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SOUTH SALT LAKE — Women in the local Bhutanese community will gather Friday to celebrate their annual festival of sisterhood.
The festival, known as Hartalika Teej, is a time for women to socialize with one another as they preserve their culture and share happiness, women committee member Bhim Kumari Sapkota told KSL.com in an email.
One purpose of Teej, Sapkota said, is to teach the younger generation and the mainstream society about their culture.
During the festival, women fast, take part in religious rituals, join together and dance to traditional folk music.
Tara Acharya, chairman of the board of directors in the Bhutanese Community of Utah, told KSL.com the women are invited to eat a delicious meal at their parents home Thursday night and take a sacred bath in a river Friday morning.
We would like to continue celebrating every year so that our younger generation will learn and keep the culture.
–Bhim Kumari Sapkota
They then fast for the entire day, because they believed the goddess Parvati fasted to get the husband of her choice, Lord Shiva.
It is custom for the married women to fast for their husband's well-being and the unmarried to fast for a good husband, Acharya said.
Sapkota said males also participate in the festival as they call and cook special food for their sisters.
"...All the girls enjoy time doing make-up to look the best and dance to forget the pain they get from their in-laws, which is expressed in the form of folk songs with particular rhythm," Sapkota said.
This festival has been observed for generations and is celebrated by Hindu women of a Nepali origin all over the world, Sapkota said.
"We would like to continue celebrating every year so that our younger generation will learn and keep the culture," Sapkota told KSL.com in an email.
Hartalika Teej events will be celebrated from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Radha Krishna Temple in Salt Lake at 3370 S. 965 East. It is open to the public.
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