Since I covered Tihar in my last cultural post, it is only right for me to cover Dashain for my final cultural post.
Dashain, the longest Hindu festival in Nepal, is celebrated over the span of two weeks. For Nepalis, Dashain is a time for get togethers with families, friends, pujas (worship), gifts and blessings and so much more. Dashain is a celebration for the Hindu goddess Durga. In Hinduism, Durga symbolizes prowess and valor. Dashain celebrates Durga’s victory over darkness and demons, or in general the triumph of good over evil.
Just like with Tihar, Dashain also has some of the landmark days out of the 15 days that it is celebrated through.
Day 1: During day 1, people prepare for the upcoming days of festivities. During the first day, people plant what is called “jamara” (I believe it is barley), a fast growing seed that sprouts within the next 10 days. It is mixed with holy water and placed in the room of worship and properly watered for the next week.
Day 7: During day 7, there is a grand celebration of Dashain where a national parade takes place.
Day 8: Maha Asthami.
My least favorite day of Dashain is the day of slaughtering. During this day, a lot of the livestock will be killed and offered to goddess Durga. During what is called a “Black Night”, people will sacrifice 8 buffaloes and 108 goats, where the animals will be sacrificed and the meat from those animals will be passed to the community members as “prasad” or holy food which is belived to bring in good luck to those who eat it.
Day 9: Maha Navami
This is also one of the bloody days of the festival. Seen as one of the most important days of the year, this day sees people mark their vehicles with blood of sacrificed animals as a way to avoid accidents and bad luck throughout the coming year. This is also the only day of the year where people are allowed to visit the Taleju temples in Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur.
Day 10: Vijaya Dashami
During this day, the elders of families give blessings to the younger folks of the family by exchanging greeting cards and gifts to each other. Elders will place tika on youngster’s heads (usually accompanied by money, who doesn’t love free money) and it is a day filled with singing and dancing and spending time together.
Day 15: Kojagrata Purnima
On this day, goddess Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and luck is worshipped. Traditionally, this is a day of staying awaking overnight and spending time with people, as it is believed that during this time, goddess Laxmi visits Earth and blesses anyone who has not fallen asleep at night. Kojagrata apparently means “who is awake” and this day becomes a day of spending time, staying awake overnight, and traditionally a day and night full of playing cards and gambling.
While these are the traditional days of worshipping, Dashain is more than that. During Dashain, the whole country is in a uplifted mood. Dashain is accompanied by kite-flying, playing cards, buying new clothes for the new year, buying gifts for others, and other forms of entertainment and amusements.
https://www.tibettravel.org/nepal-festival/dashain-festival.html
https://www.welcomenepal.com/whats-on/dashain.html
Replies
Dashain seems like a very beautiful festival and I am grateful that you shared it with us. It was extremely illuminating into the different ways that people spend time with one another celebrating what it is that they believe in. The fact that there are so many consecutive days dedicated to mindfulness about a given occasion is also a beautiful thing.
Hi Abhishekh, I really enjoy reading your post! I have never heard of such a religious festival before! I am glad that I have a chance to learn about Dashain from your post and different things to do in 15 days. Thank you so much for your information!
I really enjoyed reading your post Abhishekh, I learned so much about Dashain and I know just how big a religious festival it is for the Hindu community. Your "Maha Asthami" sounds similar to our "Eid-ul-adha" which is the festival of sacrifice in which we slaughter either a cow, goat, camel, ox, or sheep. The purpose behind the festival is to be able to share fresh meat with the impoverished who cannot afford it on their own. I am curious to know why it is considered as "holy food" as you mentioned?