January<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although these festivals\nbring immense joy, there comes a slight problem as few things might close down\nduring these days. Thus, either way, you will need to have some basic\ninformation about the festivals that are celebrated in Nepal. Starting with January,\nwe have Losar- which is also known as the Tibetan New Year. Tibetan monasteries\nwill have their distinct celebrations and rituals starting from a day before\nTibetan New Year’s Eve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n February and March <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n During February or March, the\nMahashivaratri- one the main festival of Hindus, is celebrated. The Pashupatinath\nTemple, on this day, will be immensely crowded since the festival is devoted to\nLord Shiva marking a memory of overcoming darkness. Not only is this, but the\nfestival of colors, known as Holi, also celebrated during March. This is one of\nthe most-awaited and entertaining celebrations lasting for two days- first in\nthe hilly belt and secondly in the Terai belt. During this day, all you will\nsee is splattering colors and water fights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n April-July<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We celebrate our Nepali New\nYear which, in our language is called Navavarsha<\/em>\nor Naya Barsha<\/em> that falls during\nApril. A grand celebration takes place in Bhaktapur as Bisket Jatra. The town\nwill have gigantic chariots of orange color known as ‘Sindur’ floating in the\nair. You can also experience Buddha Jayanti, another festival celebrated in\nApril or even May, as a reminder of the day when Buddha was born in Lumbini. The\nSwayambhunath, the Boudhanath, and Lumbini- being the famous Buddhist cultural\nsites, are embellished pleasantly for the celebration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n August<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Likewise, festivals\ncelebrated during the August month include Janai Purnima and Gai Jatra. Janai Purnima\nis also called the ‘Sacred Thread Festival’, whereas Gai Jatra is known to be\n‘The Festival of Cows’. This festival is celebrated to pay respect to the\ndeceased members of a family. You will see colorful costumes and colors with\ncrowded people in the Kathmandu valley. Nepal is never out of these types of\nenjoyable festivals. ‘Festival of women’, especially known as Teej<\/em>, is another colorful and delightful\ncelebration that falls during September. All the women in town dress up in\nbright red dresses, actively participating in the ritual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n September-December<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Indra Jatra and Kumari\nJatra are the largest festivals in Nepal with an enormous crowd in Kathmandu\ncelebrated in September. Every street is filled with people; huge chariots are\npulled, giving you an astonishing experience. The most important festival in\nNepal is ‘Dashain’ and ‘Tihar’ which generally fall in the middle of September\nto November. ‘Chhath Parva’ is another\nimportant festival in Nepal which is celebrated in November. This festival is\nwidely celebrated in the Terai region, where worshipping of the sun god- known\nas ‘Surya’ is done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By now, it is almost clear\nthat Mid-September to November can be stated as the best festive season in\nNepal as the numbers of festivals celebrated during these months are\ncomparatively higher. I can say that the first question popping in your mind\nright now is about the differences in dates. But the fact is that these\nfestival dates vary every year since they follow the Nepali calendar or are\nlunar based. Now let us scoop a bit deeper into the biggest festival of Nepal\nthat is celebrated by every Nepali citizen with the same devotion and\nenthusiasm-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dashain Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dashain is a 10-day\ncelebration marking Goddess Durga’s victory over evil. Families unite together,\ntake a leave from their tight schedule and busy work life, getting the best out\nof these two weeks. There is a strong belief about Goddess Durga who killed the\ndemon called Maisasur symbolizing god’s victory over demons. Even during these\nten days- the first, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth days are the vital ones.\nEach having their own sets of rituals, these days are named as such- Ghatasthapana,\nPhool Pati, Mahaastami, Navami and Vijaya Dashami. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The festival starts as\nGhatasthapana by the planting of Jamara, which is a maize\/paddy plant.\nFollowing all the rituals, animal sacrifices are made with the belief of\npleasing Goddess Durga. The 35 meter high Taleju Temple, which is not open to\nthe public, can only be visited during the ninth day of this festival. It is\nthe tenth day when people pave their way to their elders to receive tika <\/em>and their blessings. A tika is a\nblend of red powder and rice, as the red color symbolizes the blood that ties\nthe family together. This ritual marks the renewal of family bonding, which is\none of the main reasons why people are so devoted to this festival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s not forget to highlight\nthe gigantic bamboo swings; they are normally constructed a week before\nGhatasthapana. These swings are so huge that their height exceeds twenty feet.\nAge is not even a matter for people to enjoy this thing. Flying kites, playing\ncards, wearing new clothes and having a feast almost every day is the way\npeople entertain themselves and enjoy every moment of these two blissful weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tihar Festival <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Just after 21 days of Dashain,\nwe are accompanied by a 5 day long celebration known as Tihar. This festival is\nalso known as ‘Deepawali’ or ‘The Festival of Lights’. The name in itself is\njoyous, isn’t it? Our houses illuminate at night as the oil-lamps, known\nas ‘diyas’, are lit inside and outside the houses. After Dashain, this is\nknown to be the second biggest Nepalese festival. Usually, most of our\nfestivals are devoted to the gods, but this one includes the rituals to worship\nanimals like crows, cows and dogs, having symbolic relationship with humans. A\nspecial colorful pattern called ‘Rangoli’ is meant to be a sacred way of\nwelcoming Goddess Laxmi, made using colored rice, dry flour or even flower\npetals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The very first day of this\ncelebration is known as ‘Kaag Tihar’, meaning the day when crows are worshipped\nby offering them sweets and dishes on the roofs to avert grief and death in\ntheir homes. The second day is the day to celebrate the beautiful relationship\nbetween dogs and humans, known as ‘Kukur Tihar’. Since dogs hold a special\nplace in our Hindu myth, they get very special treatment on this day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Likewise, a cow signifies\nwealth and prosperity. Thus, the very morning of the third day is known as ‘Gai\nTihar’. The houses are decorated and well prepared for the evening to worship\ngoddess Laxmi, thanking her for the well-being and prosperity of the family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from these rituals,\nyoung people have a blast by singing and dancing all night long, visiting every\nhouse in the neighborhood, collecting money and\/or gifts. This tradition is\nknown as ‘Deusi and Bhailo’. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, on the fourth\nday, the rituals performed differ depending on the people’s cultural\nbackground. The final day is a very special day known as ‘Bhai Tika’, which\ndefines an unbreakable bond between brothers and sisters. On this day, sisters\nworship their brothers, thanking them for their love, care, support and\nprotection by praying for their long lives. This distinctness and uniqueness in\nour cultures and rituals are what make them different from the rest of the\nworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conclusion <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If these festivals can\nshower you with the best experience of new culture and tradition, capturing\nyour mind with refreshments, then why not try it? All you need to do is pack\nyour backpack and come visit Nepal during these festive seasons. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Amusement, joy, happiness and blissfulness and so on, these are the words that come up in our minds when we think of a festival. As Nepal is a land of many ethnic groups, it is obvious that the number of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trekking-adventure-alley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldfeetadventure.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldfeetadventure.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldfeetadventure.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldfeetadventure.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldfeetadventure.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coldfeetadventure.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldfeetadventure.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldfeetadventure.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldfeetadventure.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.coldfeetadventure.com\/public\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/lhosar-2.jpeg\")
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