Today, the country celebrates Maha Navami, the ninth day of the Dashain celebrations. Nepalis will be visiting temples of Goddess Durga, who is believed to be the ‘deity of victory & might’. Also, Nepalis worship the deity Vishwa Karma, the ‘God of Creativity’.

Animals, especially buffaloes are sacrificed on the occasion to honor the goddess. Military officers dressed in their uniforms with their medals play bands of war tunes and perform gun-firing in the air.

When the ceremony ends, the temple courtyards are filled with blood till ankle-level.

On this day, people get their vehicles, machinery, musical instruments and anything else that gives them a blessed livelihood.

Let’s take a look at the preparations and celebrations of Dashain 2076 (2019) across the country:

As part of celebrations of the Dashain festival in Nepal, devotees have been visiting various temples of Goddess Durga, Mahalaxmi, Mahakali and Maha Saraswati and other deities reminiscent of power, knowledge and wealth.

In Kathmandu, devotees are visiting the Bagalamukhi, Bajra Barahi, Bhadrakali, Bagalamukhi, Bijeshwari, Naradevi, Guheshwari, Maitidevi, Naxal Bhagawati and Shova Bhagawati temples among others in large numbers.

More than 1 million people in 10 days have left their villages to celebrate the Dashain festival. 992, 867 individuals alone left from Kathmandu as of October 01, 2019. 119,467 vehicles were used to carry these individuals from the city, informed the Metropolitan Police Traffic Division (MPTD). Likewise, a total of 60,000 people have entered Kathmandu Valley for the Dussehra celebrations.

1) Natives Sow Jamara in Gorkha’s Dashain Ghar – On the first day of Bada Dashain festival, natives of Gorkha sowed the traditional Jamara – barley shoots to mark Ghatasthapana (the first day of Dashain). The ritual was performed at the Gorakhali and Manakamna temples in Gorkha on September 29, 2019.  People worshipped Lord Ganesh, diyo and kalas as mentioned in the vedas.

2) Students Receive Dashain Expense from PM KP Sharma Oli – In view of the upcoming Dashain festival, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli presented students with a Dashain cash gift of NPR 5,000 on October 01, 2019. The Prime Minister has announced his guardianship for the students one and half years back. They include Grade 2 students from Ramdulari Secondary School of Kalyanpur municipality and two others from Mugu district.

3) NCP Organizing Dashain Tea Party – The ruling Nepal Communist Party has decided to hold a Dashain tea party on October 16, 2019 in view of the Dashain, Tihar and Chhath festivals. The NCP said that it will be inviting more than 100,000 individuals to the event, which will be held at Bhrikutimandap. This includes artistes, business community members, constitutional body officials and diplomatic agencies representatives among others.

4) Nepal Rastra Bank Issues New Currency – The NRB announced that it will be issuing new banknotes for the Dashain festival from September 27, 2019. It further stated that a person could avail of new banknotes up to NPR 18,500 until October 01, 2019. The new currency was made available at different banks and financial institutions.

Dashain 2076 Greetings

Nepali Sansar takes this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous Dashain 2076!

May Goddess Durga bless your homes and families with prosperity, peace and happiness. May this festival be a time of renewed joy, hope and strengthen the bond among family and friends.

Dashain is Nepal’s biggest festival and this is evident through its scale and grandeur. The country is a colorful sight during this time. Have you visited Nepal during Dashain?

A Colorful Nepal Dashain (In photos)

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Even two days after Dashain, government offices continue to see a low attendance from civil servants and government officials.

Singha Durbar

Civil servants have not returned to duty in Singha Durbar, Nepal’s main administrative building and its departments.

Several ministries secretaries, joint-secretaries and lower-level staff were absent on October 22, 2018. Moreover, chambers of ministers and high-ranking officials remained closed.

“I could not serve tea and water to my guests as my staff have not returned from holidays,” said a senior official at Singha Durbar.

Luckily, senior officials who did not participate in Dashain festivities and who live close to Kathmandu were able to attend office on October 21 and 22, 2018.

Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration Secretary Dinesh Thapaliya said Junior officials and staffers were yet to return from festive celebrations. “Civil servants are gradually joining office; the festive mood is not over yet,” Thapaliya added.

Department of Passport

Noted as one of the busiest premises in Nepal, the Department of Passport (DoP) processes over 1,000 passports and receives almost the same number of applications in a day.

Unfortunately, on the first day after Dashain the office received 330 applications which further increased to some more until October 22, 2018. The office at the time had few staff.

Department of Transport Management

The Department of Transport Management’s license section received a few service requests. However, there were even fewer government officials to cater to these requests.

Overall, officials said that the service delivery was not badly affected as the demand after festive season was low.

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As part of shopping ahead of the country’s 15-day Dashain festival, Nepalis have reportedly started thronging across towns in the Indo-Nepal borders for festival shopping.

Buyers are showing a special interest in textiles, daily essentials and spices from the bordering Indian towns owing to their cheaper pricing compared to the Nepali market.

Though Indian markets sharing border with Nepal receive good number of Nepali buyers, the number goes to new high during the Dashain season.

According to Nepali entrepreneurs operating in the region, an estimated 300 individuals travel across the Indian border accounting to an estimated Rs 1 million spending daily.

“The closure of the Gauri Phanta market, which is situated a kilometer from the border, had cheered Nepali traders in Dhangadhi.  They don’t hesitate to travel even 30 km to the Palia market because the goods are cheaper,” says Rishi Poudel, a local trader in Dhangadhi. 

“Local consumers don’t shop in Dhangadhi. Dhangadhi has been attracting Indian shoppers as foreign goods are available in the Nepali markets,” says another trader Hem Chandra Ojha.

