 Nepal
is not only the land of mountains; it is
also the land of festivals. There are
more than 50 festivals celebrated in
Nepal every year. While the national
festivals have fixed dates, religious
festivals are set by astrologers
following the lunar calendar. The best
part about the festivals in Nepal is
that all the events are celebrated with
the same enthusiasm and galore the way
it used to be hundreds of years ago when
people had no other means of
entertainment.
Some Nepali festivals do not always fall
on the same month in each Year. Please
see recent Nepali calendar for the exact
date of festival holidays for the
current year.
New Year: It is known as
“Navavarsha” in Nepal. Nepal has its
official calendar that begins from the
first day of the first month Baisakh.
This very first day is observed as
Nepali New Year which usually falls in
the second week of April. People go for
picnics, have get-togethers and
celebrate the day socializing in various
ways as this day is also a national
holiday.
Lhosar (Tibetan New Year): This
is the New Year of the Tibetans and
Sherpas of Nepal which falls in
February. The Buddhist monasteries in
Kathmandu like Boudhanath and
Swayambhunath are decorated with eye
catching colorful prayer flags pulling
the crowd. The people perform their
traditional dances and welcome their New
Year with feasts and family gatherings
wearing all the new clothes and finest
jewelries and exchanging gifts.
Saraswati Puja: Saraswati Puja or
Shree Panchami is a day to celebrate the
birthday of Saraswati – the Goddess of
Learning. This is a day when people from
school students to scholars worship
their pens and books to please the
Goddess and expect her favor in their
studies so they become wise and
knowledgeable. People also throng around
the idol of Goddess Saraswati,
especially in Swayambhunath and offer
flowers, sweets, fruits, etc. On this
day, small children are taught to read
and write and people write on the stones
and slabs with chalks and pencils. This
day which falls between January/February
is regarded as a very auspicious day for
marriages too as it is believed that
Goddess Saraswati herself blesses the
couples. Normally it is the astrologers
who fix the marriage date and time in
Nepal.
Shivaratri (Maha Shivaratri):
Shivaratri or the night of Lord Shiva
that falls sometime between
February/March is one of the major
festivals of Nepal. This day is
dedicated to the Lord of the Lords –
Lord Shiva or Mahadev who lived in Mt.
Kailash in the Himalayas. Lord Shiva is
the most worshipped God in the Hindu
religion. More than 100,000 of Hindu
devotees from India and Southeast Asia
throng weeks ahead of the festival and
gather in and around Pashupatinath
temple – one of the holiest shrines of
the Hindus in Kathmandu to pay their
homage to Lord Shiva on his birthday.
“Pashupatinath” literally means “the
Lord of animals” as Lord Shiva is
considered as the guardian and protector
of everything that exists in the
Himalayan Kingdom. On this holy day,
worshippers take dip and bath in the
holy river at early dawn and fast for
the whole day and stay around fire to
keep them warm as it is still winter in
Nepal. The devotees also freely indulge
in using marijuana and other
intoxicating substances as these things
are believed to please Lord Shiva and
marijuana use is legal only on this
sacred day.
Holi: This festival of water and
colors that falls between February/March
is also known as “Phagu” in Nepal. This
day is observed to rejoice the
extermination of female demon Holika who
together with her King Brother conspired
to kill his son Pralhad, an ardent
devotee of Lord Vishnu. This day,
playful people especially the young ones
wander through the streets in groups on
foot or vehicles with various colors
smeared all over they and the people in
houses make merry throwing colors and
water balloons at each other and also to
these people on the streets.
Ghode Jatra (Festival of Horses):
This festival takes place between
March/April and a grand horse parade
takes place at Tundikhel. Although this
festival does not have much of religious
aspects, a large number of people, even
from outside Kathmandu flock around
Kathmandu to witness the horse race and
other exciting sports activities
performed by the Army in the presence of
the King and the Royal family.
