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 Nepal is a country of
festivals. In fact, the Nepalese are said to observe more
festivals than there are days in the year. Hardly a day
passes without some festivities, ceremonial observances or
pilgrimages occurring in some part of the country or the
other. The following is a brief description of the major
festivals observed in the country.
Maghe
Sankranti : (January)
A 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. In the Nepalese belief this day marks the
division of the Winter and Summer solstice. 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 : (February)
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 court-yard of Hanuman Dhoka Palace. On this
occasion Geet Govinda (Verses written by Poet Jaya Dev) is
recited by the royal priest and hyms are sung by a concert
of musician in accompaniment with musical instruments.
His Majesty the King graces the function.
It is the day
consecrated to honour Saraswati, the Hindu Goddess of
learning, throughout Nepal. Saraswati shrines all
over the Kingdom are filled with the crowd of school
children and other students on this day. Goddess
Saraswati reigns over the realm of speech, letters, arts
and sciences, and all her tools are worshipped
accordingly, pens, ink, books, pencils, and spinning
wheels. Around the city are seen numerous wedding
processions. Saraswati temples at Swayambhu and Neel
Saraswati at Gairidhara are worth visiting during the
morning.
Maha
Shivaratri : (February)
 This is the most famous
and celebrated festival of Nepal which attracts large
crowds from far-Flung places both in India and Nepal.
The festival as its very name suggests, is consecrated in
honor of Lord Shiva. It is observed by bathing and
holding of a religious fast. All Shiva shrines
become the places of visit for dracaena, but the greatest
attraction of all is held by the temple of Pashupatinath
in Katmandu. One gets to see hundreds of thousand of
devout Hindus coming to visit the temple of Pashupati on
this day. On this day religious Hindus worship Lord
Shiva by offering flowers, garlands, 'bel patra' (leaves
of 'bet' f rub), fruits, coins and so on and also by
chanting prayers and hymns. Among them are a large
number of Sadhus and ascetics. Many people like to
keep awake for the whole night keeping vigilance over an
oil lamp burnt to please Shiva. Children are seen
keeping awake similarly over a bonfire in many localities.
In the afternoon an official function is held to celebrate
this festival at Tundikhel. The Royal Nepalese Army
organises a show in which volleys of gunfire are sounded.
The ceremony is witnessed by His Majesty the King.
Phagu
Poornima or Holy : (March-April)
Holi is the festival of
colour. It is observed for eight days just before
the full moon of Phalgun during which time townsmen
indulge in colour throwing at each other. The
festival of colour is always heralded by the sticking of
wooden pole known as chir with colourful streamers beside
the old royal palace at Basantapur by the arrangement of
the Government Religious Endowment (Guthi) Office.
This festival is observed with most joy and gaity in the
Terai region of the country. The festival is
terminated with the burning of the pole on the night
preceding the Phalgun full moon.
Ghodejatra
: (March-April)
Ghodejatra or the
festival of horse is held on-the fourteenth of the dark
half of the Chaitra (sometime in March or April).
The festival has two sides of its celebration. Its
cultural side involves the Newars of Kathmandu who
celebrate it for several days. The idols of the gods
of many localities are taken in a procession in their area
in portable chariots. Every household is feasting at
this time. A demon called 'Gurumumpa'is also
propitiated at this time in Tundikhel. This festival
is called Pasachare. The other aspect of the
festival is provided by the function organised by the
Royal Nepalese Army at Tundikhel in the afternoon of
the main day. Horse race and acrobatic shows are
presented at this time in which His Majesty the King is
present. A meeting of lumadi, Bhadrakali,
Kankeshwari and Bhairav takes place during the day time at
the main celebration at Ason. The deities are
brought in their portable chariots. The same
festival is repeated at night in Tundikhel.
Chaite
Dashain : (March-April)
Dashain is a great
festival of Nepalese people. In Nepal it is observed
twice a year-once in the month of Chaitra and once in
Ashwin (Sept-Oct.). The former is observed on the eighth
of the bright half of the month of Chaitra. On this
occasion goddess Bhagawati is worshipped and animal
sacrifices are made to her. But this festival is not
observed with so much pomp and grandeur as the one which
is observed in Autumn.
 Nava
Varsha (Nepali New Year) : (April 13 or 14th)
The Nepalese festivals follow round the traditional
,religious' Lunar Calender in the same sequence. An
exception is New Year Day, which always fails in the
middle of April, observed throughout Nepal as the first
day of the official Nepalese solar Calendar, i.e., the
first day of Baisakh. This day is an official
holiday for Nepal. The most important New year festival in
the Valley is held at Bhaktapur City, located fourteen kms.
on east of Kathmandu. This festival is known as
Bisket Jatra meaning the festival after the death of
serpent. The main attraction of the festival is the
erection of the 'lingo', a ceremonial pole, a thick, shorn
tree-trunk some eighty feet in length. This is an
exciting operation, for the pole, supported by bamboos and
pulled by heavy ropes, must be made to rest in the centre
hole of a large pile of cemented rocks. A large
crowds from other town of the Valley assemble to watch
this festival. During the week Bhairav, Bhadrakaii
and other goddesses are dragged in chariots in the town.
This is the biggest festival of Bhaktapur.
 Festival
of Seto Machchhendranath (March-April)
This is a
four-day chariot festival held in honour 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. There is such a spontaneous and heavy turn
out of the devout people to pay obeisance of this god, who
is also said to be the 'embodiment of compassion', at this
time.
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.
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.
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.
Pancha
Dan: (July-August)
This is a Buddhist
festival in which gifts are made by the laity to the
monks. Since monastic Buddhism has been long extinct
in Nepal, the receivers of the gift today are the Buddhist
priests, the Sakyas and the Vajracharyas, who go begging
aims to the house of their clients. Mainly food
grains are offered on this occasion to the begging
priests. Traditional collections of artifacts are
displayed in monasteries and households on this occasion.
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.
Bada
Dashain (September-October)
It is truly the
national festival of Nepal. Every Nepaii 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 killed
in thousands at the temples, at military posts and in
every household. One of the main centres 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.
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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