Kim Bowden
10 August 2025, 5:30 PM
An ancient festival found a new home in Lowburn on Friday night (August 8), as Cromwell women - some new to the town, others well-settled - came together to celebrate Teej.
Timed with the onset of the monsoon in parts of India, Teej is a centuries-old festival dedicated to women.
Japleen Kaur said it was traditionally a time when married daughters would return to their parents’ homes during the rainy season to sing, dance, and share food with their childhood friends.
“Teej holds special significance in agricultural communities as it falls during the monsoon season,” she said.
“This period marks a pause after the busy harvest, allowing farmers and their families to rest and rejuvenate, so in that leisure time daughters visit their families.”
For Japleen, who hails from Punjab and moved to Central Otago two years ago, hosting a Teej gathering with a small team of organisers in her new town was a way to honour traditions, have fun, and meet with others from her homeland.
“I feel very lucky that we are doing something, as we are so far from our homeland,” Japleen said.
“I think it’s important - otherwise we might miss the festival altogether, plus it’s a chance to meet a lot of people.”
Parmpreet Kaur on a swing to celebrate Teej. Image: The Central App
There were fairy lights, traditional dress, dancing, singing, childhood games (including one similar to local favourite hopscotch), and home-cooked food.
Stirred atop the stove in the hall was a large pot of kheer, an Indian version of rice pudding, cooked by Japleen.
It was served with chasni, a syrup flavoured with saffron and cardamom, and malpura, a type of fried, sweet roti, similar to a pancake.
Outside, strung from a tree beside Lake Dunstan, adorned with flowers and more fairy lights, was a swing - another traditional feature of the festival.
Parmpreet Kaur, another new Cromwell resident, said the swing would have acted as a gathering point for women - usually a cool spot under the shelter of trees to appreciate the cooler winds of the monsoon.
“You put a swing there and enjoy your time together with your friends,” Parmpreet said, explaining how songs and stories would be shared, with a playful atmosphere.
Parmpreet moved to Cromwell from India a year ago. Back home, the calendar was packed with festivals; here, the opportunities for social gatherings are fewer.
“This is a great way to celebrate, to get together, and enjoy,” she said.
The women donned colourful salwar kameez, a common outfit worn by Punjabi women consisting of a long, loose-fitting tunic, trousers and a scarf.
But for Japleen, the ‘Punjabi suit’ isn’t pulled out solely for special occasions - it’s for day-to-day wear too, regardless of her address.
“I always prefer to wear this outfit,” she said.
“If I’m going to the supermarket or Queenstown - even at Light Up Winter - and people here, they appreciate it. Sometimes people, they stop me and they say, ‘You look gorgeous’.”
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