Reasons why Dashain is celebrated in Nepal :- Nepal lies in the lap of Himalaya and unique geography supported by abundant flora and fauna. Nepal is evergreen country and the festivals celebrated here are also evergreen. There are many festivals which are celebrated in Nepal, according to caste and culture. Among them, Dashain is the most important and biggest festival in Nepal. It is celebrated by every Nepalese people living inside and outside of the country.
Likewise, it is the longest festival of Nepal which comes during the month of Kartik, kind of late September and October lasting for more than ten days. It lasts for total fifteen days whereas, the first seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and fifteenth day is considered as important days of this festival. Moreover, all the educational, companies, institutions, every office, including government offices, remain closed during this biggest festival.
Also, we Nepalese people celebrate every type of festival which proves that we have religious tolerance making us proud to have everyone together. Dashain brings every Nepalese people together, making belief that caste and creed is nothing but just a word.
Family Values are important in Nepali tradition, and everyone cares for each other deeply. During Dashain, Every Nepalese people always come, cherish and celebrate together being happy sharing every moment. Here are some reasons for celebrating Dashain in Nepal;
Dashain festival (also known as Vijaya Dashami or Dussehra Dashami) is undoubtedly the largest and most spectacular Hindu religious celebration in Nepal. It is celebrated between October and November with utmost enthusiasm and zeal. People from all across the globe come to celebrate this great festival and enjoy a fantastic occasion with their dear ones.
The main reason for this festival is to offer prayers and blessings to all the deities. Dashain festival is associated with the Goddess Durga, as it is believed that she is the Goddess of strength, courage, bravery, love, fertility and other things of great significance.
Dashain festival of Nepal is the highest festival of the Hindu Hindus. Known often by the Hindu people from different parts of India and also in different parts of Nepal, this festival is mainly the festival of victory over evil, of goodness over negativity, and good quality above immorality.
According to the belief of Hinduism, the Goddess Durga is the God of strenth and power. This goddess is known as “Goddess of Mother” because she rules over all the good things in the universe, but she can not protect the people who are on the wrong side of this law.
As per Hindu customs, on Dashain festival, the people perform several rituals and worship rituals to show thanks to Goddess Durga and Lord Rama. The people dance around to show respect to Goddess Durga. All the Nepalese people participate in the Dashain festival in a significant way, as they bless the Goddesses with extraordinary gifts, such as flowers, incense, sweets and garlands.
The festival is also believed to bring the people closer to Goddess Durga Mata.
A grand festival follows the festival, Durga Puja, which is similar to the Puja festival celebrated in India. Still, in Dashain festival, the devotees chant a particular hymn to Goddess Durga. On the 10th day, Goddess Durga uses to send her blessings to the devotees.
Dashain festival falls according to Vikram Samvat Calendar
Vikram Samvat calendar and also referred to as the Vikrama calendar is the traditional Hindu calendar in Nepal. It is a national calendar which is officially published by the Government of Nepal. In Nepal, it is mostly used in all the states. The Vikram calendar uses solar and lunar year-cycles.
Vikram Samvan is divided into 12 months like the Gregorian calendar. In the Hindu calendar follows the lunar calendar of 12 months, whereas, in the former period, the Hindu calendar follows the solar calendar of 365 days.
The Vikrami calendar includes all the festivals and religious celebrations as well as milestones of the Hindu religion. Some of the important Hindu festivals celebrated during these periods are Dashain, Tihar, Nepali new year, Teej, Holi, Shivratri, Ganesha Chaturthi, Dussehra, Navaratri, Durga Puja, Chhath Puja and Diwali etc.
All the major national holidays are celebrated on this calendar. Dashain and Tihar are observed throughout Nepal. It is one of the most awaited festivals as it marks the end of summer and the beginning of winter. Krishna Janamashtami festival is another important festival on this calendar, which marks the birth of Lord Krishna. Yes, Dashain festival falls according to Vikram Samvat calendar.
