Shukla paksha · Bhadrapada · amanta reckoning
Fri, 3 Sep
Hartalika Teej 2027 is on Friday, 3 September. It is Tritiya of Shukla paksha in Bhadrapada.
2028: Tuesday, 22 August 2028
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Friday, 3 September 2027
Hartalika Teej is not a Gregorian date. It is Shukla paksha tithi 3 of Bhadrapada in the amanta reckoning, and the Gregorian day it lands on moves by up to a month between years because twelve lunations fall about eleven days short of a solar year.
Sunrise in New Delhi falls at 5:59 AM on that day, and that is the instant the tithi has to be running at for the day to carry the observance. It is computed for this city rather than assumed, because it is what decides the date.
The two instants above are the astronomy and are not in dispute. The day is an interpretation of them: this observance is decided at sunrise, so it belongs to the day whose sunrise the tithi carries — not simply to the day the tithi begins.
Hartalika Teej is the Teej of Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya, when married women keep a nirjala fast, with neither food nor water, and worship Shiva and Parvati shaped from clay or sand, praying for an unbroken marriage; unmarried girls keep it for a husband as devoted as Shiva. In New Delhi it falls on Friday, 3 September 2027, and Tritiya runs from 4:50 PM (2 Sep) to 2:19 PM. The puja is done in the morning while Tritiya runs (5:59 AM to 8:32 AM), or at dusk, in pradosh while Tritiya runs (not available this year, as Tritiya does not run then). Hariyali Teej (Shravana Shukla Tritiya) and Kajari Teej (Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya) are different days, with customs of their own.
| Muhurat | Time in New Delhi | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Morning (pratahkal) Hartalika puja | 5:59 AM to 8:32 AMPratahkal, the first fifth of the day, while Tritiya runs. | Many panchangs place the Hartalika puja in the morning, in the pratahkal after sunrise, while Tritiya still runs. In a year when Tritiya ends soon after sunrise this window is short, so bathe and set up the clay images before dawn and begin as soon as it opens. When Tritiya begins only later in the day there is no morning window, and the evening puja below is the one. |
| Evening (pradosh) Hartalika puja | Tritiya does not run during this window this year. | Many families, above all in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, do the main puja and the katha at dusk, in pradosh kaal, the three muhurtas after sunset. This window is pradosh while Tritiya runs. In a year when Tritiya has ended by evening there is none, and families who keep the evening custom worship in the vrat day's pradosh kaal anyway. |
| Pradosh kaal on the vrat day | 6:41 PM to 8:56 PMFrom sunset for three night muhurtas (a fifth of the night). | Sunset to the end of the third muhurta of the night on the vrat day, whatever the tithi: the time for the evening puja and the shared katha when Tritiya has already ended, and the start of the night's jagran. |
| Sunrise: the fast is counted from here | 5:59 AMThe upper edge of the Sun on the horizon, with refraction. | The nirjala fast runs from sunrise on the vrat day until the puja the next morning. Families who eat a light meal before the fast finish it before sunrise. |
| Brahma muhurta: bath and shringar | 4:29 AM to 5:14 AMThe 14th of the night's fifteen muhurtas, ending one muhurta before sunrise. | The hour before dawn, for the bath, the bridal shringar and setting up the clay images and the phulera, above all in a year when the morning window closes early. |
| Window | Time in New Delhi | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Abhijit Muhurat | 11:55 AM to 12:45 PM | Auspicious |
| Amrit Kaal | 10:19 AM to 11:48 AM | Most Auspicious |
| Brahma Muhurat | 4:29 AM to 5:14 AM | Auspicious |
These are the spans classical muhurta sets aside for beginnings. They are descriptions of a convention, not warnings: the observance is kept on its day regardless, and nothing here needs to be bought, corrected or remedied.
| Window | Time in New Delhi |
|---|---|
| Rahu Kaal | 10:45 AM to 12:20 PM |
| Yamaganda Kaal | 3:30 PM to 5:05 PM |
| Durmuhurta First | 8:32 AM to 9:22 AM |
| Durmuhurta Second | 12:45 PM to 1:36 PM |
| Varjyam | 11:32 PM to 1:04 AM |
Every time above is computed for New Delhi around Friday, 3 September 2027, from the sunrise, sunset and the positions of the Sun and Moon for this city. The Vedic day runs sunrise to sunrise, so a window whose clock time falls after midnight still belongs to the evening before; a time on another date carries that date.
