Teej, the festival of swings, celebrated in Amritsar with fervour
By ANISaturday, July 31, 2010
Amritsar, July 31 (ANI): Teej or, the festival of swings, was marked here on Saturday with traditional fervour.
Celebrated in the country, especially by women in the months of July-August, it marks the advent of monsoon.
At Amritsar’s Khalsa College for Women, students attired in colorful, traditional Punjabi dresses gave their college campus a festive look of a lively village.
Swings, Phulkaris, Charkhas etc were displayed to create public awareness among the students. The girls enjoyed the most on the flower-decorated swings.
“Punjab is the land of love and glamour. Here the change of season is celebrated with the joy. Punjabis have three famous festivals - Lohri, Baisakhi and ‘Tiyan’. All of them are related to a season. After summer, when the farmer awaits for monsoon, he gets happy by just watching the clouds in the sky. The children too start singing for the rains to come,” said Sukhbir Kaur Mahal, Principal of Khalsa College for Women.
The month of Sawan, as per Hindu almanac, falls between July-August during monsoon, also brings the festivals of ‘Teeyan’ which was the traditional festival of Punjab. During this, the newly wed girls come back to their parents’ house and celebrate the festival with their friends and relatives.
However, on this occasion, youthful girls performed traditional songs and song-Giddha, Tappe, Boliyan and folk songs.
Girls lamented such festivals are now limited to the colleges or, in the institutions. They said efforts should be made to revive the culture and customs of the old Punjabi traditions in Punjab’s villages. By Sawinder Singh(ANI)
