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Janai
Purnima,Rakshya Bandhan,Khumbeshwor
Mela Patan |
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Janai
Purnima is the festival of Sacred
Thread.On this day every Hindu
ties a sacred thread on the
wrist.It is also called Rakshya
Bandhan.On this day, there is
a big Mela (fair) at Khumbeshwor,
Lalitpur.It is again on a full
moon night. |
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Gaijatra
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The
festival of "Gai Jatra"
(the procession of cows) which
is one of the most popular
festivals, is generally celebrated
in the Nepalese month of Bhadra
(August-September).This festival
has its roots in the belief
that the god of death, Yamaraj,
must be feared and hence worshipped.
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Shree Krishna Janmastami |
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Sri
Krishna Janmastami marks the
celebration of the birth of
Lord Sri Krishna. This festival
is also known as Krishna Jayanti
or Janmashtami. Lord Krishna
is regarded as the 8th avatar
or 'incarnation' of Lord Vishnu.It
falls on Saptami of Bhadra (August/September).
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Indrajatra(Holiday
Only in Kathmandu)
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This
festival falls in the end of
Bhadra (August/September). Both
Hindus and Buddhists unite to
celebrate the festival of Indra
Jatra with great enthusiasm. |
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Dashain
Holidays
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During
the month of Kartik in the Bikram
Sambat calendar (late September
and early October), the Nepalese
people indulge in the biggest
festival of the year, Dashain.
Dashain is the longest and the
most auspicious festival in
the Nepalese annual calendar,
celebrated by Nepalese of all
caste and creed throughout the
country. The fifteen days of
celebration occurs during the
bright lunar fortnight ending
on the day of the full moon. |
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Tihar
Holidays |
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Tihar, the festival of lights
is one of the most dazzling
of all Hindu festivals. In this
festival we worship Goddess
Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth.
It heralds the month of Kartik
(October/November) starting
with Kukur Puja-Narak Chaturdashi.
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Maghe
Sankranti |
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Maghe
Sankranti is the beginning of
the holy month of Magh, usually
the mid of January. It brings
an end to the ill-omened month
of Poush (mid-december) when
all religious ceremonies are
forbidden. Even if it is considered
the coldest day of the year,
it marks the coming of warmer
weather and better days of health
and fortune |
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Shree
Panchami |
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This
festival falls in mid Magh (January/February).It
is celebrated as the birthday
of Saraswati, the Goddess of
Learning. She is the lily-white
daughter of Shiva and Durga
in spotless white robe and seated
in a full-blown lotus.
This day is also dedicated to
the martyrs of Nepal and hence
celebrated as Martyr's Day.
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Maha
Shiva Ratri |
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This
day is the celebration dedicated
to the Lord Shiva which falls
on the Trayodashi of the month
Fagun (February/March). |
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Fagun Purnima (Holi)
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The
ancient Hindu festival of Holi
falls on late February or on
early March. Allegedly named
after the mythical demoness
Holika, it is a day when the
feast of colours is celebrated.
The festival is of a week. However,
it's only the last day that
is observed by all with colours.
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Ghode
Jatra |
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Ghode
Jatra, the Horse Racing Day
falls on Darhsa Shrad Aunsi
of the month Chaitra (March/April).
A grand horse parade takes place
at Tundikhel, the central point
of the city reputed to have
been in the former days the
largest parade ground in Asia.
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Shree Ram Nawami
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Ram Nawami is celebrated in
the mid of Chaitra (March/April)
as Lord Ram's Birthday. It is
celebrated with much pomp at
Janaki temple in Janakpur city,
which lies in southern Nepal.
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Bagh Jatra
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The Bagh Jatra of Pokhara is
another cultural baggage brought
by Newars from Kathmandu, celebrated
in early august. The festival
has been celebrated in Pokhara
for about 150 years. It expresses
the people's joy at their deliverance
from a marauding tiger. On the
first day, people dress up like
hunters and make an appearance
accompanied by musical bands.
The next day is an interlude
devoted to the showing of comic
programs. For three days,the
hunting party parades through
different parts of the town
before "slaying" the
beast to end the festivities.
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Bhairav Kumari Jatra
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This is one of the major religious
celebrations in Dolkha, an historic
town in north-eastern Nepal
(133 km from Kathmandu off the
highway to Tibet). The festival
falls on early August; and consists
of masked dances that go on
non-stop for five days. Escorted
by musical bands, dancers representing
the deities Bhairav and Kumari
and other gods and goddesses
swirl and sway through Dolkha,
visiting its many temples. On
the occasion, devotees also
undergo fasting and worship
Bhairav and Kumari. The ceremony
has a history going back more
than five centuries. |
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Chaite Dasain
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Chaite Dasain used to be the
original day of the grand Dasain
festival (which takes place
exactly six months later now),
but because people got their
stomachs upset after feasting
on spicy food during the warm
month of Chaitra, the grand
celebration was shifted to the
cooler season. But the religious
fervor is still evident in the
celebrations of the day. |
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Gaura Parva
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Gaura Parva is another celebration
honoring Lord Krishna's birthday.
It is celebrated in far western
Nepal with much gusto for two
days (August/September). Apart
from the many ceremonies that
happen during this festival,
it is the occasion for married
women to put on the sacred thread.
