Gorkha women celebrate folk festival of Haritalika Teej

Tribune News Service

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Haridwar, September 15

A cultural function was organised at BHEL community centre, Sector-1, here today to celebrate folk festival Haritalika Teej.

Under the aegis of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkhali Maha Sabha, members of the Gorkha community participated in the festivities in a large number. Dressed in traditional attire, particularly red and green clothes, Gorkha women performed various rituals and took part in cultural programmes associated with Haritalika Teej.

Cultural teams from Chila in Yamkeshwar, Pauri and Raiwala in Dehradun and Kankhal, Jwalapur and BHEL from Haridwar performed at the function.

Founder of the Maha Sabha Dr Padam Prasad Suvedi and sabha president Narayan Prasad Sharma said Haritalika Teej was observed on the third day of Bhadrpad Shukla Paksha of Hindu calendar.

On this festival occasion, women devotees worshipped Lord Shiva, observed rituals, fasts and prayed for the well being of their families and longevity of their husbands.

“This is a traditional Nepalese festival, which is related with our customs, environment conservation and prosperity of society. The festival is organised for three to four days, but we organised it in advance today so that women from different parts of the state could assemble at one place and celebrate it,” said social activist Shamsher Bahadir Bum.

Danseuse Dolly Bisht said in Nepal the festival was celebrated for more than a month but with a substantial number of community members living in Haridwar, of late Haritalika Teej had become a major cultural festival here too.

Mata Baloti, 98-year-old resident of Raiwala, was presented a traditional shawl and a memento.

Acharya Hariharand, Acharya Ravi Dev Shastri, Mahant Dinesh Das, Kamla Suvedi, Beena Pandey, Pushp Raj Pandey, Rameshwar, Krishna Sharma, Lok Nath Suwedi, Vijay Suvedi and Manish Rathore were present.

Shika Rawat, a local resident, said she had witnessed Haritalika Teej festival for the first time and it was an amazing experience to be in a jam-packed auditorium to watch folk presentations by women groups.

Cultural programmes held

Mussoorie: The Gorkhali community celebrated the traditional festival of Hartalika Teej with fervour near the Masonic Lodge bus stand in Mussoorie on Tuesday. Women belonging to the community wearing traditional dresses and jewellery danced to the tunes of traditional and modern music. Programmes such as singing, poetry, and drama were also held on the occasion.

Former Municipal Council president OP Uniyal, who was the chief guest of the function, extended greetings to the community saying the festival was about happiness and prosperity.

The women observed fast and cut green grass called Haryali to mark the auspicious occasion. The festival is in celebrated in honour of the monsoon season that brings prosperity all around. Sweets and other eateries were also distributed.