Festivals In Nepal

Nepal is a country rich not in only landscapes and geography, but also in culture, religion, customs and traditions. With 125 different caste and ethinc groups with different religious beliefs residing here, you can also guess the variety of languages these people speak and festivals they celebrate. Nepalese people celebrate Christmas, Buddha Jayanti, Dashain, Eid, Lhosar and so on. Nepal is a secular country and does not indulge in religious conflicts. Here, even Hindus celebrate Christmas, a Buddist goes to a Hindu temple, a Muslim donates blood to a Christian. People in Nepal respect each other’s beliefs and religions. Nepal is a good example for “Religious Tolerance”.

DASHAIN

80% of the total population being Hindu, the greatest festival of Hindus, Dashain is celebrated like the festival of the whole nation. In this time, Nepalese from all over the country or even the world meet their relatives and celebrate Dashain together. The festival is celebrated mainly for ten days. The first day is Ghatasthapana, seventh day is Fulpati, eighth day is Ashtami, ninth day is Nawami and the very tenth day is Vijaya Dashami when we put tika on our forehead and take blessing from our elders. This festival is celebrated as a victory of good or evil. You can find more on Dashain in this blog here.

TIHAR

Tihar, also known as Dipawali is celebrated after a short span of time of celebrating Dashain. This festival was celebrated when lord Ram won a battle against the evil Ravan and got his wife Sita back from Lanka. This festival is celebrated for five days . First day, we worship crow and second day worship dogs named Kaag Tihar and Kukur Tihar respectively. The fact that crows inform us about a possible disaster that is about to occur and  dogs being loyal to human beings, is why they are celebrated. On the third dayi.e. Laxmi Puja, we worship cows in the morning and in the evening, houses are decorated with flowers and lights and goddess Laxmi is worshipped. On the fourth day, Govardhan is worshipped and on the last day Vai Tika is celebrated. Sisters worship their brothers as their protector and offer them sweets and many more.

Other festivals that are celebrated by the Hindu religion are  Janai Purnima, Naag Panchami, Maghe Sankranti, Shivaratri , Holi, etc.

Buddha Jayanti is celebrated in the birthday of Lord Gautam Buddha, mainly celebrated by Buddhists. In this day, Buddha is worshipped in Swayambhunath and Boudha. Even the Hindus celebrate Buddha Jayanti.

Christmas is celebrated on 25th December mainly by Christians. Malls and various public places are decorated with Christmas tree and lights. Celebrating Christmas has become a trend in Nepal now with the actual importance getting lost. Similarly, Eid is celebrated by Muslims in Mosques.

Though we are separated  by religions and caste but at the end of the day, we are all humans. We all have same perspective towards the celebration of each other’s festivals and customs. There is  a common reason after celebration of these festivals, that is victory of good over evil.