तीज Teez: A Women Only Festival

Nepalese women celebrate ‘teez’ by going to the shrines of Lord Shiva all over Nepal, and making offerings to the lord on the third day of the lunar bright fortnight of Aswin (Sept/Oct) for the long lives of their husbands, for having husbands of their choice if unmarried.

On the eve of the festival, men cook and do all households chores for women so the ladies could enjoy festive foods and drinks to the fullest, which is called Dar khane in Nepali (दर खाने), as the next day women don’t even drink a sip of water to appease Lord Shiva as did Parvati to get the lord as her husband.

On the way to the shrines of Lord Shiva, and back home, women deck out in red, sing and dance. Women express their suffering, and how their family members particularly the mothers-in-law treat them, through songs.