Tij Festival

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The Tij Festival is an Indo-Nepalese celebration which takes place on the third day after the new moon of the Nepali month of Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September)[1] A "festival of sisterhood," [2] the Tij Festival is traditionally celebrated to ensure that one's husband lives a long and wealthy life. There is an additional festival celebrated by the women of Nepal, in conjunction with the Tij - the Rsi Pancami. The Rsi Pancami revolves around the purity of women. It is a time when women cleanse themselves of the possible "sin of touching a man during menstruation." [3] During this festival, which occurs two days after the Tij, the women participate in ritual bathes and puja (worship). Traditionally, these two festivals were celebrated by women of the higher classes of Nepalese society, namely the Buhan and Chetri. However, as time has progressed, more women partake in these celebrations and the meaning and activities change. One of the defining characteristics of the Tij Festival is the songs the women sing. Traditionally, these songs emphasized the subservient role of women in Nepalese society in addition to reinforcing traditional Hindu ideology of gender relations. Within the past few decades, as Nepal and the surrounding area experiences rapid development and modernization, the Tij songs have become more of a critical commentary on gender relations from women's perspectives. These songs "extend the women's thoughts and experiences of hardships from a intimate conversation to a public setting." [4] The Tij songs allow women to affect change in their respective societies by giving them a public voice.

[edit] Sources

Skinner, Debra, Adhikari, G.B., and Dorothy Holland. "The Songs of the Tij: A genre of Critical Commentary for Women in Nepal. Asian Folklore Studies. 53n2 (October 1994). Basnyat, Aarti. "Not a Tease Anymore." Nepali Times. Vol. 263, September 2005 Levy, Robert I. Mesocosm: Hinduism and the Organization of a Traditional Newar City in Nepal. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1990 1990. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft6k4007rd/ Skinner, Debra, Alfred Pach III, and Dorothy Holland. Selves in Time and Place. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, INC, 1998

[edit] References

  1. ^ Adhikari, G.B, Debra Skinner, and Dorothy Holland. "The Songs of the Tij: A genre of Critical Commentary for Women in Nepal. Asian Folklore Studies. 53n2 (October 1994).
  2. ^ Basnyat, Aarti. "Not a Tease Anymore." Nepali Times. Vol. 263, September 2005.
  3. ^ Levy, Robert I. Mesocosm: Hinduism and the Organization of a Traditional Newar City in Nepal. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1990 1990. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft6k4007rd/
  4. ^ Skinner, Debra, Alfred Pach III, and Dorothy Holland. Selves in Time and Place. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, INC, 1998