Hariyali Teej 2026 — Date, Vrat, Puja Vidhi & Significance

In the green heart of Shravan, one day belongs to the eternal couple. Hariyali Teej 2026 falls on Saturday, August 15 — the third day of the bright half of Sawan — when married women dress in green, swing on flower-decked jhulas, and keep a fast for the long life and wellbeing of their husbands. The festival celebrates the reunion of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and is the first of the three great Teej festivals of the Hindu calendar.

Here is the verified date, the tithi timing, the complete puja vidhi, and the vrat katha behind the day.

What Is Hariyali Teej

Hariyali Teej (हरियाली तीज) — also called Shravani Teej or Choti Teej — is observed on Shravan Shukla Tritiya, the third tithi of the bright fortnight of the monsoon month. Hariyali means greenery, and the festival takes its name from the lush, rain-washed earth of Sawan. Married women wear green sarees and bangles, apply mehndi, sing monsoon songs, and ride on swings hung from trees.

At its heart, Hariyali Teej honours Goddess Parvati — known on this day as Teej Mata — who, after lifetimes of penance, was finally united with Lord Shiva. Married women keep the vrat praying for akhand saubhagya — an unbroken married life and the wellbeing of their husbands — and unmarried girls observe it wishing for a good husband. It is a festival of devotion, of the bond between husband and wife, and of the joy that the first rains bring.

Hariyali Teej 2026 Date and Puja Muhurat

Because the festival is kept on the udaya tithi — the tithi present at sunrise — Hariyali Teej is observed on Saturday, August 15, even though the Tritiya tithi ends in the late afternoon. The morning hours after bathing are ideal for the sankalp and the main puja, while many families perform the Shiva–Parvati worship again in the evening Pradosh Kaal. Exact sunrise and the auspicious windows shift by city — check the ShubhDivas Panchanga for your city's precise timing before you begin. In 2026, Hariyali Teej also coincides with Independence Day.

The Significance of Hariyali Teej

Hariyali Teej carries layers of meaning that have been cherished for centuries.

The reunion of Shiva and Parvati. Tradition holds that on this day Lord Shiva accepted Parvati as his wife after her 108 births of penance. The day therefore celebrates the ideal of devoted, eternal love — and married women invoke that same blessing for their own marriages.

The festival of the monsoon. Sawan is the season of rain, when the parched land turns green and life returns to the earth. Hariyali Teej is the celebration of that renewal — the colour green, the swings on the trees, and the songs all express the joy of the monsoon.

A vrat for saubhagya. For a married woman, the Teej vrat is among the most important of the year — kept for the long life of her husband and the prosperity of her home, much like Karwa Chauth. The blessings of Teej Mata are sought for an unbroken and happy married life.

Hariyali Teej Vrat — Fasting Rules

The Hariyali Teej fast is traditionally a nirjala vrat — kept without food or even water — observed by married women for their husbands and by unmarried girls praying for a good match. The rules followed in most homes are:

• The fast is begun after the morning bath and sankalp and is kept through the day.
• The strictest form is nirjala (no water); those who cannot keep it observe a phalahar fast on fruit, milk, and water.
• The vrat is concluded after the evening puja and the recitation or hearing of the Hariyali Teej vrat katha, usually the next morning.
• Expectant mothers, the unwell, and the elderly are gently exempted — devotion matters more than severity, and a phalahar vrat carries the same sincerity.

Hariyali Teej Puja Vidhi — Step by Step

1. Wake before sunrise and bathe. Wear green — the colour of the festival — and adorn yourself with the sixteen shringar, bangles, and mehndi.
2. Take the Sankalp. Sit facing east or north, take water in your hand, and resolve to keep the Teej vrat for the wellbeing and long life of your husband (or, for unmarried girls, for a good husband).
3. Set up the deities. On a wooden platform, place clay or metal images of Shiva, Parvati, and Ganesha. Many families make Parvati and Shiva idols from clean river clay for the day.
4. Decorate the altar with green leaves, flowers, and a small swing, and drape Parvati with a green chunari, bangles, bindi, and the items of shringar.
5. Begin with Ganesha. Offer haldi, kumkum, akshat (rice), durva grass, and modak to Lord Ganesha so the worship proceeds without obstacle.
6. Worship Shiva and Parvati. Offer bel patra, dhatura, and flowers to Shiva; offer Parvati the green chunari, sindoor, bangles, and the shringar items, praying for akhand saubhagya.
7. Offer naivedya — kheer, ghee, fruit, and seasonal sweets such as ghevar.
8. Light the deepak and dhoop, and recite the Shiva–Parvati mantras and the Teej prayer.
9. Listen to the Hariyali Teej vrat katha, which every observer of the fast should hear or read.
10. Perform the aarti, circle the lamp, and conclude by seeking the blessings of elders. Married women apply the offered sindoor and gift the shringar items to a Brahmin woman or to elders as is the family custom.