Apply mehndi in the evening and eat a simple sattvik meal. Many women make the sweets for the offering a day ahead, and some families eat a light meal before dawn on the vrat day itself.
Bathe early, put on new clothes, often green or red, and the full shringar. Holding water, rice and a flower, take the sankalp to keep the Hartalika vrat for the blessing of Shiva and Parvati and an unbroken marriage: nirjala, or in the form your health allows.
From clean sand or clay (many use the dark clay of a riverbank) shape a Shiva linga, Parvati and Ganesha, or set up ready-made clay images. In Maharashtra a figure of Parvati's friend, her sakhi, is made too. Avoid plaster of Paris: the images are immersed the next morning.
Set a wooden chowki with a red or yellow cloth and build a small mandap over it from banana stems and leaves. Hang the phulera, a canopy of strung flowers, above the images, and place a kalash with mango leaves and a coconut beside them.
Light the ghee lamp and incense and worship Ganesha with durva grass, roli and a sweet, saying Om Gam Ganapataye Namah, so that the vrat runs without obstacles.
Bathe the linga with water and panchamrit, then offer sandal paste, akshat, white flowers, bel leaves, dhatura, aak flowers, shami leaves, a sacred thread and a cloth, with Om Namah Shivaya or the names of Shiva given below.
Offer Parvati a red chunri and the full suhag: sindoor, bindi, bangles, mehndi, kajal, alta, a comb and a mirror, with flowers and the names of the goddess. Many families also offer an assortment of leaves (patri) to both deities.
Sit together, often with the women of the family or the lane, and hear or read the Hartalika vrat katha given below, holding akshat and flowers to offer at the end.
Do the aarti of Shiva and Parvati with camphor and the ghee lamp; Om Jai Shiv Omkara, below, is the one most homes sing, with the Parvati aarti. Offer the sweets and fruit.
Stay awake through the night with bhajans, Teej songs and the names of Shiva; many families repeat the puja in each of the night's four quarters (prahar). Keep the lamp burning till morning.
Bathe the next morning, do a last puja and aarti and offer bhog, then immerse the clay images in a river, a pond or a tub of water at home; afterwards the water and clay can go to a garden or a potted plant.
Give the suhag items, a saree or chunri and dakshina to a married woman, often your mother-in-law, and take her blessing. Then break the fast with water and the prasad, and eat a simple meal.
ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
Om Gam Ganapataye Namah
Meaning: Om; gam, the seed syllable of Ganapati: salutation to Ganapati.
When and how: At the start, before the clay Ganesha, 11 times. The seed syllable is explained in the Ganapati Atharvashirsha.
मम समस्तपापक्षयपूर्वकसप्तजन्मराज्याखण्डितसौभाग्यादिवृद्धये उमामहेश्वरप्रीत्यर्थं हरितालिकाव्रतमहं करिष्ये ।
Mama samasta-papa-kshaya-purvaka-sapta-janma-rajya-akhandita-saubhagyadi-vriddhaye Umamaheshvara-prityartham Haritalika-vratam aham karishye
Meaning: That all my sins be removed and that plenty, unbroken married happiness and every blessing may grow through seven lives, and to please Uma and Maheshvara, I shall keep the Haritalika vrat.
When and how: The sankalp as the Vrataraj gives it, said holding water, rice and a flower. A family priest adds the place, the day, your name and gotra before it; you may add your wish in your own words.
ॐ उमामहेश्वराभ्यां नमः
Om Umamaheshvarabhyam Namah
Meaning: Om: salutation to Uma and Maheshvara, together.
When and how: While offering flowers and bel leaves to the pair; 108 times on a mala if you wish, for harmony in the marriage.