Local consumers from Nepal prefer Indian products majorly because of cheaper prices with almost 100% difference in pricing compared to Nepali markets.

“As prices of daily essentials commodities are relatively lower, almost all locals travel to the Indian market,” says Kabita Bista, a local customer.

Locals also argue that Nepali traders sell at higher prices during the festival season, forcing Nepalis to go for Indian markets.

“They don’t pay customs while importing goods. They charge high prices even though they import goods through informal channels,” says Ramesh Bhatta, another local of Dhangadhi.

Nepalis celebrate Dashain on a grand scale with even the Nepal Government making special festival arrangements to woo the public.

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Nepal’s longest festival Dashain concluded yesterday with the celebration of Kojagrat Purnima among the country’s Hindu community.

Vijaya Dashami is the tenth and most auspicious day of the festival and marks the celebration of goddess’ victory over the demon Mahisasura.

Following the 10^th day, Nepalese continue the victory celebrations for the next five days and conclude the 15-long Dashain festival on the Kojagrat Purnima day.

This is also the final day for Nepalese receiving tika, jamara, prasad and blessings from their elders.

Jamara (barley sprouts), grown as part of the Dashain rituals, will be removed from the Dashain Ghar on this day and immersed in holy rivers.

Marking the Purnima night, the devotees remain awake throughout the night offering special prayers to Goddess Lakshmi for prosperity and wealth.

The Nepali Hindu community strongly believes that the Goddess Lakshmi roams around the earth on this special day and blesses those Ko-jagrat (meaning ‘who is awake’ in Nepali).

Dashain Concludes Welcoming Tihar

Concluding the 15-day long Dashain, the Kojagrat Purnima day also marks the beginning of preparations for the other two important festivals of the Nepal’s biggest festival season i.e. Tihar, the festival of lights, and Chhath.

Tihar falls two weeks after the concluding day of Dashain. This year, it is celebrated from October 19-21, 2017.

Chhath is another important festival of Nepal that is celebrated on October 25, 2017 in 2017.

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Millions of Nepali citizens residing in the Kathmandu Valley leave their capital for homes as part of Dashain celebrations, every year.

This time, 190,000 people have already left the Valley for Dashain celebrations that began on September 21, 2017.

The Metropolitan Traffic Police Division Spokesperson Umesh Ranjit informed this in a statement on September 26, 2017. According to the department, the data includes the number of passengers who left the Valley since September 5, 2017.

Meanwhile, the number of people entering the Valley was found to be minimal.

With the beginning of Dashain 2017, the officials have already taken necessary measures to ensure a conducive environment for the public.

The metropolitan traffic police has set up civic help desks at 12 locations for the passenger convenience.

Additional human resources have also been deployed across the capital to ensure smooth traffic.

The actual festive mood in Nepal began prior to the arrival of Bada Dashain, when thousands of Nepali citizens started thronging to bus stations for early travel booking.

The official data had estimated that millions of people would leave the Valley during the ongoing Nepal’s Biggest Festival Season.

The Nepali Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE) General Secretary Saroj Sitoula estimated around 3-4 million people to leave the Valley for Dashain celebrations. Whereas, the Department of Transport, Nepal had estimated that it would be 2-3 million.

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Fulpati is the second most important event of the 15-day long Dashain festival, celebrated on the seventh day after Ghatsthapana.

As part of the ritual, an assortment of jamara, belpatra, banana stalks and sugarcane sticks tied with red cloth, along with Kalash (filled with holy water on the Ghatsthapana day) is carried to Dashainghar in Hanuman Dhoka of Basantapur, Kathmandu on a decorated palanquin.

Following the tradition, six men of the Magar indigenous nationality carry Fulpati from Gorkha Durbar of the Gorkha district to Jivanpur in Dhading, which is then carried to Kathmandu by six other men belonging to the Kathmandu Brahman community.

Gurujyuko Platoon, Nepali police, Nepali Army and related high-ranking officials, panchebaja bands, decorated kalsyoulis, Asha Gurja team and a special procession in cultural attire leave Hanuman Dhoka for Jamal, to receive Fulpati.

Marking the Fulpati day celebration, the Nepali Army stages a parade at Tundikhel in Kathmandu and various government officials including high-level officials like President offer Tika and Jamara on the occasion.

According to Hanuman Dhoka Herchar Addha Chief Aruna Nakarmi, the Fulpati tradition began during the King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s rule.

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After rounds of discussions with the Government of Nepal, the Nepali Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE) has finally opened ticket bookings for those travelling to their hometowns for celebrating the country’s biggest festival, Dashain.

Thousands of Nepali citizens started waiting in queues at various bus ticket counters since early hours to book their tickets. Unfortunately, most of them were shocked to hear that tickets were already sold out.

Rajesh Khetan (55), who reached Gongabu Bus Park early in the morning, was surprised to see a long queue at the ticket counter. Even after a seven hour of wait, Khetan had to return with empty hands as he was told all the tickets to his hometown were already sold out.

“Even though it was raining, I got here at 3:00 AM. At 10:00 AM when my turn finally came I was unable to get a single ticket,” says Khetan.

“Having learnt a bitter lesson last year, I had arrived here at 3:30 AM. But it was no different this year as well,” says Krishna Chaudhary (35), who arrived at another counter at 3.30 AM to book tickets for his hometown.

FNNTE General Secretary Saroj Sitoula expected that passengers would get bus tickets easily this time, compared to previous year. However, things were in contrast at the Gongabu Bus Park, the main station from where most of the outbound buses from Kathmandu Valley leave to other places.

According to Sitoula, around 3-4 million people are likely to leave the Valley to their hometowns for Dashain festival celebrations to be held from September 21-20, 2017.

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