Hariyali Teej Puja Samagri

• Clay or metal idols of Shiva, Parvati, and Ganesha
• A green chunari, bangles, bindi, sindoor, and the sixteen shringar items for Parvati
• Bel patra, dhatura, and fresh green flowers and leaves
• Haldi, kumkum, chandan, akshat (rice), and durva grass
• Ghee lamp, wicks, dhoop, incense, and camphor
• Naivedya — kheer, ghevar, fruit, and sweets
• Mehndi for the hands, and green clothing for the women of the home
• A small decorated swing (jhula) for the festivities

The Story of Hariyali Teej — Vrat Katha

The vrat katha of Hariyali Teej tells the story of Goddess Parvati's penance to win Lord Shiva.

In an earlier birth as Sati, the goddess gave up her life at her father Daksha's yagna, unable to bear the insult to her husband Shiva. She was reborn as Parvati, the daughter of the mountain king Himavan, and from her childhood she set her heart on Shiva alone. To win him, she undertook the most severe penance — fasting in the heat and the cold, living on leaves and then on nothing at all, through life after life. It is said she observed 108 births of tapasya for this single purpose.

Moved at last by the depth and constancy of her devotion, Lord Shiva accepted Parvati as his wife on Shravan Shukla Tritiya. Pleased with her, Shiva blessed her — and decreed that any woman who keeps this vrat with faith on this day will be granted an unbroken married life and the fulfilment of her wishes. Because the goddess was reunited with her lord on the green third day of Sawan, the day is kept as Hariyali Teej, and Parvati is worshipped as Teej Mata, the giver of saubhagya.

This is the katha that every keeper of the fast hears, for it is the very reason the vrat is observed.

Hariyali Teej Mantra

Worship the divine couple on this day with the mantra of Parvati and Shiva:

ॐ उमामहेश्वराभ्यां नमः Om Uma-Maheshwarabhyam Namah

And invoke the blessings of Goddess Parvati with her own salutation:

ॐ पार्वत्यै नमः Om Parvatyai Namah

Customs and Traditions of Hariyali Teej

The festival is as joyful as it is devotional, and its customs are beloved across the land.

• Green everything. Women wear green sarees, green bangles, and green ornaments — the colour of the monsoon and of life renewed.
• The swings (jhula). Swings are hung from trees and decorated with flowers; women gather to swing together and sing the traditional Teej songs of the rains and of married love.
• Mehndi and shringar. Hands are adorned with mehndi the night before, and women dress in the sixteen shringar — a celebration of married beauty.
• Sindhara. In many North Indian homes, a married daughter receives sindhara — a gift of clothes, bangles, mehndi, and sweets such as ghevar — from her parents before Teej.
• The community gathering. Women of the family and neighbourhood come together to fast, sing, and worship Teej Mata as one.

Hariyali Teej Across India

Hariyali Teej is celebrated with special grandeur across the north and west of India. In Rajasthan, the festival is most famous of all — in Jaipur, a grand Teej procession carries an idol of Teej Mata through the old city, drawing crowds from across the state. In Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab, women return to their parental homes, swing on jhulas, and keep the vrat together. In Bihar and Jharkhand, the day is observed with the same devotion to Shiva and Parvati. Across the regions the forms vary, but the heart of the festival is the same — green, swings, song, and a prayer for a long and happy married life.

The Three Teej Festivals

Hariyali Teej is the first of the three Teej festivals that fall in the monsoon and early autumn:

• Hariyali Teej — Shravan Shukla Tritiya (August 15, 2026), the green festival of Shiva and Parvati's reunion.
• Kajari Teej — Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya, a fortnight later, kept especially in the regions of Bundelkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
• Hartalika Teej — Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya, the strictest nirjala vrat of the three, kept by both married and unmarried women for Shiva and Parvati.

Hariyali Teej opens this sacred sequence within the holy month of Sawan. To plan the full month of Shravan — every vrat, somwar, and festival — see the complete Sawan 2026 guide, and for the Tuesday vrat of newly married women in the same month, read about Mangala Gauri Vrat 2026.

For families seeking blessings for a happy married life, the ShubhDivas relationship and Kundali Matching tools check marital compatibility the traditional way. And for daily sunrise, tithi, and the auspicious Choghadiya through Shravan, the ShubhDivas Panchanga is updated every day for all major Indian cities.