End Of Dashain Festival

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Hindu and Nevah Buddhist Nepalis celebrate one of the longest festivals called Dashain starting on the first day and ending on the full moon day of the bright fortnight of the Asvina in the Nepalese calendar. During this fifteen-day festival, Nepalis make offerings to the various manifestations of Living Goddess Kumari and Goddess Durga Bhavani. This is the celebration of the victory of good over the evil.

On the fourteenth day, Nepalis celebrate Ko-Jagar festival holding a nightlong vigil with the home lighted up for the Goddess of Wealth called Laksmi to visit them. Nepalis worship Goddess of Wealth in the evening, and keep themselves awake the whole night turning lights on anticipating the Goddess of Wealth visits them, and make them wealthy staying at their home. This is called Ko-Jagar, which literally means ‘who can keep awake’. This year’s Ko-Jagar is on October 22, 2010.

Next day, on the early morning, Nepalis dispose of the sand, remains of the plants sown on the first day of Dashain and all the remains of the offerings made to the Goddesses in the nearest river ending the Dashain festival.

On the full moon day, Nevah Buddhists clean Chaityas, and perform Buddha Puja believing Lord Svoyambhu has appeared on this full moon day.

Nepalis have celebrated the victory of eighteen-limbed Goddess Durga Bhavani over the most notorious and powerful demon called Mahi-sa-shur that has an ambition to rule even the cosmic world by his force rather than the rule of law. Goddess Durga Bhavani has killed the demon, destroyed his army and restored the rule of law.

The judiciary has been closed for fifteen days, the state administration has remained closed for six days, and even the commercial activities have come to halt during the three-day from eighth to tenth day climax of the Dashain festival.

Nepalis from abroad and from other places across the country have come home to celebrate the Dashain festival with the family members. They enjoy the Dashain festival with family members, relatives, neighbors and friends. Millions of Nepalis move from their workplaces to their homes for celebrating the Dashain festival. Some of them are from India and abroad. They spend long holidays visiting family members, relatives, neighbors and friends. So, you will find the drastically less traffic in Kathmandu and other major towns during the Dashain festival. Nepalis return back to their respective work places in country and abroad after the Dashain festival.

Every senior person offers the blessings of Goddess Durga Bhavani to the junior up to the newborn on the tenth day of the Dashain festival. The Head of State receives the blessings of Goddess Durga Bhavani from the state priest following the Vedic rituals at an auspicious time astrologers have found. The Head of State in turn offers the blessings of Goddess Durga Bhavani to Prime minister, ministers, and high-ranking state officials. Thereafter, the Head of State offers the blessing of Goddess Durga Bhavani to the common folks that come to the Presidential residence for it. The head of every household offers blessings of Goddess Durga Bhavani to the family members following the seniority. Then, every senior starts off offering blessings of Goddess Durga Bhavani to his or her junior the blessings of Durga Bhavani. Thereafter, they visit the senor relatives to receive the blessings of Goddess Durga Bhavani. They do so until the fourteenth day of the Dashain festival. So, you will find that men, women and children wearing the forehead full of red tika from the tenth day to the fourteenth day.

Nepalis have spent hundreds of millions of rupees in celebrating the Dashain festival particularly on meat and clothes. Tradition has it that every family needs to have new garments for the Dashain festival. Every member of households puts on new clothing during the Dashain festival. Following the tradition, every household needs to sacrifice one or more animals and fowls to Goddess Durga Bhavani. So, Nepalis sacrifice hundreds of thousands of animals and fowls during the Dashain festival.

They cannot consume the entire meat of the sacrificial animals and fowls during the Dashain festival. They cook the meat and keep it for weeks to eat in the following days. Some of the Nepalis sun dry the remaining meat, and kept it for future consumption. Some of them have the tradition of offerings the sun-dried meat to Goddess Laksmi during the Tihar festival that comes after two weeks of the end of the Dashain festival.

Salaried Nepalis receive the Dashain bonus worth the amount of one-month salary from the employers. The state, private companies and international agencies in Nepal pay one-month salary to their staffs for celebrating the Dashain festival. Salaried Nepalis enjoy the Dashain festival without the financial burden. However, self-employed and peasants have to manage the Dashain expenses. Some of the peasants even give their standing rice crops as collaterals for getting loans from the local moneylenders at the exorbitant interest rates for celebrating the Dashain festival.

In Bhaktapur, the Nava Durga troupe gets the new life during the Dashain festival for a year. Nava Durga means nine goddesses but the troupe has fourteen deities including the lead Goddess called Maha-laxmi, Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesh, the religious drum and small cymbals. They have new masks and have to hold many religious events in a year.

Starting on the tenth day of the Dashain festival, the Nava Durga troupes get the new life and pay the homage to the Goddess Taleju in other words Durga Bhavani believed to be the mother of all the nine goddesses or all the nine goddesses in one until the full moon day. So, Goddess Taleju has eighteen limbs.

The annual activities of the Nava Durga troupe end on the eighth day called ‘bhala bhala astami’ of the dark fortnight in Ashad following the Nepal calendar. On that night, the dancers of the Nava Durga troupe cremate the masks, and go in recess for a few months until the Dashain festival.

In fact, the celebration of the Dashain festival is the celebration of the defeat of the demonic rule and the restoration of the rule of law. However, the celebration of the Dashain festival has been the ritualistic only leaving the rulers to run the country by the demonic rule and laws so far. Even after the end of the despotic monarchical rule, the demonic rule has continued, as the demonic spirits have continued to dwell in the minds of some politicians. So, we have the man voted out in two constituencies as the Prime Minister defeating all the people’s representatives directly elected by the people.

October 23, 2010.