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| Newars' festivals start from Gathanmugah and ends in Sithi
Nakhah. Therefore Gathan Mugah is also known as Kayahmacha Nakhah ( the son
festival) and Sithi Nakhah is also known as Mhayamacha Nakhah (the daughter
festival) in Newar culture. |
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As the Sun enters the southern hemispheres, people in Nepal celebrate Maghe Sankranti on 14th January. On this very day people take early morning bath if possible in a holy river of Bagmati, put on the best of clean clothes and visit Lord Vishnu’s temples to pay their homage to the god with puja items like flowers, license, fruits etc. At home they read Bhagwad Gita, a sacred Hindu book. Messaging entire body with mustard oil is regarded as very auspicious on this particular day. Nepali family enjoys a hearty delicious meal comprising rice cooked with lentils, yams and sweets like laddu made from seasame and sugarcane paste etc. On this day people in huge numbers gather around Devghat in Chitwan to take a dip into the meeting point of river Kali, Gandaki and Trisuli. Such action is believed to free devotees from sins, cleanse their soul and make them closer to god. This day onwards days get longer and warmer.
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| This festival,
commemorating the marriage of Sita to Ram, is particularly celebrated
in Janakpur. Ram, hero of the epic Ramayana and an incarnation of
Vishnu had come to Janakpur, was the kingdom of Sita's father King
Janak, to marry Sita. Each year in Janakpur, idols of Ram and sita are
brought out in bright processions and their Hindu wedding ceremony is
enacted. The wedding takes place during an exciting week-long mela, or
religious fair.The occasion attracts thousands of pilgrims from India. |
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| 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. The three-day celebrations of Mani
Rimdu follow the ten days of non-stop prayer sessions addressed to the
patron deities seeking blessing from the god of all mankind. |
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| 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. The chariot bears the
shrine of the Rato (Red) Macchendranath (the Tantric expression of
Lokeshwar) and carries a very tall spire fabricated from " bamboo poles
raised from four ends of the chariot. This unwieldy spire is around 10
meters tall and on account of which, the chariot balances precariously.
It is said that calamity is certain to strike the land in the event of
the chariot overturning or breaking down during the course of this festival. (Quite often, it does collapse!). |
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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. Accordingly, monks and nuns go into
retreat during the rainy season. Lay Buddhists also spend the month in
prayer and fasting. They visit Swayambhunath and other shrines every
day early in the morning. |
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| Lord Rama is regarded as another incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
Nepalese, therefore, have deep belief and extreme faith in him. His
strength, courage, purity of heart, compassion, sweetness of speech,
serenity and abiding wisdom made him the favorite idol of his people.
His
life story is told in the much beloved epic- the "RAMAYANA". Before the
birth of Sri Ram, the world was under the reign of an evil and fiendish
demon king Ravana. Ravana had pleased Lord Brahma, who bestowed on
Ravana the boon that no God or demon could kill him. This gave Ravana
immunity from everyone except a mortal man. Thus, to save the world
from evil, Lord Vishnu took birth as Ram in the city of Ayodhya.
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