunset while the others end their fast on the next day only.

The temples are well decorated with flowers and lights. Several events are organized on this day where women participate in dancing and singing and take their fast as fun rather than a burden. For weak ones, or those who cannot perform the fast without food and water feed on fruits and dairy. Mantras are chanted by gurus and priests and together everyone worships Lord Shiva for blessings and fortune.