ॐ उमायै नमः । ॐ गौर्यै नमः । ॐ पार्वत्यै नमः । ॐ जगद्धात्र्यै नमः । ॐ जगत्प्रतिष्ठायै नमः । ॐ शान्तिरूपिण्यै नमः । ॐ देव्यै नमः । ॐ लोकवन्दितायै नमः । ॐ काल्यै नमः । ॐ शिवायै नमः । ॐ भवान्यै नमः । ॐ रुद्राण्यै नमः । ॐ शर्वाण्यै नमः । ॐ मङ्गलदात्र्यै नमः ॥
Om Umayai Namah. Om Gauryai Namah. Om Parvatyai Namah. Om Jagaddhatryai Namah. Om Jagatpratishthayai Namah. Om Shantirupinyai Namah. Om Devyai Namah. Om Lokavanditayai Namah. Om Kalyai Namah. Om Shivayai Namah. Om Bhavanyai Namah. Om Rudranyai Namah. Om Sharvanyai Namah. Om Mangaladatryai Namah.
Meaning: Salutation to Uma; to Gauri, the fair one; to Parvati, daughter of the mountain; to the nurse of the world; to the ground the world stands on; to her whose form is peace; to the Goddess; to her whom the worlds revere; to Kali; to Shiva's consort, the auspicious one; to Bhavani; to Rudrani; to Sharvani; to the giver of all that is auspicious.
When and how: In the Vrataraj's Haritalika puja each name honours one part of the image, from the feet up to the head; at home you may offer a flower, sindoor or akshat with each name.
ॐ हराय नमः । ॐ महेश्वराय नमः । ॐ शम्भवे नमः । ॐ शूलपाणये नमः । ॐ पिनाकधृषे नमः । ॐ शिवाय नमः । ॐ पशुपतये नमः । ॐ महादेवाय नमः ॥
Om Haraya Namah. Om Maheshvaraya Namah. Om Shambhave Namah. Om Shulapanaye Namah. Om Pinakadhrishe Namah. Om Shivaya Namah. Om Pashupataye Namah. Om Mahadevaya Namah.
Meaning: Salutation to Hara, who takes sorrow away; to the great lord; to Shambhu, giver of joy; to him who holds the trident; to the bearer of the bow Pinaka; to Shiva, the auspicious; to the lord of all creatures; to the great god.
When and how: The eight names the Shiva Purana gives for worshipping a clay linga, one for each step from gathering the clay to the farewell; many families simply say one name with each offering to the linga: water, sandal paste, bel leaves, dhatura and flowers.
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
Meaning: Om: salutation to Shiva.
When and how: With the bel leaves, and again and again through the night's jagran. The words namah shivaya come from the Shri Rudram of the Yajurveda.
सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके ।
शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
Sarva-mangala-mangalye shive sarvartha-sadhike
sharanye tryambake gauri narayani namo'stu te
Meaning: O auspiciousness of all that is auspicious, Shiva's own, who brings every aim to fulfilment, our refuge, three-eyed Gauri, Narayani: salutation to you.
When and how: At the close of the Parvati puja, asking her blessing on the marriage and the home. It is from the eleventh chapter of the Devi Mahatmya.
कर्पूरगौरं करुणावतारं संसारसारं भुजगेन्द्रहारम् ।
सदा वसन्तं हृदयारविन्दे भवं भवानीसहितं नमामि ॥
Karpura-gauram karunavataram samsara-saram bhujagendra-haram
sada vasantam hridayaravinde bhavam bhavani-sahitam namami
Meaning: White as camphor, compassion embodied, the essence of the world, with the king of serpents for a garland, ever dwelling in the lotus of the heart: I bow to Bhava, Shiva, together with Bhavani, Parvati.
When and how: Sung after the aarti. It bows to Shiva with Bhavani beside him, which is what Teej is about.