Buddha Jayanti: Buddha’s birth
anniversary is celebrated every year
during May in Nepal. On this day people
swarm in Swayambhunath and Boudhanath to
pay homage to Lord Buddha and also visit
Buddha’s birth place in Lumbini and
chant prayers and burn butter lamps.
Lord Buddha was born as Prince
Siddhartha Gautam but he abandoned his
luxurious life when he realized the
misery of mankind and went in search of
enlightenment.
Gai Jatra (Cow Festival): This
festival of cow is celebrated every year
in August/September. This is one of the
most popular festivals in Nepal as it is
full of humor, satire, comedy, mockery
and shades of sadness too at the same
time. And on this day satires and jokes
on anybody is legal. As per the
tradition, the family who has lost a
relative during the past one year must
take part in a procession by sending
young boys in cow like attire and walk
through the streets of Kathmandu lead by
a cow. Cow is regarded as a Goddess and
it is also the national animal of Nepal.
This festival also purges many who have
lost their loved ones as they get to
console themselves as to they are not
the only ones who have been bereaved and
it also teaches to accept death as a
part of life.
Krishna Janmastami: The birth
anniversary of Lord Sri Krishna,
believed to be the 8th incarnation of
Lord Vishnu falls sometime in
August/September. All the devotees
assemble in Krishna Mandir, the ancient
Krishna Temple in Patan Durbar Square
and other temples with the idol of Sri
Krishna and offer prayers, flowers,
food, sweets and chant hymns too.
Teej (Women festival): This is a
Hindu married woman’s day for her man.
This festival is celebrated in
August/September. Women clad in
beautiful red saris with shining potes
(glass beads), singing and dancing is
the sight almost everywhere in Nepal
during the festival of Teej. On this day
women observe a fast and pray Lord Shiva
for the long, healthy and prosperous
life of their husbands and their
families. The unmarried women also
observe this festival with unabated zeal
with the hope that they will get to
marry good husbands. From early dawn,
women queue up in the multiple lines in
Pashupatinath to offer their prayers to
Lord Shiva.
Indra Jatra: This festival named
after Lord Indra- the God of Rain and
also the King of Heaven is celebrated by
both the Buddhists and Hindus in Nepal
in August/September. This festival lasts
for eight days with singing, mask
dancing and rejoicing. The chariot of
Kumari – the Living Goddess is taken
through the main streets of Kathmandu
with much fanfare. On the first day, the
King of Nepal also pays homage to
Goddess Kumari. The crowd of excited
people from performers to spectators
engulfs the streets of Kathmandu during
this festival. People get to enjoy
various classical dances like elephant
dance, lakhe – a very popular dance of a
man with a mask.
Tihar: This festival of lights
that falls between October/November is
the second biggest festival after
Dashain. This festival lasts for five
days and people worship Laxmi – the
Goddess of Wealth. All the houses are
cleaned and decorated with the belief
that Goddess Laxmi will enter the house
that is the cleanest and people lit
candles, oil lamps and other lights and
the whole place looks illuminating.
During the five days, crows, dogs and
cows are worshipped and honored with
vermilion, garland and delicious food
for what they have done in the lives of
humans. Crows are regarded as the
messenger that brought news even during
the times when there were no postmen and
no postal services. Dogs are the most
obedient animals and they guard our
house as true guardians. Cow is also a
symbol of wealth in Hinduism and she is
also the national animal of Nepal.
During Tihar, the Newari community in
Nepal also observes Mha puja – a ritual
of worshipping one’s own body and life.
On this very day, the Newari New Year
which is also known as Nepal Sambat
begins. The festival ends with Bhai Tika
– brothers’ day when his sisters worship
him for his long and healthy life to
safeguard the lives of his sisters. This
is also a gambling time in Nepal as
gambling is not illegal during this
festival.
Dashain (Bijaya Dashami): During
the month of Kartik (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. Thorough out the kingdom of
Nepal the goddess Durga in all her
manifestations are worshiped with
innumerable pujas, abundant offerings
and thousands of animal sacrifices for
the ritual holy bathing, thus drenching
the goddess for days in blood.
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