Besides the Goddess Durga, Some Other Gods and Goddess are Worshipped in Dashain
Navaratri is the time of prayer, fasting, and special food. The evening is colorful with enchantment in the temple. Devotees plant 9 pulses and cereals in pots at home on the first day known as Ghatasthapana. People venerate the plants known as jamara for nine days. People put tika and jamara in Dashami.
In the month of Asviana, Goddess Durga is worshipped annually. Durga is the Mother Goddess, who sometimes appears on this earth with many hands and weapons, to destroy the evil powers. She is the Mahayogini who preserves the connections between creation, preservation, and destruction.
Durga was known as Mahishasur Mardini (a buffalo demon slayer). Durga later became Lord Shiva’s wife with her divine powers and she is known to be Goddess Parvati. Ganesh, Saraswati, Kartik, and Lakshmi and are four children of Durga. Each of the children of Goddess Durga had various divine powers that made them different worshipped gods and goddesses. Goddess Durga once a year visits earth during the autumn season, along with Ganesh, Laxmi, Kartik, and Saraswati whose sculpture (deities) can be seen on the puja mandap (stage).
God Ganesh
One of the principal Hindu deities is Ganesh. Ganesh has the head of the elephant with a broken tusk and has the body of a potbellied human. Dubo, Laddu, is the favorite of Ganesh. In the idol made during Dashain, he is with the mouse in his front as his bahan. Snake is wrapped around his waist. He is called Vinayak, Bighhnadharta. He is known to remove all the obstacles.
God Kartik
Kumara, Karttikeya, Shanmukha, Subrahmanya, and many other names are also known as Skanda, Siva’s second son, and Ganesha’s younger brother. His banner is the cock and vehicle of the peacock that stands clutching a serpent in its talons. He is worshipped as Hinduism’s martial god.
Goddess Lakshmi
Lakshmi is the form of Divine Mother and Lord Vishnu’s divine consort. Laxmi is the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, and love. Laxmi is worshiped in Dashain and Tihar (Deepawali). She is worshipped for the pure and noble qualities needed for spiritual realization. We can see goddess Laxmi along with owl beside her in the idols made during the Dashain festival. Laxmi blesses with wealth, fortune, and prosperity. The pet bird of Laxmi is an owl.
Goddess Saraswati
Sarasvati is primarily worshipped as a goddess of speech, learning, and fine arts. She’s white, and the most beautiful of all beauties. She is holding a rosary, a goad, a vina, and a manuscript in four arms. The pet bird and vehicle for transport of Saraswati is the White Swan.
10-20 Reasons Why Dashain is Celebrated in Nepal
1. Every festival has its symbol indicating something or symbolizing history moments of its own particular country. Likewise, Dashain also represents good and prosperity as it symbolizes the destruction or elimination of evil, by the good.
According to the Nepalese people or the Hindus living in Nepal, it represents the victory of the goddess Durga over an evil demon called Mahishasura. It is said that there was another dimensional world where the god and goddess live, so called Devaloka where all of the god and goddess were living peacefully.
But when time passes by, the demon named Mahishasura started creating big terror inside the world of positivity called devloka. Likewise, it did not last for a long time, as goddess Durga finally killed the demon at the end. Lord Durga’s manifestations killed the demon Mahishasura which took place between the first nine days of Dashain as it symbolizes the war between good and evil.
After the whole battle of nine days, Lord Durga finally killed the demon on the tenth day. Likewise, for many Hindus, this festival represents the victory of Ram over Ravan as Ramayana. In the end, it is said to be the victory of good over evil where celebration swept the whole country at a time when the demon got defeated. Likewise, it’s not only the festival but the kind of victory for all the people; therefore, it is celebrated widely among the country Nepal.
2. This festival is appreciated by every people living in Nepal also different parts of the world. During this biggest festival, people often return from all parts of the world both from foreign and inside country to celebrate together.
