5 Festivals Of Importance That Falls In Ashoj And Kartik
(16 Shradhha/ Bishwakarma puja/Durga Puja(Dashain)/Laxmi Puja(Tihar)/ Chhat)
The time period, on and off of these two months- Ashoj and Kartik, constitute many of the important festivals that people of Nepal celebrate. For example, Dashain- The biggest of the Festivals of Importance, though it is a Hindu festival, is observed in one way or another by almost all Nepalese populations…
The List of Festivals of Importance
…And it all falls right in between these two months. For more about it, let’s begin with the first highlight of the month Ashoj.
16 Shraddha
Shrowha Shradhha is a 16 days tribute offering to the Pitri Devatas before Dashain begins. This time of the year, all the people observe a Sharadhha in the name of their ancestors on the designated Titihi day. It is believed that the Pitris are all expecting the offerings that their children are to offer in their names. And they go back to the heavens after the 16 days of Pitri Puja.
Vishwakarma Puja
The first day of the month of Ashoj is celebrated as the day of Puja dedicated to Vishwakarma Baba, who looks after the machinery and long life of assets of importance. He is the architect of the universe and if we worship him on this day, it is believed that everything will be looked after by him.
Durga Puja (Dashain)
Undoubtedly, one of the most important festivals for Nepalese is Dashain. The 9 days of worshiping in the name of different forms of Goddess Durga is termed as Navaratri that ends with Vijaya Dashami, the major day for all the Hindus. Durga puja begins from Ghatasthapana and continues for 9 days, each day dedicated to a different form of Durga Mata.
After these 9 days, people receive Tika and Jamara produced from the Durga puja as a blessing from Goddess Durga, in remembrance of the epic war that she fought against the demon Mahisashhur and won.
Laxmi Puja(Tihar)
Following the completion of Dashain, we get the second biggest festival of Nepalese almost a week or so later.
Tihar, a festival lasting for 5 days on average with a different form of Puja consisting within this time period, is the celebration of victory over evil. Yamapanchak or, Deepawali is the time of Lights and worshipping various gods and goddesses and welcoming them home.
For instance, with bright lights and colors, Goddess Laxmi is worshiped during Tihar. She is the Goddess of Wealth and blessed her worshippers with wealth and prosperity. And this is Laxmi Puja. In the Newari community, Mha Puja is also observed during Gobhardhan Puja of the Yamapanchak.
Tihar has an attractive way of doing things. Worshipping the messenger of Death(Yamaraj)- Crow, the Friend of Bhairav- Dogs, the ride of Laxmi- Cow, and Bhai Tika for the Brothers and Sisters in reference to the Day that Yamaraj received tika from his sister, Yamuna. Due to this, it is believed to bring long life and power around the siblings. It is also called Kija Puja in Nepal Bhasa.
Chhath
Almost towards the end of the Kartik, we get to celebrate Chhath, the worshipping of the Sun god and Chhathi Maiya. Mostly celebrated by the Hindus in Terai, but Hindus of all places are found to be worshipping the goddess on this day with a Fast and Chhath puja. It is one of the 5 major festivals of Nepal.
Before You End This Article
The End is just the beginning. You end this article feeling that you are going to be celebrating these important festivals now for these two months. But, we have other festivals of importance waiting for us right around the corner. It’s just a matter of time until we get there.
This list of Important Festivals celebrated in Nepal is meant to be the rejoice and support that we can have among our family and friends. That gives us a time of around a month on average. With a break of all the worldly duties, So, this time of the year, and again the time is back. Ashoj is here and we are nearly closing in on Dashain. Happy Dashain In Advance!
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