ॐ जय शिव ओंकारा, स्वामी जय शिव ओंकारा।
ब्रह्मा, विष्णु, सदाशिव, अर्द्धांगी धारा॥
ॐ जय शिव ओंकारा॥
एकानन चतुरानन पंचानन राजे।
हंसासन गरुड़ासन वृषवाहन साजे॥
ॐ जय शिव ओंकारा॥
दो भुज चार चतुर्भुज दसभुज अति सोहे।
त्रिगुण रूप निरखते त्रिभुवन जन मोहे॥
ॐ जय शिव ओंकारा॥
अक्षमाला वनमाला, मुण्डमाला धारी।
चंदन मृगमद सोहै, भाले शशिधारी॥
ॐ जय शिव ओंकारा॥
श्वेताम्बर पीताम्बर बाघम्बर अंगे।
सनकादिक गरुणादिक भूतादिक संगे॥
ॐ जय शिव ओंकारा॥
कर के मध्य कमंडल चक्र त्रिशूलधारी।
सुखकारी दुखहारी जगपालन कारी॥
ॐ जय शिव ओंकारा॥
ब्रह्मा विष्णु सदाशिव जानत अविवेका।
प्रणवाक्षर में शोभित ये तीनों एका॥
ॐ जय शिव ओंकारा॥
त्रिगुणस्वामी जी की आरति जो कोइ नर गावे।
कहत शिवानंद स्वामी सुख संपति पावे॥
ॐ जय शिव ओंकारा॥
ॐ जय शिव ओंकारा, स्वामी जय शिव ओंकारा।
ब्रह्मा, विष्णु, सदाशिव, अर्द्धांगी धारा॥
Om jai Shiv Omkara, swami jai Shiv Omkara.
Brahma, Vishnu, Sadashiv, arddhangi dhara.
Om jai Shiv Omkara.
Ekanan chaturanan panchanan raje.
Hansasan Garudasan vrishvahan saje.
Om jai Shiv Omkara.
Do bhuj char chaturbhuj dasbhuj ati sohe.
Trigun roop nirakhte tribhuvan jan mohe.
Om jai Shiv Omkara.
Akshamala vanmala, mundmala dhari.
Chandan mrigmad sohai, bhale shashidhari.
Om jai Shiv Omkara.
Shvetambar pitambar baghambar ange.
Sanakadik Garunadik bhutadik sange.
Om jai Shiv Omkara.
Kar ke madhya kamandal chakra trishooldhari.
Sukhkari dukhhari jagpalan kari.
Om jai Shiv Omkara.
Brahma Vishnu Sadashiv janat aviveka.
Pranavakshar mein shobhit ye teenon eka.
Om jai Shiv Omkara.
Trigunswami ji ki aarti jo koi nar gave.
Kahat Shivanand Swami sukh sampati pave.
Om jai Shiv Omkara.
Om jai Shiv Omkara, swami jai Shiv Omkara.
Brahma, Vishnu, Sadashiv, arddhangi dhara.
Text as it is commonly sung. The Gita Press Aarti Sangrah opens 'Jai Shiv Omkara, bhaj Shiv Omkara' with the refrain 'Om Har Har Mahadev', and prints 'tinon roop' for 'trigun roop', 'Tripurari Kansari karmala dhari' for 'chandan mrigmad sohai, bhale shashidhari', 'kar madhye sukamandalu chakra shooldhari' for 'kar ke madhya kamandal chakra trishooldhari' and 'bhanat Shivanand Swami manvanchhit pavai' for 'kahat Shivanand Swami sukh sampati pave'. Printed text
The Hartalika katha is told by Shiva himself, to Parvati, to remind her how she won him. In her birth as the daughter of Himavan, king of the mountains, Parvati gave her heart to Shiva as a child. On the banks of the Ganga in the Himalaya she did tapas for years, through summer heat and winter cold, living at times on dry leaves and at times on air alone, until her father grieved to see her so.
Then the sage Narada came to Himavan with a proposal: Vishnu wished to marry his daughter. Himavan gladly agreed. When Parvati heard of it she was heartbroken, for she had vowed herself to Shiva alone, and she poured it all out to her friend.
Her friend (in many tellings, her friends) took her away in secret, deep into a forest, to a cave where her father could not find her. That is the name of the vrat: harat, carried off, and aalika, by a woman friend. There, on Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya, under Hasta nakshatra, Parvati shaped a linga from the river sand, worshipped it with flowers and leaves, kept the fast without food or water, and stayed awake all night singing Shiva's praise.
Her tapas shook Shiva's seat. He appeared before her and asked her to choose a boon; she asked him to be her husband, and he agreed. In the morning she immersed the linga and the offerings in the river and broke her fast with her friend.