The day called Ghatasthapana is the first day of Dashain like it is the gate of Dashain. From the day of Ghatasthapana, one can feel the vibes and frequencies of Dashain coming in Nepal. On this day people fill Kalash called pot with holy water and cover it with the barley seeds. After that, the Kalash is placed in a somewhat rectangular sandbox; likewise, grains are seeded on the remaining bar of sand.
Moreover, people start to worship Durga to bless the stuff with her precious presence at the particular time fixed by the astrologers. After all, the Puja begins to continue, and it takes a long time to complete. Every family in the Puja participates with happiness and cheerful vibes. During the day of Navaratri, the goddess Durga is believed to reside in the vessel.
Ghatasthapana recharge every people with a good amount of positive energy who are willing to celebrate Dashain to the fullest. You can see crowd gathering, families, cousins, friends meeting from the beginning of the day.
There is a particular room where this Ghatasthapana Puja is performed which is also known as Dashain Ghar according to the Nepalese tradition. Likewise, before letting others enter in that Puja, it is mainly done by the guardian and old members of the family and then only allowed to be done by other members of the family.
3. Dashain begins to continue from the day of Ghatasthapana, after that the most important day of this festival is phulpati which comes on the seventh day of Dashain. Phulpati is the day of celebration, people celebrate phulpati openly, as the main celebration enters on this day.
During phulpati, lot of events takes place in a different part of the country supported by the Nepalese army along with a parade in tundikhel firing weapons continue for ten to fifteen minutes. Brahmins bring different kinds of stuff like banana stalks, Kalash, sugar cane and jamara at the different part of the country.
Also, many government officials, including law enforcement, gather together in the tundikhel ground in formal dress, traditional dress and official dress to witness the event. Likewise, many events are held in the other parts of the country as teen boys and girls dance blasting traditional songs and wearing traditional clothes as it’s the main form of celebrating this day.
People gather and enjoy every event which held in their locality, bringing most of the communities together spreading peace, love, harmony and lot of blessings.
4. After the seventh day, the eighth day is Maha Ashtami; on this day, many animals are sacrificed in the name of kali. This was the day when goddess Durga’s manifestations went effective, and animals like goats, hens, buffaloes, ducks etc. are sacrificed in the temples and houses in the different part of the country.
Blood of those animals is offered to the goddesses as it symbolizes for its fertility. This day is called the day of kali in the Nepalese society also the night is said to be kalratri, which means the Black night.
Many buffaloes and goats are sacrificed in almost every courtyard in Basantapur Hanuman Dhoka throughout the night. Not only in Hanuman Dhoka but it is sacrificed almost in every temple of country Nepal. After the completion of animals sacrifices, blood is offered, and the rest of the meat is take home.
5. Now comes the ninth day of Dashain called mahanawami, and it is the last of Navaratri. Celebrations and traditional rituals cover the whole day as sacrificing of animals continue on this day too. Buffaloes are sacrificed in the different parts of the country as it was done in the eighth day of Dashain.
The smell of delicious foods comes from every house throughout the country. Guests are invited to have delicious meal and dinner, including drinks and such. Celebrations continue throughout the country as it is also an important day to celebrate Dashain in Nepal.
This day is known as the middle phase of this biggest festival, followed by joy and happiness all over the country. Crowds are seen everywhere also there will be a queue of the people for buying meats of buffaloes and goats which are sacrificed in the name of goddess or just for the celebration. People often sacrifice their domestic animals like buffaloes, goats, hens and ducks also they order meats from the area where the sacrifices are made on this day.
Also, like the eighth day, all the Nepalese people take meat at their home when the sacrifices are made, after that all the members of each house enjoy the dinner together with laughter, gossiping, telling stories, and having fun with the drinks and such.
6. Likewise, after the sacrifices and fierce of the festival, there comes the tenth day of the festival. The tenth day of the festival is called Vijaya Dashami. A mixture of rice yoghurt and red colour is prepared to put the tika on the forehead of every member of the family.
