Festival Tour
Nepal is a land of Festivals with some part of the Kingdom or the other celebrating some festival during everyday of the year. Festivals may be linked with the remembrance of the departed soul, to herald the different seasons, to mark the beginning or end of the agricultural cycle, to mark the national events, or just family celebrations. On a festive day the Nepalese take their ritual bath, worship different gods and goddesses, visit temple, observe fasting and undertake feasting. The most important aspect of Nepali culture is the religious harmony and understanding prevailing among the Hindus and Buddhist. Some of the major festivals of Nepal are:
Maghe Sankranti /
Sri Panchami or Basant Panchami/
Buddha Jayanti/
Ghanta Karna/
Naga Panchami /
Matatirtha Aunsi or Mother’s Day/
Janai Purnima (Rokshya Bandhon) /
Gaijatra/
Gokarna Aunsi or Father’s Day/
Teej and Rishi Panchami/
Indra jatra/
Bada Dashain/
Tihar and Laxmi Puja/
Bala Chaturdashi
Maghe Sankranti: (January)
LA Sankranti signifies the first day of any month in the Nepali calendar year. Makar means Capricorn. Makar Sankranti, therefore, means the first day of the month when the sun enters that part of the zodiac, which is symbolized by Capricorn. It starts on its northward journey in its heavenly course on this day, thus announcing the commencement of the Uttarayan. Bathing in rivers is prescribed for this day, especially at the river confluence and feasting with rich foods of special preparation is common in the family.
Sri Panchami or Basant Panchami (March –April)
Sri Panchami announces the advent of the spring season in Nepal . On this day a religious function known as Basanta Shrawan is held at the courtyard of Hanuman Dhoka Palace . On this occasion Geet Govinda (Verses written by Poet Jaya Dev) is recited by the royal priest and hymns are sung by a concert of March/April -Festival of Seto Machchhendranath This is a four-day chariot festival held in honor of the White (Seto) Machchhendranath (to be distinguished from the Red (Rato) form of the same divinity in Patan), who is actually the Padmapani Lokeshwara, whose permanent shrine is situated at Janabahal in Kel Tole in the middle of the old bazaar in Kathmandu. A huge chariot of wood supported on four large wheels and carrying a tall spire covered with green foliage is made ready for receiving the image of the divinity on this occasion and for dragging in the old part of city.
Buddha Jayanti: (March/April)
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 enlightenment and the death of Gautam 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 birthplace of Lord Buddha, the Light of Asia.
Ghanta Karna (April)
Ghanta Karna is also known as ‘Gathyamuga’. This festival is a relic of the belief 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 crossroads of the town in the day. A person is painted in all kinds of color till he looks like a grotesque figure representing the demon Ghanta Karna.
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.
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. Persons out of filial piety individually perform it. 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 .
Janai Purnima (Rokshya Bandhan) (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 (witchdoctors) attired in their traditional costume come to bathe at Kumbeshwor at Patan. These Jhankris also visit the temple of Kalinchowk 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
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 Purnima actually unfolds a season of good many religious and cultural activities.
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. Persons out of filial piety individually perform it. Those who are already dead go to bathe and perform shradda ceremony in honor 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 Panchami (August-Sep.)
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 women folks of Nepal . On the day of Teej all the women observe fasting for twenty-four 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 women folks may have committed during the past year. On this day women worship the seven Rishis in reminiscence 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.
Indra jatra (August/Sep)
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.
Bada Dashain (Sep/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 turn off autumn season after blue sky and a green carpet of fields also induce the change of mood psychologically. 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.
Tihar and Laxmi Puja (Festival of Lights) (Oct/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 dusk break 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.
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 their dead relations may reap the fruit of this merit in the next world
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