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)

The post Dashain 2076 (2019) Festival Celebrations in Nepal appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

Dashain holidaymakers are spending more than 12 hours in travel due to the never-ending line of traffic en-route Jomsom from Beni. Outside holiday season the route can be covered in about five hours. Locals visiting Mustang in view of Dashain admit that they’ve never seen so many vehicles on the road before.

Close to 5,000 tourists, mostly Nepalis, entered Mustang between October 21-22, 2018, says the Ghana Police Post.

“The traffic jam on the road had not cleared well into 1am Monday. It took us more than 12 hours to travel the road,” said Bal Krishna Subedi from Myagdi.

“The route is congested since Friday, the main day of Dashain festival. Traffic on Sunday and Monday was worse,” said Gopal Khatri, Inspector, Ghansa Police Post adding that the road is taking more load than it can manage.

Beni-Jomsom Road in Poor Shape

The current condition of the road only makes the situation worse. The road is not wide-enough to facilitate two-way traffic flow at several points including Akkare Bhir, Begkhola, Bhirkote, Rupse, Chhahara and Badarjun Bhir.

To add to commuters’ woes, floods and landslides destroyed many parts of the road.

“When the road is in a poor state and you have high traffic volume, the travel duration will definitely increase. Plus, the journey experience is also not going to be a nice one,” Khatri commented.

The post Beni-Jomson Road Disrupts Holiday Travel appeared first on Nepali Sansar.