Loved ones are invited from different part of the country in every house of Nepal. They put on tika and jamara from the elders and receive a lot of blessings from the elders and goddess Durga. Nepali panchang samitee fix the time of putting tika which is based on Nepali Calendar.
Likewise, the two elements are most important on this day they are ‘jamara’ and ‘tika’ which means the blessings of god and senior members of the family. Likewise, people are blessed with those two elements so they can make bets on upcoming days and years with a lot of achievements and prosperity. Also, the elders’ member of the family gives money called ‘Daschina’ to the young and juniors ones.
The red tika symbolizes the blood that connects families with love and happiness. This day is one of the most important days of Dashain as it celebrated all over Nepal. In kirati caste white rice with yoghurt is mixed and put on the forehead as they don’t use red colour. Many public and private vehicles are operated on this day as people travels from one place to another to put tika from their elder ones.
7. Finally the last day is Kojagrat Purnima which lies on the full moon on the fifteenth day. Kojagrat means to stay aware, alert and awake; people usually stay whole night playing cards and having fun on this day playing cards and telling stories whole night.
According to the Nepalese Hindu mythology, goddess of wealth called goddess Laxmi enters in the house and gives a lot of blessings as well as wealth and prosperity to those people whoever stays the whole night. People clean their houses and decorate them very well for welcoming the goddess of wealth. Likewise, there are many ways to celebrate Dashain. Happily, one can go and participate in the events, and you can even play bamboo swings and fly kites during Dashain Festival.
8. Kites flying and playing bamboo swings is the most important part of this festival, as you can see many people participating in events too. Bamboo swings are the perfect way of celebration of Dashain in Nepal; it gives a good taste of Dashain. Every young Nepalese people play bamboo swing for fun and blessings.
Bamboo swings are constructed almost in every part of Nepal during Dashain festival. It is called ping in Nepali language representing fun, tradition, culture and happiness too. Mainly these swings are constructed by the community members of their locality for their children and themselves. Bamboo swings are already constructed before the Dashain begins.
You can see 20 feet tall bamboo swings in every community; likewise, people of every age enjoy the swing to the fullest of the bamboo swings which is made from the grass, rope and tall bamboos. Likewise, different programs and events are organized throughout the country with exciting vibes even supported by dance and singing traditional songs.
Different people from different communities participate in events and programs. These type of events and programs help all the community get together and have fun which creates peace and spread love among every community. Likewise, the older member of the family meet together and share moment playing cards and having fun with old stories.
They share moments buy new clothes, eat delicious foods which is also the main part of the festival. While for some people, new clothes come only with Dashain as they can’t afford to buy clothes too. Dashain is a very important festival for all the people, and the energy of the festival brings all the people together from the different parts of Nepal. It’s the new wave every year when Dashain comes, from kids youngest member of the family to the eldest member of the family feels good and relaxed.
Likewise, Malshree Dhun is traditional Dashain music of Nepal with satisfying frequency and vibrations. That music, along with other traditional music provides good Dashain vibes along with joy and happiness to the end of the Dashain as many animals are sacrificed offering every people of Nepal with good and fresh quality of meat.
8. During Dashain all the shops around every city are decorated nicely, and almost all of them have discounts and festival offers with the excellent quality of stuff selling for the Dashain festival for the people. People buy various utensils which are very important for Dashain like worshipping elements, readymade diyo lights, and new clothes also some dry fruits which are used later as Prasad, likewise the only item which has the highest sales during Dashain is the clothes.
Everyone buys new clothes in Dashain form kids to older adults; everyone buys fancy and cultural clothes and such. Likewise, shops and market are monitored by high security as pickpockets often found in every market of Nepal during Dashain season. This festival brings lights, blessings and happiness to every family and the people living in Nepal, as it is the biggest, spiritual and most religious festival of Nepal.
