Teeyan

Teeyan (ਤੀਆਂ), also known as Teeyan Da Teohar (trans: the festival of women) or Teej, is a festival celebrated throughout Punjab which is dedicated to the onset of the monsoon and focuses on daughters sisters, and mothers.

Celebration
The festival is celebrated during the monsoon season from the third day of the lunar month of Sawan on the bright half, up to the full moon of Sawan (about 13 days), by women. Married women go to their maternal house to participate in the festivities. In the past, it was traditional for women to spend the whole month of Sawan with their parents.

Gifts
Whether or not a married woman goes to her parents, brothers take a gift set to their sisters called a 'sandhara'. A sandhara includes a Punjabi Suit/sari, laddoo, bangles, mehndi (henna) and a swing.

Giddha and Swings
The festival of Teeyan centers on girls and women getting together in the village green and tying swings to the trees. The festival gathers momentum in the Teeyan Giddha, which is performed to the singing of traditional Boliyan such as the one below.

Punjabi: ਓੁੱਚੇ ਟਾਹਣੇ ਪੀਂਘ ਪਾ ਦੇ

ਜਿਥੇ ਆਪ ਹੁਲਾਰਾ ਆਵੇ

Romanization: Uchay tahne peeng pa de

jithey aap hulara aavey

Translation Hang my swing from a high tree branch 

where the swing moves by itself 

In the past, the festival would last for as long as the girls wished ranging from a few days to four weeks. Girls would often gather to dance Giddha every day. The festival would close by the women performing the closing dance called 'Bhallho'. Bhallho or Ballo is performed by the women standing in two rows and dancing. This tradition of women getting together in villages has now become mostly extinct.

Food
The food traditionally associated at Teeyan is:
 * Kheer (ਖੀਰ) is a rice pudding
 * Poorhi (ਪੂਰ੍ਹੀ) is a type fried bread
 * Halwa (ਹਲਵਾ)
 * Malpura
 * Gulgullay (ਗੁਲਗੁਲੇ) which are made from jaggery syrup mixed with wheat flour and then made into balls, and then fried
 * Mandey (ਮੰਡੇ) are made of wheat floor but the dough is thin. The flat mandey bread is not rolled out using a rolling pin but stretched with the hands and then placed on the back of both hands before being put on the griddle to bake.

Observance
Punjabis consider Teeyan as a seasonal festival. The Teeyan gatherings often happened in villages in Punjab. The festival is also called Sawan, Teej, Kajri, Kajli, Hartalika in other states of India and is celebrated in different ways although the essence is kept the same. It is also celebrated especially in schools and colleges as the focus of the festival is often on young women.