Today is Haritalika Gauri Vratha. This festival is also called Hartalika Gauri. In Karnataka, it is celebrated as Swarna Gauri Vratha.
Haritalika Gauri Vratha:
Haritalika means worshipping Gauri in a yellow form. Hartalika means worshipping Lord Shiva. After Dakshayani or Sati burnt Herself in the Daksha Yagya, She was reborn as a Mayna bird. According to spiritual experts, this was because She had committed suicide, which is a sin. Research needs to corroborate this fact.
In the next birth, she was born as Parvati the daughter of Himavan. She began to perform penance and pooja to attain Lord Shiva on this day, along with a friend. Sowbhagyavati ladies and unmarried girls perform this pooja to attain sowbhagya.
Lord Shiva and Parvati can be worshipped with panchopachara or shodashopachara. According to traditional Kannadigas, today small pyramids of turmeric paste depicting Gauri and Ganesha and placed on banana leaves for worship. All beauty-related stuff is offered to Gauri.
Maharashtrian tradition has it that small idols of Parvati and Her Sakhi with a small Shiva Linga are available in the market as a set. We have also placed Gauri Kumbha and the daily worshipped silver Mangala Gauri. We are sharing the video. The top photo in the video is from Annamalai temple with Lord Shiva and Parvati. The lamp over the mountain in this photo is Kartigai Deepam.