Meanwhile Himavan had searched everywhere for his daughter. When he found her, she told him she would marry no one but Shiva; he accepted it, and in time Shiva and Parvati were married with every rite. Shiva closes the story with a promise: a woman who keeps this vrat with devotion is blessed with an unbroken marriage, and a girl with the husband she longs for.
Older printed versions of the katha end with stern warnings about what befalls a woman who eats, drinks or sleeps during the vrat. Many families read these as the katha's way of stressing the vow. The vrat is an act of love, and no one is expected to harm her health to keep it.
Hartalika Teej celebrates Parvati's resolve: she chose Shiva for herself and won him by tapas, against every obstacle. Married women keep the vrat for an unbroken marriage (akhand saubhagya) and their husbands' long life; unmarried girls keep it for a husband of their choice, as Parvati did. The clay images, the night's vigil and the shared katha make it as much a gathering of women as a puja.
It is the last and the strictest of the rainy season's three Teejs. Hariyali (Sawan) Teej, on Shravana Shukla Tritiya, is the green festival of swings, new clothes and gifts from a married daughter's parents. Kajari Teej, also called Kajli, Satudi or Badi Teej, on Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya, comes a fortnight before Hartalika. Hartalika, on Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya, falls on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi. Akha Teej, Akshaya Tritiya, is a spring festival in Vaishakha. Each is a different day.
Gauri comes first and Ganesha after: Hartalika's Tritiya is followed by Chaturthi, and in Karnataka the same Tritiya is kept as Gowri's visit home a day before her son arrives. In a year when Tritiya ends early in the morning, Teej and Ganesh Chaturthi fall on the same date: the morning belongs to the Teej puja and the midday to Ganesha.
Offer the shringar items to Parvati and give them the next morning, with a sweet and dakshina, to a married woman, often your mother-in-law. Tradition holds that the goddess's blessing travels with them.
Chant Om Umamaheshvarabhyam Namah 108 times before the clay images, for harmony and affection in the marriage.
Offer 11 or 108 unbroken bel leaves to the linga, one with each Om Namah Shivaya, the smooth side towards the linga.
Unmarried girls keep the vrat, many with fruit and water, offer Parvati a red chunri and pray, as she did, for a husband after their own heart.
Hearing the katha together and keeping the night's jagran with songs are held to be the heart of the vrat; invite the women of your family or your lane.
Before the parana meal, give food, fruit or the day's sweets to someone in need or to a cow, so that the vrat ends in giving.
Two years back, this year, and two ahead. Past years are kept rather than dropped so you can check the engine against a calendar you already have.
| Year | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Friday, 6 September 2024 | past |
| 2025 | Tuesday, 26 August 2025 | past |
| 2026This year | Monday, 14 September 2026 | past |
| 2027 | Friday, 3 September 2027 | upcoming |
| 2028 | Tuesday, 22 August 2028 | upcoming |
Every row is computed for New Delhi from the same ephemeris, not looked up. Sunrise decides which day a tithi names, and sunrise differs across India by more than an hour, so a date computed for Delhi can be a day out elsewhere.
There is no single authority that settles a Hindu festival date, and the divergence is genuine rather than sloppy. Three causes account for almost all of it.
So this page shows its working. If your pandit or your family almanac gives a different day, the instants above will usually show you exactly why — and that is more useful than a date asserted without one.
In New Delhi, Hartalika Teej falls on Friday, 3 September 2027, Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya, and Tritiya runs from 4:50 PM (2 Sep) to 2:19 PM. Puja times while Tritiya runs: in the morning (5:59 AM to 8:32 AM); in the evening pradosh (not available this year, as Tritiya does not run then). Times differ by city, so choose yours on this page.
Three honest reasons. The tithi can be running at the deciding moment on two days or on none. North India reckons the month purnimanta and the south and west amanta, which names the same krishna fortnight differently. And almanacs differ on which moment of the day decides an observance. The instants above are the astronomy; the day is an interpretation of them.
