Nepal - Holidays

Residents of Nepal adhere to the local calendar - Bikram Sambat - which is ahead of the usual for us Gregorian for more than 56 years. The calendar months last from 28 to 32 days, therefore holidays in Nepal do not have strict dates, but are noted taking into account the lunar cycles.

The main celebrations of Nepal

Almost all the holidays of Nepal have a religious overtones. The most significant are:

1. The Magh Sangkanti festival usually falls on January and is dedicated to the wires of winter and the meeting of the approaching spring.
2. Losar, or the Tibetan New Year , is celebrated from December to February. Such a wide time period of celebration is explained by the caste division of the country's population: each group has its chronology.
3. The Bantu Panchami Nepalese are met in February. The holiday is dedicated to the goddess Saraswati, who is the patroness of education, art, music. In the days of celebration, the deity is presented with generous gifts, and young people and girls bind themselves by marriage.
4. Celebrations celebrating Maha Shivu Ratri are celebrated in February and March. Festive festivities take place at night. The main metropolitan temple - Pashupatinath - meets a lot of pilgrims from Buddhist states.
5. Holiday Holi in Nepal is celebrated in March. Local people believe that on high days, higher feelings, love and friendship are born. Holi is celebrated for 8 days.
6. Nepalese New Year in the country is celebrated in mid-April. The main feature of the holiday is richly laid table and gifts for relatives and friends.
7. Mata Tirth Aunsi, or the day of veneration of the mother , falls in May.
8. Buddha Jayanti - the birthday of the deity of Buddha Shakyamuni - is celebrated in the second half of May. Nepal is visited by true Buddhists to celebrate the holiday. Solemn ministries are held in the monasteries of Nepal, at the Bodnath and Swayambhunath stupas.
9. The celebration of Janay Purnima is celebrated in August, when Nepalese remember the deity of Shiva.
10. Celebrations dedicated to the birth of Krishna Janmasti , fall on August. This god is especially loved and revered in Nepal, so everywhere one can hear legends about the life and deeds of Krishna, about the miraculous victory of good over evil.
11. Lunar month Gunla - September holiday. In each of his days Nepalese adhere strictly to the post, go to the shrines. Gungla comes to an end with wide festivals full of fun and joy.
12. The September festival of Thiès in Nepal is marked by women's prayers about the health of husbands and children. Unmarried girls turn to the gods with requests for an imminent marriage. On this day, a beautiful half of the country's population wear red sari and wear the best gold jewelry.
13. The main holiday of the country - Dasain - is celebrated in September-October. The indigenous population believes that during the ten days of celebration they are cleared of a dozen major sins. The culmination of the celebration is the grandiose Dasain Tika Festival.
14. Indra Jatra is celebrated in the second half of September. Indra is the god of rain and heaven. In the days of celebration, it is possible to see costumed performances and processions, in which actors representing the main gods participate.
15. Tihar in Nepal is associated with the autumnal equinox (October-November). Celebrations last 5 days and are marked by colorful festivals and noisy carnivals.
16. The Dasha harvest festival in Nepal lasts 10 days, in which victims are brought, barley is sown.