Kajari Teej 2025: Do You Know About The Forgotten Kajri Songs Women Sing While Swinging Under The Neem Tree?

Wednesday, August 6, 2025, 23:43

When Kajri Teej arrives, the rituals are only part of the story. What truly fills the air is something less visible but deeply felt, the sound of women singing Kajri. These folk songs are not background music to the festival. They are the festival. Without them, Kajri Teej would be incomplete.

Photo Credit: Freepik

What Makes A Song Kajri?

Kajri songs or Kajli geet are folk compositions that come alive during the monsoon months, especially in Sawan and Bhado (July to September). The word Kajri is derived from kaajal (kohl), symbolising the deep blackness of rain clouds, and by extension, the emotional intensity of longing and love.

These songs are traditionally sung by women in the Bhojpuri, Awadhi, and Maithili-speaking belts, often in their maternal homes where they return for Teej. The settings are informal-courtyards, neem trees, swings but the emotions run deep. Themes range from separation and yearning to playful teasing and subdued rebellion.

Not Just Music, But Expression

Kajri is a form of emotional release. In many rural and patriarchal contexts, women have few spaces to express complex feelings like sadness, desire, loneliness, or even mild protest. Kajri songs offer that outlet, veiled in metaphors and sung communally.

A woman separated from her husband during Sawan might sing of the rain making everything bloom-but not her heart. Another might address a parrot, a crow, or a breeze as a messenger to her beloved. The lyrics often sound gentle, but they carry layered meanings.

Where These Songs Thrive

The Mirzapur region of Uttar Pradesh is particularly known for Kajri. During the 13-day period surrounding Kajri Teej, women gather each night for Ratjaga (night vigil) in a courtyard space called Caughāta. They sing, tease, laugh, and share deeply personal feelings through age-old lyrics. In urban adaptations, Kajri has also found a place in performances, fairs, and even school competitions.

Artists like Malini Awasthi, Girija Devi, and Rasoolan Bai have brought Kajri from village gatherings to classical stages, without diluting its earthy spirit. Each rendition still carries the fragrance of wet soil and the ache of a heart waiting for love.

Kajri's Connection To Teej

While Kajri songs are sung throughout the monsoon, they hold special significance during Kajri Teej. This is the time when women, often visiting their parents' home, find communal space to sing these songs openly. They are woven into the rituals-not just as entertainment, but as a cultural and emotional companion to the vrat (fast).

Where Hariyali Teej is filled with devotion and colourful rituals, Kajri Teej is quiet, earthy, and emotionally textured-and Kajri songs are what give it that depth.

Not Just About Longing

Interestingly, not all Kajris are melancholic. Some are humorous, satirical, even flirtatious. A young bride might mimic her mother-in-law's strictness in song, or tease her absent husband's laziness. These moments of shared laughter become just as important as the moments of shared pain.

The Significance Of Kajri

In an era where much of folk culture is getting repackaged or forgotten, Kajri remains stubbornly rooted. It survives in village nights and temple courtyards, in WhatsApp forwards and YouTube videos. It may no longer be mainstream, but for those who know it, Kajri is all about memory, identity, and monsoon emotion wrapped into one.