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Matatirtha Aunsi or Mother's Day
(April)
This day is observed as the Mother's Day with the
expression of proper regards towards one's mother. It is
individually performed by persons out of filial piety.
Those whose mothers are already dead go to bathe and
offer ablutions to their dead mothers at Matatirtha near
Thankot village. The fortunate ones whose mothers are
alive present her with gifts of sweetmeats and receive
blessing from them. This day is an official holiday in
Nepal.
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Buddha Jayanti : (full moon day of April/May)
Buddha Jayanti is a great day for the Nepalese. This day
which falls on the full moon of the month of Baisakh is
celebrated to commemorate the birth, attainment of
enlightement and the death of Gautama Buddha, the
founder preacher of Buddhism, more than 2500 Years ago.
It is a thrice blessed day. It is the day when Buddha
was born, when he was enlightened and when he got
Nirvana (Salvation). prayers are sung and worship is
offered by the devotees in leading Buddhist shrines
throughout the country including Lumbini in the
Rupandehi district, which is the birth place of Lord
Buddha, the Light of Asia. There is a great fair held at
Lumbini on this day.
Ghanta Karna : (June -July)
Ghanta Karna is also known as 'Gathyamuga'. This
festival is a relic of the be!ief in demonolatry by the
people of the Valley. Ghanta Karna, a demon and other
evil spirits are propitiated and exercised on this day.
An effigy made of green reeds is erected at all the main
cross-roads of the town in the day. A person is painted
in all kinds of colour till he looks like a grotesque
figure representing the demon Ghanta Karna. This
symbolic demon goes begging in the locality. At the end
of the day he is dragged to a river on the green reeds
symbolising the driving away of the demon from the
locality.
Naga Panchami : (July-August)
This is devoted to the worship of the Nagas, the divine
serpents. Pictures of the Naga are stuck over the
doorposts of all the houses in the morning as protective
spells. This is also the day for the beginning of
Gunialakhe dance in Kathmandu in which persons wearing
masks of a demon entertain the people with their
gimmick.
Janai Poornima (Rokshya Bandhon) (July-August)
The full-moon of the month of Shrawan, the day when this
festival is observed, is considered sacred ail over
Nepal and is celebrated in different manner by different
groups of people of Nepal. However, the most widely
accepted mode of celebration is that on this day people
take a ritual bath and change their sacred thread.
Everyone gets a string of thread tied in his wrist from
the Brahmans as a protective mark for the whole year.
The Nepalese prepare a special dish called 'Kwati,
(mixed sprouted beans) on this day. This day is also
held sacred for bathing in Gosainkunda. One can also see
a pageantry of the Jhankris (witch doctors) attired in
their traditional costume come to bathe at Kumbheshwor
at Patan. These Jhankris also visit the temple of
Kaiinchowk Bhagavati (the goddess at Kalinchowk) in
Dolkha district where they go to beg for their healing
powers, as they are the traditional healers of the
Nepalese villagers.
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Gaijatra : (July-August)
In this festival teen-aged boys dressed up in the attire
of a cow parade in the streets of the town. This custom
spring from the belief that cows help the members of the
family, who have died within that year, to travel to
heaven smoothly. Some are also dressed up as an ascetic
or a fool for achieving the same objective to their dead
family members. Groups of mimics improvise short
satirical enactments on the current sociopolitical
scenes of the town to the entertainment of the public.
The week beginning from Janai Poornima actually unfolds
a season of good many religious and cultural activities.
All the Buddhist monasteries open their gates to the
visitors to view their bronze sculptures and collection
of painting for a week. At Patan, one observes the
festival of Mataya at this time. The festivity of
Gaijatra itself lasts for a week enlivened by the
performance of dance and drama in the different
localities of the town. The spirit of the old festival
is being increasingly adapted by Cultural Centres,
newspapers and magazines of fling humour and satire on
the Nepalese social and political life.
Gokarna Aunsi or Father's Day: (August-September)
This day is observed as the Father's Day with the
expression of proper regards towards one's father. It is
individually performed by persons out of filial piety.
Those whose fathers are already dead go to bathe and
perform shraddha ceremony in honour of their dead
fathers at Gokarna. The fortunate ones whose fathers are
alive present him with gifts of sweetmeat and delectable
food and drink and receive blessings in return from
them. Government offices are closed on this day.
