Festival · Parvati

Hartalika Teej

The bright Tritiya of Bhadrapada, when Goddess Parvati’s friends carried her into the forest so she would not be given to Lord Vishnu, and she won Lord Shiva by fasting before a linga of sand. Women keep a fast, often without water, and a night of prayer.

Hartalika Teej 2027
Friday 3 September 2027
New Delhi

For New Delhi, Friday 3 September 2027

Shukla Tritiya tithi

Begins
4:50 pm, 2 Sept
Ends
2:19 pm
Sunrise
6:00 am
Sunset
6:41 pm
Moonrise
8:40 am
Moonset
8:06 pm

Worked out for your city. Panchangs can differ by a minute or so.

Full panchang for this day →

How it is kept

Customs vary by region and family

  • A fast, for many without water (nirjala)
  • Images of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati of sand or clay
  • A night of prayer, broken next morning
Parvati, her Teej and her vrats →

What it remembers

Hartalika Teej is the Tritiya, the third day, of the bright half of Bhadrapada, in August or September. Women worship Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, often as small images of sand or clay, and many keep a fast without food or water, a nirjala fast, through the day and the night that follows. It remembers the friends who carried Parvati away into the forest, where she won Shiva by her fast. Married women keep it for a long and happy marriage, and unmarried girls for a good husband.

Carried away by her friends

Goddess Parvati had given her heart to Lord Shiva. But the sage Narada came to her father, Himavan, with a proposal from Lord Vishnu, and Himavan agreed. To save her from a marriage she did not want, her friend took her into a thick forest and hid her in a cave. Some tellings speak of one friend, others of several. So the day is Hartalika: from harat, carrying away, and aalika, a woman friend.

The linga of sand

In the cave, on the bright Tritiya of Bhadrapada, under the Hasta nakshatra, Goddess Parvati made a linga of sand and worshipped Lord Shiva. She took no food or water and stayed awake through the night in prayer. Moved by her devotion, Shiva appeared and accepted her as his wife.

Her father finds her

Himavan searched for his daughter and at last found her in the forest. She told him why she had gone and that Lord Shiva had accepted her. He agreed, and she was married to Shiva. Women keep the fast and the night of prayer in memory of hers.

Keeping Hartalika Teej

By one custom the puja is done in the morning, by another after sunset, in Pradosh, and many worship through the night. How strictly the fast is kept differs too: many take no water at all, others keep a lighter fast. Follow your own tradition.

  1. Rise early, bathe, and take the vow of the fast for the day and the night.
  2. Make a small mandap with banana leaves, and set images of Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati and Lord Ganesha made of sand or clay.
  3. Offer bel leaves, flowers, rice, turmeric and kumkum, and light a lamp.
  4. Offer Goddess Parvati the suhaag items: sindoor, a bindi, bangles and mehndi, with a red cloth.
  5. Hear or read the story of Hartalika, and wave the lamp in aarti.
  6. Keep the night awake with bhajans and kirtan, worshipping again through the night.
  7. Next morning, bathe and do the last puja, give the suhaag items to a married woman, and break the fast.
  8. Give the images and the flowers to a river or a pond.

What you need

  • Sand or clay for the images of Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati and Lord Ganesha
  • Banana leaves for the mandap
  • Bel leaves, flowers, rice, turmeric and kumkum
  • A ghee lamp and incense
  • The suhaag items: sindoor, a bindi, bangles, mehndi and a red cloth

Across India

Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh

Its heartland. Women dress in their wedding finery and sindoor, keep the nirjala fast through the day and night, and give the images of sand or clay to the water after the puja.

Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh

Kept by women with the fast and the worship of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand widely and in parts of Madhya Pradesh.

Maharashtra

Hartalika falls the day before Ganesh Chaturthi in most years. Women put on mehndi and new red or green saris and keep the fast for the day and the night.

Karnataka

The same Tritiya is Gowri Habba, when married women worship Gowri, the mother of Lord Ganesha, and give one another the bagina.

Nepal

Teej is the great women’s festival. It opens with the dar, a feast the day before. On the day of the fast women crowd Pashupatinath and the other Shiva temples, some keeping it without water, some with water or fruit, and sing the songs of Teej. Rishi Panchami, two days later, closes it.

When it falls

Shukla Tritiya of Bhadrapada. Kept on the day this tithi holds at sunrise.

These are the usual rules. A few days can differ by a day in your tradition, so check with your temple.

Hartalika Teej in the coming years

New Delhi, India time

  1. 2027Friday 3 September 2027
  2. 2028Tuesday 22 August 2028

Questions

When is Hartalika Teej in 2027?

Friday 3 September 2027, in New Delhi. In a few places it can fall a day apart, so the date above is worked out for your city.

When does Hartalika Teej fall?

Shukla Tritiya of Bhadrapada. Kept on the day this tithi holds at sunrise.

How is Hartalika Teej kept?

Families a fast, for many without water (nirjala), images of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati of sand or clay and a night of prayer, broken next morning. Customs vary by region and family.

Who is honoured on Hartalika Teej?

Parvati. The bright Tritiya of Bhadrapada, when Goddess Parvati’s friends carried her into the forest so she would not be given to Lord Vishnu, and she won Lord Shiva by fasting before a linga of sand. Women keep a fast, often without water, and a night of prayer.

What does Hartalika mean?

It joins harat, carrying away, and aalika, a woman friend. Goddess Parvati’s friends carried her off into the forest so that her father could not give her in marriage to Lord Vishnu, and there she won Lord Shiva by her fast.

Is the Hartalika Teej fast nirjala?

For many women, yes: no food and not even water, from the morning until the next morning. Traditions differ, and some keep a lighter fast, with water or fruit, as health allows.

Who keeps Hartalika Teej?

Married women, for a long and happy married life, and unmarried girls, for a good husband, as Goddess Parvati fasted to win Lord Shiva.

When is the Hartalika fast broken?

The next morning. After the night of prayer women bathe, do the last puja, give the suhaag items to a married woman, and then eat. The images are given to the water.

How is Hartalika Teej different from Hariyali Teej?

Hariyali Teej, a month earlier on the bright Tritiya of Shravana, is a festival of the rains, of green, swings and the day Lord Shiva accepted Goddess Parvati. Hartalika, in Bhadrapada, remembers her fast in the forest and is kept with a strict fast and a night of prayer.

Are Hartalika Teej and Gowri Habba the same day?

Yes. The bright Tritiya of Bhadrapada is Hartalika Teej in the North and in Maharashtra, and Gowri Habba in Karnataka. The customs differ, but both honour Goddess Parvati as Gauri.

Related

All festivals and vrats →