Hartalika Teej Puja Vidhi · हरतालिका तीज पूजा विधि

How Hartalika Teej is kept: the nirjala fast, images of Shiva, Parvati and Ganesh shaped from sand or clay, the puja and katha, the night vigil, and the fast broken the next morning, as the published guides describe it.

How the puja is done

When

Hartalika Teej falls on Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya. Married women keep it for their husband's long life and a happy marriage, and unmarried girls for a good husband. See the Hartalika Teej page for the date.

The name

"Harat" means taking away and "aalika" a woman friend: the story says Parvati's friends took her away to the forest so that she would not be married to anyone but Shiva, and there she worshipped him until he accepted her.

The fast

The fast is nirjala, without food or water, from sunrise until the next morning. Those who cannot keep it for health reasons should follow their family's guidance.
Women dress in full shringar (the solah shringar).

Preparing

With your own hands, shape images of Shiva, Parvati and Ganesh from sand or clay, recalling Parvati making a Shivling from river sand.
Decorate a phulera (a frame of flowers), set a chowki inside it, spread banana leaves and place the images on them.

The puja

Guides differ on the time: several place it in the pradosh kaal, at dusk; Drik Panchang gives the morning as best.
Worship Ganesh first, then Shiva, then Parvati.
Offer Parvati the items of suhag: bangles, bindi, kumkum, sindoor and the rest.
Read or hear the Hartalika Teej katha, then do the aarti; Om Jai Shiv Omkara is widely sung.

The night and the next morning

Keep a night vigil (ratjaga) with bhajans and songs.
In the morning, after the final puja, offer sindoor to Parvati; married women apply that sindoor, and the fast is broken.
Give suhag items, fruit, clothes and dakshina in charity, and take the blessings of elders.

Customs differ by region and community: follow your family's way where it differs.

These steps are written in our own words; each appears in at least two of the published sources linked below, and steps found in only one source are left out. Puja customs differ by family, region and tradition; your family priest or family custom comes first.

About this text

Hartalika Teej is a fast kept mainly by women in honour of Parvati's devotion to Shiva, through which she won him as her husband. It is one of the strictest fasts of the year, kept without food or water, with images of Shiva, Parvati and Ganesh shaped by hand from sand or clay, the katha, and a night of bhajans. This page gives the observance as the published guides listed below describe it. Customs differ by region and community: follow your family's way where it differs.