KATHMANDU, NEPAL, August 25, 2012 (Himalayan Times): With Teej, the biggest festival for Hindu women, around the corner, Solid Waste Management Technical Support Centre (SWMTSC) is gearing up for the preparation of environment friendly Teej programme on August 31. Teej, which generally takes place in August-September, is a three-day celebration with a sumptuous feast known as Dar followed by fasting. This year, the festival falls on September 18, a month later than the preceding year.
Hindu women celebrate Teej by fasting all day and worshiping Lord Siva wishing long life for their husbands, while unmarried women fast wishing to find a good groom. They also light an oil lamp throughout the night for marital bliss and well-being of their spouses and children.
“However, this year we are celebrating the festival in a different way,” SWMTSC executive director Sumitra Amatya said. “The Teej programme with an environment-friendly theme will be celebrated with singing, dancing and awareness on waste management on the premises of Kathmandu Durbar Square on August 31,” she said. “We believe that women should lead to make the environment clean like their homes,” she added.
Women dressed in red attire can be seen dancing and singing on the streets leading to Siva temples on the day of the festival. Women circumambulate the Lingam, the symbol of Lord Siva, offering flowers, sweets and coins at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, beseeching their blessing upon husbands and families. More than 300,000 women throng the Pashupatinath Temple on Teej every year, Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) said. The government has declared a public holiday for the festival across the nation.