Teej is a time for celebration all over the colorful state of Rajasthan

Teej is a time for celebration all over the colorful state of Rajasthan - women and young girls dress in green, swings or 'jhoolas' are hung from trees and decked with flowers, the women sing and dance in gay abandon, heralding the start of the rains gods. 

An important festival in Rajasthan, Teej is also a day for joy in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar. Teej celebrates the advent of the monsoon- a cause for celebration, indeed- and is appropriately observed by the donning of green clothing which symbolises the greenness of rain-fed fields. 

Teej is traditionally celebrated by women, who go their parents' home for the festival. New clothes, usually gifted by the woman's parents, are worn, and women gather jointly to fast and to offer prayers to the goddess Parvati, whose devotion to her husband, Shiva, is considered exemplary. On Teej, an idol of the goddess, bedecked in red and gold clothing, is taken in a procession, accompanied by chanting and hymns.