Hartalika Teej is the third and most austere of the Teej festivals. It is kept in the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada, usually a day before or close to Ganesh Chaturthi, and it is observed above all in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Nepal, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Women fast, many without water, and worship Shiva and Parvati for the wellbeing of their husbands, or, if unmarried, for a good partner.
Month and tithi
The festival is the Shukla Tritiya of Bhadrapada, described on the Tritiya page. Both calendars give the bright fortnight the same name. In south India and Maharashtra the same day is called Gowri Habba or Swarna Gowri Vrata, the festival of the goddess Gauri.
The story
The name Hartalika is explained by a story the tradition attributes to the Puranas. Parvati, daughter of the mountain king Himavan, had vowed to marry Shiva. Her father promised her instead to Vishnu. Distressed, Parvati confided in a friend, who took her away into a forest, and the word hartalika is read as harit (carried off) and alika (a woman friend). In the forest Parvati made a lingam of sand and worshipped it through a long penance, and Shiva, pleased, accepted her. Women who keep the fast remember her devotion. The story is told differently in different places, and the details here are the commonly told ones.
How the day is kept
Women rise early, bathe and put on new clothes or red and green saris. Many fast through the day and night without food or water, and keep a night vigil with songs and stories of Parvati. Clay images of Shiva, Parvati and her friend are made, or a sand lingam is shaped, and they are worshipped with flowers, bel leaves, fruit and a set of items for adornment such as bangles, kumkum and a new cloth. The Hartalika Teej puja page gives the order of worship.
The fast is broken the next morning after the worship is complete. Wherever a waterless fast is a risk to health, a fast with water or fruit is accepted by the tradition and by common practice.
How the day is fixed
The rule used here follows Drik Panchang: the festival is on the civil day on which Tritiya is in force at sunrise; if it is in force at two sunrises, the first is taken. The morning puja window (Pratahkala) begins at sunrise and lasts for a fifth of the day, but only while Tritiya is in force. If Tritiya is still running in the evening, the Pradosh window after sunset is also shown, because tradition allows the puja then if the morning is missed.
Some traditions prefer a day on which Tritiya is joined with Chaturthi, which can put the festival a day later than the rule above. If your family or community follows that, use its calendar.
Why cities differ
The tithi begins and ends at one instant, but sunrise and sunset are at different clock times in every city. A Tritiya that ends in the small hours of the morning in one city may still be running at sunrise in another, so the day shifts, and a city where Tritiya comes in the evening may show a Pradosh window and a short or no morning window. The any-city tool works out the same for your own place.
A calm note
A waterless fast is a personal vow, not a duty. If you are pregnant, nursing, elderly, diabetic or on medicine, please keep a gentler fast, and ask a doctor if you are unsure. The worship, the songs and the company of other women are the heart of the festival.