Hariyali, Kajari and Hartalika Teej: What Is the Difference? All Three 2026 Dates (15 Aug, 31 Aug, 14 Sep)

2026-08-19

Three Teejs, three fortnights: Hariyali (Shravana Shukla, 15 Aug 2026), Kajari (Bhadrapada Krishna, 31 Aug) and Hartalika (Bhadrapada Shukla, 14 Sep). A side-by-side of who keeps which, how strict the fast is, and the neem, swing and kajri-song customs that tell them apart.

Three different monsoon festivals are all simply called "Teej", and every year the same questions return: which is when, who keeps which, which fast is waterless, and where the swings and songs belong. In 2026 the panchang gives: Hariyali Teej, Saturday 15 August (already past); Kajari Teej, Monday 31 August; Hartalika Teej, Monday 14 September. This article puts the three side by side — tithi, region, strictness of fast, and the customs that actually tell them apart; the puja-vidhi for each is in separate articles and not repeated here.

The three Teejs at a glance

All times are Delhi/IST. Sunrise shifts by minutes from city to city; where a tithi changes near sunrise, decide from your own city's tithi calendar, not this table.

The tithi arithmetic: three Tritiyas, three fortnights

All three fall on Tritiya, the third tithi — that is what "Teej" means. The difference is which fortnight of which month. Hariyali is Shravana Shukla; Kajari is Bhadrapada Krishna, three days after the Raksha Bandhan full moon (purnimanta reckoning — amanta calendars call the same fortnight Shravana Krishna; the tithi is identical); Hartalika is Bhadrapada Shukla, beside Ganesh Chaturthi. In 2026 Chaturthi runs from 07:08 on 14 September to 07:45 on the 15th, so by the midday rule Ganesh Chaturthi also lands on 14 September — Hartalika and Ganesh sthapana share a day this year.

The day is fixed the same way for all three: udaya tithi, the tithi present at sunrise owns the day. Kajari Teej shows why. Tritiya begins at 09:37 on 30 August, after Delhi's 05:59 sunrise — the 30th rises in Dwitiya; on the 31st Tritiya is running at sunrise (ending 08:51), so the vrat is on the 31st. Hartalika follows the same logic: Tritiya begins at 07:10 on 13 September, after sunrise, and is present at the 06:06 sunrise on the 14th. The 13-versus-14 question is worked through in a separate article; one addition — the dharmashastra digests prefer, for Hartalika, a Tritiya joined to Chaturthi over one joined to Dwitiya, and the 14th is that day. Note that Tritiya ends at 07:08 on the 14th, so a morning puja "within Tritiya" has a very short window; families who do the puja at pradosh follow their own tradition — the texts are not unanimous.

Who keeps which Teej

All three are called vrats of suhaag, but the people who keep them differ. Hariyali is for married and unmarried women alike; a newly married daughter spends her first Sawan at her parents' home and receives sindhara — clothes, mehendi, ghevar — from her in-laws, which is why Punjab and Haryana call it Sindhara Teej or Teeyan. It is more festival than fast. Kajari is kept mainly by married women in Rajasthan, Bundelkhand and Purvanchal; unmarried girls keep it in some families. Hartalika is the hardest vrat for married women, and in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Nepal unmarried girls keep it too; in Nepal it is simply "Teej", the year's biggest women's festival. Karnataka's Swarna Gowri Vrata falls on the same tithi — a different vrat sharing the date.

Nirjala or phalahar: the order of strictness

The ranking is clear: Hartalika > Kajari > Hariyali.

• Hartalika — nirjala, close to twenty-four hours. The katha describes Parvati's austere tapasya and the fast imitates it down to not taking water; a night vigil follows, and the fast is broken next morning after visarjan. This is the vrat's original form, not a regional addition.
• Kajari — in Rajasthan usually nirjala, broken after arghya to the moon; Delhi moonrise on 31 August is 20:25. The first food is sattu — roasted gram or barley flour with ghee and jaggery — hence Satudi Teej. In Bundelkhand and Purvanchal the phalahar form is commoner. Date and general significance are in the earlier article.
• Hariyali — no text prescribes nirjala. Most homes keep phalahar and eat after the evening Parvati puja; many keep no fast at all.

For women who are pregnant, unwell or elderly, the shastra itself does not insist on nirjala; phalahar, or puja alone, is held to fulfil the vrat.

Neem, swings and kajri songs: where the customs really differ

Neemdi Mata — the mark of Kajari Teej

In Rajasthan the centre of Badi (Kajari) Teej is Neemdi Mata. A small clay platform is built in the courtyard, a neem sprig planted in it, a tiny clay pool beside it filled with water, a ghee lamp lit; in the evening women offer roli, akshat and sattu, worship a cow, give arghya to the risen moon, and break the fast. Why neem? No scriptural reason is given. It is folk tradition, and it is honest to leave it there rather than invent a "scientific benefit".

The swing — the soul of Hariyali Teej

Swings on mango and neem branches, green bangles, leheriya, mehendi — all of it mirrors the greenery of Sawan, and Jaipur's Teej Mata procession goes out this day. Kajari has swings in places but they are not its centre; Hartalika has no swing tradition at all.

Kajri songs — whose name is it?

Kajri is the monsoon folk-song form of Purvanchal (Mirzapur, Varanasi) and Bihar, and the same songs accompany Hariyali's swings. Kajari Teej is generally held to take its name from it — some link it to the Kajli forest legend of Mirzapur, some to dark monsoon clouds; the etymology is not settled. Hartalika has a katha rather than a song: harat + aalika, Parvati carried off by her friend so that she could marry by her own choice.

Sand Shiva-Parvati — the Hartalika signature

Images of Shiva, Parvati and Ganesha shaped from river sand or black clay, solah shringar offered, the katha read, the night kept awake, immersion next morning. This exists in neither Hariyali nor Kajari.

Geography: one name, different Teejs

Ask which is "the real Teej" and a woman from Uttar Pradesh and one from Rajasthan will answer differently, and both will be right. Rajasthan keeps all three but leans on Hariyali (Jaipur) and Badi Teej (the Kajli Teej fair at Bundi). Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand treat Hariyali and Hartalika as the big two, with Kajari strong in Purvanchal and Bundelkhand. Punjab and Haryana keep the Sawan Teej almost alone; in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Nepal, Hartalika is the Teej. Hariyali has passed this year; its vidhi and katha are in this article.

Common mix-ups

• Are Kajari and Hartalika the same? No — both are in Bhadrapada, but one in the dark fortnight and one in the bright.
• Must all three be kept? No text prescribes the three as a set; the family's tradition is the standard.
• Do mehendi and green bangles belong to Kajari and Hartalika too? Yes — the marks of suhaag are common to all three; the differences lie in the fast and the form of puja.

In short

All three Teejs are Tritiya, but of three different fortnights: Hariyali (Shravana Shukla, 15 August 2026, past), Kajari (Bhadrapada Krishna, 31 August), Hartalika (Bhadrapada Shukla, 14 September). In strictness Hartalika is hardest (nirjala), Kajari in between (nirjala in Rajasthan, broken with sattu after moonrise), Hariyali lightest. The signatures: Hariyali's swing, Kajari's neem sprig and sattu, Hartalika's sand Shiva-Parvati and vigil. The day is fixed by the tithi at sunrise; sunrise moves with the city, so check your own panchang in borderline cases.

Vidhi and strictness vary by regional tradition; treat your family priest or local panchang as the final authority.