When is Kajari Teej?
The answer
Friday, 20 August 2027
The third of the dark fortnight.
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Bhadrapada Krishna 3
Read the ordinary way: the day whose SUNRISE this tithi is running at.
And after that
Tuesday, 8 August 2028
Bhadrapada Krishna 3
Monday, 27 August 2029
Bhadrapada Krishna 3
How this date is worked out
A festival is a position, not a date. The lunar month is named by the sidereal sign the Sun stands in at the new moon that opens it, and the tithi is the Moon's distance from the Sun in twelve-degree steps. Both come from the same ephemeris this site casts birth charts with.
North India reckons a month from full moon to full moon, so the dark fortnight carries the next month's name — the same day is Shravana Krishna Tritiya in Pune and Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya in Delhi. These dates use the northern reckoning, and the tithi is printed above so there is nothing to take on trust.
Why it is kept
Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya — the second of the year's three Teejs. Hariyali Teej is in Sawan, Kajari comes exactly a fortnight later, and Hartalika in Bhadrapada Shukla. Kajari has its own character: it is a festival of song — kajri is the monsoon folk song of Mirzapur and Banaras, sung across the east, and it is usually about a husband away from home. A neem branch is worshipped, and the fast is broken with arghya to the moon, not at sunset.
The story behind it
The neem branch
Kajari's own puja is of a neem branch, set in the ground by a wall and offered water, milk and sattu.
Kajali van
One story says King Dadurai of Kajali van went to war and did not return, and the songs Queen Nagmati sang for him became the kajri.
The snake and the sattu
In another a woman killed a snake's young without knowing. The snake came for revenge, saw her keeping the vrat and offering sattu, and turned back — which is why sattu is offered today.
Parvati
The root story of all three Teejs is one: Parvati's years of austerity to win Shiva, which is what a Teej remembers.
The songs
Kajari's own meaning is there: the vrat is not kept alone, it is kept singing. Women put up a swing and sing together.
What to keep ready
- A neem branch — the puja stands on it
- Sattu of barley or gram with jaggery or ghee; this day's own bhog
- Cow's milk, curd, water
- A copper lota for the arghya to the moon
- Sindoor, mehndi, bangles and the sixteen shringar
- Green cloth and green bangles
- Gujiya, malpua and seasonal fruit
- A roti and jaggery for a cow, before the fast is broken
How the puja is done
1
The vow
Bathe, put on the sixteen shringar and green. Married women keep it for the husband, unmarried girls for a good one. By custom nirjala.
2
The neem
Set the neem branch by a wall. Offer water, milk, sattu, flowers and sindoor on it, and light a lamp.
3
Katha and song
Hear the katha, then sing together — that is what makes this Teej itself. Putting up a swing belongs to today.
4
The cow
Before breaking the fast, feed a cow a roti with jaggery on it. That is a fixed rule of this vrat.
5
Arghya to the moon
At moonrise, water with milk and akshat offered from a copper lota.
6
Breaking it
Break the fast on sattu and fruit after the arghya, with the elder woman's blessing first.
What to do
- Break the fast with arghya to the moon, not at sunset — Kajari waits for moonrise.
- Feed a cow a roti with jaggery before you eat; that is this Teej's fixed rule.
- Worship the neem branch — that, not any image, is Kajari's real puja.
- Offer sattu and break the fast on it.
- Sing, or hear the singing — a Kajari without song is not counted complete.
What not to do
- Do not cut a neem today, and do not use the branch for anything but the puja.
- Not even water before the parana; it is nirjala.
- No black and no white today; green is this Teej's colour.
- Do not leave the shringar half done, and do not wear broken bangles.
- Keep clear of anger and quarrels on the day of the vrat.
The aarti
Shri Parvati Ji ki Aarti
जय पार्वती माता, जय पार्वती माता।
ब्रह्मा सनातन देवी, शुभ फल की दाता॥
अरिकुल पद्म विनासनि, जय सेवक त्राता।
जग जीवन जगदम्बा, हरिहर गुण गाता॥
सिंह को वाहन साजे, कुंडल है साथा।
देव वधू जस गावत, नृत्य करत ताथा॥
सतयुग रूप शील अति सुंदर, नाम सती कहलाता।
हेमांचल घर जन्मी, सखियन संग राता॥
शुम्भ-निशुम्भ विदारे, हेमांचल स्थाता।
सहस भुजा तनु धरिके, चक्र लियो हाथा॥
सृष्टि रूप तुही जननी, शिव संग रंग राता।
नंदी भृंगी बीन लही, हाथन मृदु ताता॥
श्री प्रताप आरती माँ की, जो कोई नर गाता।
सदा सुखी नित रहता, सुख सम्पत्ति पाता॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.