Teej and Rishi Panchani: (August-September)
Teej or Haritalika is purely a women's festival. These
two days follow in close succession and are the days of
observing religious fast for womenfolks of Nepal. On the
day of Teei all the women observe fasting for twentyfour
9 hours for the longetivity of their husbands' life and
go to visit the shrine of Pashupati and offer worship to
Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati later in the evening.
The Panchami is mainly devoted to cleaning the body by
taking ritual bath in rivers for any sin or impurity the
womenfolks may have committed during the past year. On
this day women worship the seven Rishis in reminiscene
of a high ascetic tradition of Hinduism and a notion of
purity of descent in their lineage from the ancestral
Rishis. All women whose husbands are alive are seen
wearing red garments invariable and decked in all sorts
of jewellery on these two days.
Indrajatra: (August-September)
Like Gaijatra it also heralds a week of religious and
cultural festivity in Kathmandu. There are several foci
of this festival. On the night when this festival
begins, members of the family in which death has taken
place within one year go round the town limits of
Kathmandu burning incense and putting lamps along the
route. The sa e morning a tall wooden pole representing
the standard of lndra, the king of gods is erected in
front of the Hanuman Dhoka Palace. Wooden statutes of
lndra and large wooden masks of Bhairav are put on
display in the old bazaar. Several groups of religious
dance like the Devinach, Majipat Lakhe, Bhairav and
Bhakku and Mahakaii Nach come into life during this
week. The week also commences the dragging of chariots
of Ganesh, Bhairav and Living Goddess Kumari in
Kathmandu. His Majesty the King comes to pay homage to
Kumari just before the start of the chariot-pulling.
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Bada Dashain/Bijaya Dashami (September-October)
It is truly the national festival of Nepal. Every Nepali is stirred by the prospects of the joy this festival is
supposed to bring with it. The change of mood is also
induced psychologically by the turn off autumn season
after blue sky and a green carpet of fields. The climate
is also put ideal at this time, it neither being too
cold nor too warm. The Nepalese cherish their Dashain as
a time for eating well and dressing well. The whole
festival lasts a total of ten days. The first nine days
are devoted to worship the goddess Durga Bhavani and her
diverse manifestations. Each house also sets up a shrine
to worship the goddess at this time. Barley seeds are
planted on the first day in every household and nurtured
for nine days. During the nine days goddess Durga
Bhavani is worshipped and offered a lot of blood
sacrifice. Buffaloes, goats and chickens are sacrificed in
thousands at the temples, at military posts and in every
household. One of the main centers that witnesses the
animal sacrifice in a large scale at this time is the
Hanuman Dhoka Palace on the night of the eighth day and
the morning of the ninth. On the concluding day of the
festival called the tika, the elders of the family give
tika to their junior members and to other relatives who
may also come to seek their blessing. The fresh shoots
of the barley known as 'Jamara'are also given to wear.
Family feasting and feasting of guests is a common
practice at this time. On the day of Vijaya Dashami
people go to Narayanhity Royal Palace to receive tika
from Their Majesties the King and the Queen.
Tihar and Laxmi Puja: (Festival of Lights,October-November)
This festival comes just after a fortnight of the
departure of Dashain from the scene. The earlier
festival mood helped on by the turn of a genial weather
continues to glow the mind of the Nepalese during this
festival also. The festivity lasts for five days and is
marked by worship to different animals such as the crow,
the dog and the cow on different days. Perhaps the most
endearing sight of this festival is presented by the
illumination of the entire town with rows of tiny
flickering lamps at the duskbreak on the day of Laxmi
Puja. In the evening of this day, the goddess of wealth,
Laxmi, is worshipped at every household and it is in her
welcome that myriads of lamps are burnt. On the last
day, sisters show their affection towards their brothers
with the performance of a puja and feed them with
delectable food. They pray for their brother's long life
to Yama, the Hindu god of death.
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Bala Chaturdashi: (November-December)
Pilgrims from ail over Nepal throng at Pashupati temple
from the night before and burn an oil lamp to the god
for the whole night. In the morrow they take a holy dip
in the sacred water of the Bagmati, pay obeisance to
Pashupati and traverse the route prescribed for that
occasion scattering 'a hundred variety of seeds' in
Kailash forest of Pashupati so that thier dead relations
may reap the fruit of this merit in the next world.
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Festivals
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