Teej festival is celebrated with great zeal by Hindu women in North India. This festival falls during the monsoon season and is also referred to as 'Saawan festival'. It is considered to be an auspicious occasion for married or engaged women who receive blessings in the form of gifts from their in-laws. Many even observe fast on this day to seek blessings from Goddess Parvati.

Women wear beautiful clothes and best of their jewelry on this occasion and tend to look like new brides.  So this festival brings with it, lots of reasons for shopping, whether it is for attires, accessories or cosmetics.

In Delhi, different organizations and groups organize special Teej mela during this time. It is like a fest with chaatwaalas and mehendiwaalas putting up their stalls at the fair. One such fair is at Gold Souk in Gurgaon. It is organizing a three-day Teej Mela which commences on 12th August, 2010. People can visit the fair to shop for beautiful ornaments, bangles, clothes and enjoy special teej delicacies like ghewar, a crunchy Rajasthani disc-shaped sweet. Women can also indulge in nail art, mehendi or tattoo or look forward to a makeover session as well. Since Rakhi is around the corner, many of the stalls would feature designer rakhis also. Decorated swings, folk-dance and puppet shows are some of the other attractions to look forward to. The timings for the festival are from 11 AM to 10 PM.

Alternatively you can visit the DLF Promenade Mall at Nelson Mandela Marg and be a part of the celebration there. The organizers have arranged for a free mehendiwala for this occasion and would be installing a swing as well. Visitors here can also shop at the Teej bazaar and buy bangles, clothes, jewelry, sweets and handicraft items. The two day fair starts on 12 August, from 11 AM to 10 PM, and would end on 13 August, 2010.

A similar Teej Mela can be enjoyed at the DLF Mega Mall also. Just like DLF Promenade, there would be a special food stall, a Teej bazaar where you can shop for traditional clothes, jewelry, handicraft items, bangles and other goodies. This fair would last for a longer time, from 12th August 2010, between 11 AM and 11 PM till 31 August, 2010.

Dilli Haat at Pitampura has also organized a special Teej festival that would feature stalls for delicious food, bangles, clothes etc. Other attractions include a mehendi stall, bangle making, swings, dance and a lot more. The celebration here starts on 12 August 2010 and would continue till 15 August 2010. You can visit the haat anytime between 11 AM and 7 PM.

MetroMela hopes that you have an enjoyable Teej festival!

By Priyanka Gupta