This page is Hartalika Teej, Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya, on Friday, 3 September 2027 in New Delhi: the Teej of the nirjala fast and the clay Shiva and Parvati. Hariyali (Sawan) Teej is Shravana Shukla Tritiya, about a month earlier; Kajari (Kajli, Satudi or Badi) Teej is Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya, a fortnight earlier; and Akha Teej is Akshaya Tritiya, in spring. Each has its own date.
No. Hariyali Teej falls on Shravana Shukla Tritiya, in the monsoon month of Shravana, and is a festival of swings, green clothes, mehndi and the sindhara gifts a married daughter receives from her parents. Hartalika Teej comes a month later, on Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya, with a nirjala fast, clay images of Shiva and Parvati, the katha of Parvati carried off by her friend, and an all-night vigil.
The evening puja is done in pradosh kaal, the three muhurtas after sunset. Pradosh while Tritiya still runs (not available this year, as Tritiya does not run then). Families who always worship in the evening use the vrat day's pradosh kaal even when Tritiya has ended (6:41 PM to 8:56 PM).
Bathe early, put on the shringar and take the sankalp. Shape Shiva, Parvati and Ganesha from clay or sand and set them on a chowki under a phulera of flowers and banana leaves. Worship Ganesha first, then Shiva with bel leaves and dhatura and Parvati with the suhag items; hear the katha, do the aarti and keep the night's jagran. The next morning do a last puja, immerse the images and break the fast. The steps are above.
Parvati, daughter of Himavan, did tapas for Shiva for years. When her father promised her to Vishnu, her friend carried her off to a forest cave, which gives the vrat its name: harat, carried off, by an aalika, a woman friend. There, on Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya, she worshipped a sand linga with a fast and an all-night vigil, and Shiva accepted her as his wife. The full katha is above.
Clean clay or sand for the images, a chowki with a red cloth, banana leaves and flowers for the phulera, a kalash and coconut, bel leaves, dhatura, aak and shami for Shiva, the suhag items and a red chunri for Parvati, panchamrit, roli, akshat, durva, a ghee lamp, incense, fruit, sweets and dakshina. The full list is above.
In the traditional nirjala vrat, no: neither food nor water from sunrise until the puja the next morning, and so no tea either. Many families allow water and fruit to those who cannot manage that, and the sankalp can be taken in that form from the start. Health comes first; devotion is what the vrat asks for.
The next morning, after sunrise. Bathe, do the last puja and aarti, immerse the clay images, give the suhag items to a married woman, and then break the fast with water and the prasad. It is not broken during the night, however long the night feels.
Usually Ganesh Chaturthi is the next day. In a year when Tritiya ends early in the morning of the Teej day, Chaturthi holds that day's midday, and both fall on the same date: the Teej puja is done in the morning while Tritiya runs, and Ganesha is installed at midday. The Ganesh Chaturthi page gives its own date for New Delhi.
It marks the day Parvati, after years of tapas, won Shiva as her husband. The name joins harat, carried off, and aalika, a woman friend: her friend took her away so that she would not be married to anyone else. Women keep it for an unbroken marriage; unmarried girls, for a husband of their choice.
Yes. Parvati herself kept it before her marriage, so girls keep it praying for a good husband, many with fruit and water rather than nirjala. They do the same puja and hear the same katha.
A pregnant woman is not expected to keep the nirjala fast. She can do the puja and hear the katha while drinking water and eating fruit or light food, or let the family worship on her behalf. Speak to your doctor before any fast.
Tradition asks for a jagran, staying awake through the night with bhajans, the katha and the names of Shiva, and the katha warns against sleeping. A woman who is unwell, or must work the next day, can rest without guilt: the vow is one of love, not of endurance.
By tradition, a woman who begins the Hartalika vrat keeps it every year. When age or health no longer allows a nirjala fast, it is kept in a lighter form, or concluded with an udyapan: a last full puja, a havan in many families, gifts of suhag items and clothes to married women, and food to a priest or to those in need. A family priest can guide the details.
Om Umamaheshvarabhyam Namah, to Shiva and Parvati together, and Om Namah Shivaya with the bel leaves. The names of Parvati and of Shiva go with each offering, and the Sarva Mangala Mangalye verse closes the Parvati puja. All of them are above, with their meanings.
