Festival

For the Nepalese, festivals are not merely annual spectacles, but also a living part of their rich cultural heritage. Festivals are an essential part of Nepalese life that garners tremendous local participation. Although most of the festivals celebrated in Nepal are religious in nature some have historical significance while others are seasonal celebrations. Though the Nepalese have diverse beliefs and ethnic backgrounds all unite in the celebration of the year's more than 50 major festivals.

Maghe Sankranti (January / February)
The end of the coldest winter months is marked by the ritual bathing on the first day of the Nepalese month of Magh and by visiting the shrines of Lord Vishnu. . In Magh the sun enters the southern hemisphere and the days begin to grow longer and warmer. People recite the Bhagwad Gita, also known as The Song of the Gods, rub mustard oil over their bodies, and enjoy feasts of rice cooked with lentils, yams or taruls (a must), sweet potatoes and laddu (sweets made of sesame and sugarcane paste).

Basanta Panchami & Saraswati Puja (January / February)
Basanta, or spring, ushers in the loveliest time of the year. Celebrations are held at Swayambhu as well as the Nil Barahi shrine near Lazimpat. Saraswati, the goddess of learning, arts and crafts is worshiped at her temples on this day and it has special importance for students. Artists, musicians, teachers, and students bring flowers, unbroken rice, and other gifts to please her. This is also a particularly auspicious time for weddings.

Maha Shivaratri (February)
During Maha Shivaratri, “Shiva’s Great Night", hundreds of sadhus and followers flock to the Pashupatinath Temple from all over Nepal and India to worship him. Temple grounds are transformed into a fairground with vendors, tea stalls and pilgrims huddled around campfires. Colorful sadhus, the wandering sages who emulate Shiva, rub ashes over their bodies, give lectures to disciples, meditate, or practice yoga. Devotees pray to Shiva's image inside the temple at midnight and may queue for up to six hours just to have a sight of the sacred lingam. Neighbors and friends share delicacies and devotees enjoy two days and a night of music, song, and dance throughout the Pashupatinath complex and in the streets.

Losar (February)
Sherpas and Tibetans welcome their New Year with prayers, feasting and family visits. Buddhist monks offer prayers for good health and prosperity, and perform dances at the monasteries. Colorful prayer flags decorate streets and rooftops. The colors seem especially brilliant at the Boudhanath and Swayambhunath stupas. On the fourth day hundreds of Tibetans dressed in their finest arrive at Boudhanath Stupa of offer incense and prayers. At the right auspicious moment everyone grabs a handful of tsampa (roasted barley flour) and on the count of three, tosses it into the air in a jubilant blessing. This is followed by singing and long shuffling Tibetan line dancing. Then everyone disperses to visit friends and relatives. Known as Losar, the festival starts from the first to the fourth day of the first Tibetan lunar month.

Holi or Fagu Purnima (March)
Fagu Purnima is one of the most colorful and playful festivals of Nepal and falls on the full moon day of the Nepalese month of Falgun. The chit pole decorated with colorful flags and erected on the first day of Fagu at Kathmandu’s Durbar Square is a formal announcement to all to hide their good clothes, for you may be splashed with colored powder and water balloons. Bands of young men and boys patrol the streets, dousing passersby with water balloons and fistfuls of brightly colored powder. Women sheltered on rooftops retaliate by dumping buckets of water. Nobody is safe. Women are favorite targets especially young girls.

Seto (White) Machhendranath (March / April)
This temple situated in Kel Tole attracts both Buddhist and Hindus – Buddhists consider Seto Machhendranath to be a form of Avalokiteshvara, while to Hindus he is a rain-bringing incarnation of Shiva. The festival starts with removing the image of Seto Machhendranath from the temple and placing it on a towering wooden temple chariot known as a rath. For the next four evenings, the chariot proceeds slowly from one historic location to another, eventually arriving at Lagan in the south of Kathmandu’s old town. There the image is taken down from the chariot and carried back to its starting point in a palanquin while the chariot is disassembled and put away until next year.

Chaitra Dasain (March / April)
Red vermillion powder, family blessings, and goat and duck sacrifices are essential to praise the victory of Ram, hero of the epic Ramayana, over the evil king Rawan. Also known a Small Dasain, Chaitra Dasain takes place exactly six months prior to the more important Dasain celebration. Mother Goddess Durga, the source of all power is honoured on this day.

Ghode Jatra (April)
Visitors are often amazed by the fine horses of the Nepalese army, and Ghode Jatra is a time for the most graceful of these animals to perform before the public eye. Legends relate that this "horse festival" was begun after the Kathmandu people buried a demon under the soil of Tundikhel showgrounds. They say that he may rise again and cause worry to the world if he is not trampled on by horses each year. So every spring, this victory over evil is celebrated in the Kathmandu valley by organizing palanquin processions and grand display of showjumping, motorcycling feats, and gymnastics. Their Majesties the King and Queen of Nepal used to grace this occasion prior to the year 2006. The Living Goddess Kumari, and thousands of people from all over the country are a part of the audience.

Bisket Jatra (April)
Bisket Jatra heralds the start of the Nepalese New Year and is an exciting annual events in the valley. It is celebrated most jubilantly in Bhaktapur. Images of Bhairab and the goddess Bhadrakali are enshrined in huge chariots and are hauled around the city streets. A huge 25m high lingam (phallic symbol) is erected in the stone yoni (female genital symbol) base, which is later sent crashing down to the ground, driving away evil spirits and officially marking the beginning of the Nepalese New Year. Later in the day crowds gather in nearby Bode to see the bizarre tongue-piercing ritual, in which priests pierce the tongue of a volunteer with large steel needles, an act said to earn great merit and leave the pure unharmed.

New Year's Day (April)
The Bikram Era is Nepal's official calendar. This solar calendar was started by King Bikramditya. The new year 2064 of the Bikram Era corresponds to 2007 of the Christian Era. The Nepalese New Year’s day usually falls in the second week of April i.e. the first day of the first Nepalese month – Baisakh, which is also a national holiday. Devotees visit the Pashupatinath temple to pray and take a dip in the holy Bagmati river. People spend picnicking, feasting and celebrating through out the day and night. Most of the Bars and Hotels throw up the New Year’s bash with organized musical extravaganzas and concerts performed by popular musicians and artists (both local as well as from outside the country) at a certain amount of door entry price