The deuda dance is a major part
of the festivities in which
participants hold hands and
form a circle as they step to
traditional music. |
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Gunla |
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Gunla is a sacred month dedicated
to Lord Buddha. This festival
commemorates the auspicious
"rains retreat" when
the Buddha, over 2,500 years
ago, led his close disciples
into solitary meditation and
preached to them the essence
of his principles. |
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Guru Purnima
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Teachers come second (after
the gods) in the Hindu hierarchy
of respect. The full moon day
of the month June/July is set
aside for students to pay homage
to their teachers and receive
blessings from them in return.
At a place called Vyas on the
Kathmandu-Pokhara highway, special
worship is performed to Maharishi
Vyas, the saint who wrote the
great Hindu epic, Mahabharat.
For Buddhists, the occasion
(Dilla Punhi) is sacred as the
day when the Buddha-to-be entered
the womb of Queen Mayadevi.
Religious functions are held
at monasteries and temples to
commemorate the event. |
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Lhosar |
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Lhosar is the Tibetan New Year
which falls on February/March.
This festival is mast impressively
observed by all the Tibetan-speaking
populations. They organize folk
songs and dances on this occasion.
These dances can be seen in
Khumbu, Helambu and other northern
regions of Nepal and also at
Boudhanath in Kathmandu. |
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Rato Macchendranath
Jatra |
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(Begins on the full moon day
of Baisakh)This is the longest
as well as the most important
festival of Patan. It begins
with several days of ceremonies
and the fabrication of a wooden-wheeled
chariot at Pulchowk, near the
Ashoka Stupa. |
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Mani Rimdu |
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(Full moon of the 9th Tibetan
month) Mani Rimdu is the biggest
event of the year for the Sherpas
of the Khumbu region. Sherpas
from the Khumbu region congregate
at Thyangboche Gompa, the picturesque
monastery situated on a spur
at 3,870 meters from where both
Mt. Everest and Ama Dablam can
be seen. |
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Mata-yaa |
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Celebrated in mid-August Mata-yaa
is one of Patan's popular festivals.
It consists of a day-long procession
of devotees going around the
Buddhist courtyards of the town
and offering worship at the
shrines there. Carrying lighted
tapers and joss sticks in their
hands, Mata-yaa participants
rush in a meandering file and
visit the hundreds of Buddhist
sites scattered all over Patan.
They toss rice grains, flowers
and coins at the shrines as
they pass by. Some devotees
wear elaborate and amusing costumes.
Musicians also take part in
the parade. |
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Neel Barahi Pyakhan
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Neel Barahi Pyakhan is a sacred
masked dance which is shown
over four days(August/September)in
different parts of Bode. Nineteen
persons representing the town's
guardian pantheon take part
in the dance performance. Music
is provided by a 27-piece traditional
orchestra. The ceremony invokes
peace and harmony, and is dedicated
to the deity Neel Barahi whose
temple is located in a jungle
outside Bode. Bode adjoins Thimi
which is 8 km east of Kathmandu.
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Rath Yatra
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Biratnagar in south-eastern
Nepal brings out a spectacular
chariot procession to mark Lord
Krishna's birthday (August/September).
The parade sets out from the
Radha Krishna temple and goes
around the town. The six-meter
tall chariot carries the images
of Krishna and his consort Radha
and is drawn by hordes of devotees.
The annual chariot festival
was started in 1932 to commemorate
the building of a temple dedicated
to Krishna. |
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Sita Vivaha Panchami
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This festival, commemorating
the marriage of Sita to Ram,
is particularly celebrated in
Janakpur. Each year in Janakpur,
idols of Ram and sita are brought
out in bright processions and
their Hindu wedding ceremony
is enacted. |
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Tamu Dhee
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Tamu Dhee (also known as Trahonte)
is a Gurung holiday (august).
Ceremonies are performed to
purge the neighborhood of evil
spirits and to safeguard one's
farm and farm animals from hostile
elements. The festival can be
observed in Pokhara. Groups
of people beating on different
kinds of drums form a colorful
procession and make house-to-house
visits. Participants with their
faces smeared with soot and
wearing feather headdresses
parade through the town to drive
away negative influences and
ensure peace and security. |
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Tansen
Jatra |
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The hilltop town of Tansen in
central Nepal exults in a week-long
festive spree beginning with
Janai Purnima, when Hindus change
their sacred threads. The next
day, Gai Jatra is marked by
parading figures of cows made
of bamboo and cloth. Ropai Jatra
is the rice planting ceremony
and participants perform plowing
and planting acts on the streets.
During Bagh Jatra, actors dressed
up like tigers and hunters march
through town. Then there are
the parades. Images of Ganesh,
Bhimsen and Narayan are placed
on palanquins and carried around
Tansen. The celebrations climax
on August 12 with Bhagawati
Jatra, the procession of the
town's protective goddess |
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Taya Macha |
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The Taya Macha dance is shown
in different parts of Pokhara
as part of the Gai Jatra observances.
The five dancers, four dressed
up as angels and one as a clown,
are accompanied by a group of
traditional musicians. It is
believed that the performance
will bring peace to the souls
of those who have passed away
during the previous year. The
festival has its roots in the
Kathmandu Valley. It was brought
to Pokhara by Newars who migrated
here centuries ago. |
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Yomari Punhi
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Yomari Punhi is one of the popular
Newar festivals observed every
year during the full moon of
December. A yomari is a confection
of rice-flour (from the new
harvest)dough shaped like fig
and filled with brown cane sugar
and sesame seeds, which is then
steamed. |
