I love this part of the year... there are so many festivities and celebrations one after another, that it truly brings out the joy of life. Smiles, food, laughter, shopping, meeting families and friends and the age-old traditions that are followed along with it. One such interesting mythological story is that of Hartalika. Hartalika is observed one day before the Ganesh Chaturthi. (Bhadrapadh Shudh Tritiya)
On this day, girls and women pray to Goddess Parvati. Unmarried girls do pooja to get that prince charming they have always been dreaming about and married women pray to get the same husband in all the lives, also for happy successful married life. It is a belief that once you take the oath of Lord Shiva, you shouldn't break it, hence women continue to do this pooja each year till they are alive.
Parvati was the daughter of Himvan (the king of Himalayas). "Parvat" means Mountain, hence being the daughter of the king of mountains, she was named Parvati. It is said, when Parvati grew of age, Narad Muni brought in the message of Lord Vishnu to marry her. Himvan was very happy to hear this, but Parvati had secretly loved Lord Shiva. Hence, without telling her parents, she ran off with her female friend into the forests. Harit ( = Haran =abduction) and Alika ( = alichya = friend). Hence the name, Hartalika.
On the banks of the river, Parvati made a "Shivling" of sand and started meditating and praying to Lord Shiva. Initially, she ate raw leaves, but later on even left that. This we call as "Upvas" meaning fast. Seeing this, Lord Shiva was pleased and agreed to marry Parvati as per her wish.
Seeing his daughter's willpower and faith, even Himvan agreed to get Parvati married to Lord Shiva. So, since all this was achieved by the help of Parvati's female friend, girls and women(known as suvasini's) fast all day long on this day and then do pooja together of idols of Shiva and Parvati made of sand. The fast is then broken the next day as the Suvasini's stay awake all night long playing games such as Jhimma, Phugdi, Tiprya etc.
This day also celebrates the friendship among female friends. Having a friend to tell your secrets to, and one whom you can count on in moments of need is a part of life. So lets say cheers to all our women friends as they are our true support and let us decide on this day, to cherish the relationship for lifetime.
Unfortunately i don't have any recipe of Modak on my blog yet, so i am going to make some tomorrow for Ganesh Chaturthi and post one. Meanwhile, if you don't want to go traditional and enjoy some other lip-smacking sweets, here are some ideas :
1. Gulkand Chocolates : http://cookininpajamas.blogspot.in/2013/11/gulkand-chocolates.html
2. Coconut ladoos : http://cookininpajamas.blogspot.in/2013/10/coconut-ladoos.html
3. Pajama "Pop in the mouth" Ladoos : http://cookininpajamas.blogspot.in/2014/02/pajama-pop-in-mouth-ladoos-rose-day.html
On this day, girls and women pray to Goddess Parvati. Unmarried girls do pooja to get that prince charming they have always been dreaming about and married women pray to get the same husband in all the lives, also for happy successful married life. It is a belief that once you take the oath of Lord Shiva, you shouldn't break it, hence women continue to do this pooja each year till they are alive.
Parvati was the daughter of Himvan (the king of Himalayas). "Parvat" means Mountain, hence being the daughter of the king of mountains, she was named Parvati. It is said, when Parvati grew of age, Narad Muni brought in the message of Lord Vishnu to marry her. Himvan was very happy to hear this, but Parvati had secretly loved Lord Shiva. Hence, without telling her parents, she ran off with her female friend into the forests. Harit ( = Haran =abduction) and Alika ( = alichya = friend). Hence the name, Hartalika.
On the banks of the river, Parvati made a "Shivling" of sand and started meditating and praying to Lord Shiva. Initially, she ate raw leaves, but later on even left that. This we call as "Upvas" meaning fast. Seeing this, Lord Shiva was pleased and agreed to marry Parvati as per her wish.
Seeing his daughter's willpower and faith, even Himvan agreed to get Parvati married to Lord Shiva. So, since all this was achieved by the help of Parvati's female friend, girls and women(known as suvasini's) fast all day long on this day and then do pooja together of idols of Shiva and Parvati made of sand. The fast is then broken the next day as the Suvasini's stay awake all night long playing games such as Jhimma, Phugdi, Tiprya etc.
This day also celebrates the friendship among female friends. Having a friend to tell your secrets to, and one whom you can count on in moments of need is a part of life. So lets say cheers to all our women friends as they are our true support and let us decide on this day, to cherish the relationship for lifetime.
Unfortunately i don't have any recipe of Modak on my blog yet, so i am going to make some tomorrow for Ganesh Chaturthi and post one. Meanwhile, if you don't want to go traditional and enjoy some other lip-smacking sweets, here are some ideas :
1. Gulkand Chocolates : http://cookininpajamas.blogspot.in/2013/11/gulkand-chocolates.html
2. Coconut ladoos : http://cookininpajamas.blogspot.in/2013/10/coconut-ladoos.html
3. Pajama "Pop in the mouth" Ladoos : http://cookininpajamas.blogspot.in/2014/02/pajama-pop-in-mouth-ladoos-rose-day.html
4. Naaralachya Vadya : http://cookininpajamas.blogspot.in/2014/10/dusshera-special-naralyachya-vadya.html
Happy cooking and wish you all a Happy Ganesh Chaturthi :) Let us all say, "Ganpati Bappa Morya" :)
Although we are grown ups now, reading a mythological story still fascinates me and holds me to it. Have heard this story before but every single time I read these, I am intrigued just like the very first time, when my Ma had narrated this to me. What a wonderful selection of sweets dear. I love the GULKAND chocolates and pop in the mouth laddoos the most. The others are equally delectable. What a fantastic post dear Gauri.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Piyali...we are never too old for stories, isn't it? :) Thank you so much, glad you liked it :)
DeleteHappy Hartalika Teej my friend. Loved this beautiful write-up about the festival and also those droolicious sweets. I want every single of them in my life! :)
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks Anu :) I wish i could send some to you :)
DeleteLoved it Gauri :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much dear :)
DeleteVery insightful post on Hartalika. I like how you interpret it as a day to celebrate our girlfriends :)
ReplyDeleteThanks dear, happy that you liked it :)
DeleteInteresting post to read.And all these sweets are delicious!
ReplyDeleteHappy Hartalika Teej!
Wish you the same my dear... Thanks a lot for these kind words :)
DeleteBeautiful post Gauri! and so so informative! Love the idea of pop in mouth ladoos! So creative!
ReplyDeleteThanks Savita :) Happy that you liked them, all for the love of Gulkand :) Haha
DeleteLovely write up dear. All these are looking so gorgeous. Love each one, Awesome !!
ReplyDeleteThanks dear :) So glad you liked it :)
Deleteloved reading through the post:) and a beautiful collection of sweets..
ReplyDeleteThanks Shubha, happy that you loved the post :)
DeleteLovely post with mouth watering recipes!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks dear friend :)
DeleteThat was very interesting. And your food photos look so delicious. I'm all for a female celebration. Cheers to you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sharon, and happy to have met such a great friend like you here through blogging :)
DeleteBeautiful write Gauri, i loved it! Happy Hartalika!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mullai :) So happy you liked it :)
Delete