Parvati & Shiva
Kajari Teej
The Teej of the kajari songs — dark monsoon skies, and love sung across them.
Tithi: Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya (north) · Shravana Krishna Tritiya (west & south) — the same night
Which calendar do you follow?
The bright fortnight is named the same everywhere. A dark fortnight belongs to one month in the north and to the month before it in Maharashtra, Gujarat and the south — the same night, two true names. Saved only on this device.
In the simplest words
The monsoon teej of songs — women sing kajari folk melodies under grey skies, fast for their families, and swing the season in.
The story & purpose
Kajari — from kajal, the kohl-dark clouds of Bhadon — is a Teej of music as much as vrat. In Mirzapur, Banaras, and Bundelkhand the kajari genre carries a wife's monsoon-longing for her beloved; on this Tritiya women fast, worship Gauri-Shiva, and sing under the swings.
The day's rustic signature is sattu — roasted gram flour sweetened with jaggery — offered and then eaten at moonrise to break the fast. In parts of Rajasthan and MP it is Badi Teej, with the neem-branch Nimdi Mata worshipped at dusk.
What is done
Vrat & Gauri puja
A day's fast with Parvati-Shiva worship; green and shringar as on all Teejs.
Nimdi Mata
In the Rajasthani custom, a neem branch honoured with jal, roli, and akshata at dusk.
Sattu & moonrise parana
The fast broken on sighting the moon, with sattu first.
Kajari singing
The season's songs, in gathering or alone — the vrat's living folk half.
Best timings
Puja by day; parana after moonrise.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition — for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
Mirzapur's kajari akharas hold sung 'contests' through Bhadon — poetry as sport.
Kajari Teej falls three days after Raksha Bandhan and five before Janmashtami, in Krishna's own dark fortnight.
Bundi in Rajasthan celebrates it as a royal fair with Teej Mata's procession.