This festival also teaches about the importance of tradition, culture, love, peace, harmony among every community of Nepal. It brings every community together with many sources. People find happiness in every little thing during this festival, and they share every precious moment with their loved ones openly and proudly.
Dashain brings the new vibe along with new energy to every people and gives them the power to achieve big things in upcoming days with great honour and respect. This festival also teaches about tradition and humanity that how love and respect are given to others and such elements to the new generation.
Every new generation follows the same path. Therefore, the festival always remained evergreen, and no one changed any way of celebration of this biggest festival.
9. Many animals are sacrificed during the festival of Dashain. Nepal government allows people to sacrifice animals like buffaloes, hens, goats and ducks. The main problem during this festival is to sacrifice the animals in the name of god and goddess.
Yeah, this festive season is historical but also this new generation should learn about not to harm other animals excessively in the name of the festival. Every family should teach their kids, and they should also follow the same. On the Day of Asthami and Navami, there is a lot of sacrifices of those animals.
More than thousands of animals are sacrificed during this period of Dashain, as the demand for meat also goes higher and higher with the increasing day. Moreover, these days’ people became more conscious about not to harm the animals excessively.
They sacrifice animals in limit order; likewise, all goats and buffaloes are already separated for the Dashain. Likewise for Newar community living in Kathmandu valley Dashain is called Mohani for them and which seems to be a most important festival in their culture too. Dashain is also the biggest festival in the community of Newars.
Like other people, Newars also celebrate their Dashain, getting together and having delicious traditional foods. The dinner called Nakhtya connects all the family serving each other delicious cuisine.
Likewise, the god of creation is worshipped on the day of Mahanawami called Vishvakarman it is believed that every profession of people which keeps helping is and keeps happy should be given respect and love. The people who operate their tools like furniture, artisans, craftsmen, mechanics etc. worship their tools and equipment.
10. Many people get their holiday during Dashain after a long period. Dashain gives everyone a good break and relaxation, providing light and shine to every Nepalese people’s life. Everyone’s prayer goes effectively in this festive season supported by lots of joy and happiness all around family throughout the year.
Dashain has its religious back strong behind the celebration; mostly, there are two myths behind the celebration of this powerful festival. The first one is the killing of the demon from Goddess Durga; likewise, another is the epic of Ramayana, when God Ram got the victory over Ravan, who was the evil demon king of Lanka.
The victory was only possible with the blessings of Goddess Durga. Moreover, in Nepal, we don’t necessarily have to be a Hindu to be excited about Dashain. The atmosphere of Dashain is so useful, which gives a pleasant experience to see everyone from all the caste and creeds bonding over Dashain teaching everyone peace harmony and cultural importance.
In Nepal, even though Non-Hindus do not have a part in ceremonies, they readily organize feasts, play cards and make memories. Likewise talking about some traditional music, Malshree Dhun has become an important part of the Dashain festival in Nepal. It is the tune that marks the arrival of Dashain with it.
It is played in every household and every radio stations. Malshree dun is one of the oldest surviving devotional music of Newa art form, with its origin in the 17th century.
11. In Due time, and also the fact that Dashain happens to be celebrated not just by Newars but all Nepalese, this Dhun caught up and now is part of the national culture and played during this Dashain. Also, people flying a kite is another form of celebration typical during Dashain.
Flying kites from rooftops become more familiar with the arrival of Dashain, and it is said to e done to signals to god not to send rain anymore. Also, people creating swings, using bamboo tress crowed at the top and tying a long rope in every community has also become an essential part of Dashain culture. They present the best of community spirit and fun. People from all the ages come together to play and enjoy themselves.
Dashain is a religious festival for the Hindu community which brings a lot of blessings and power to the people living in Nepal. Likewise, every person from every community go to their homes and enjoy the time celebrating with their loved ones in their way.
Dashain provides all with an excuse to spend precious time with their loved ones providing them with a reason to be together and helps to enjoy themselves in their way with joy and happiness sharing every moment.