Ghatasthapana

The fifteen-day Dashain festival begins with Ghatasthapana. It is also the first day of nine-night festival called Nawarat when people revere one Goddess after another on each night.  All nine Goddesses together are popularly known as Nava Durga and they all in one is called Goddesses Maha Laxmi – one of the manifestations of Living Goddess Kumari.  It symbolizes a complete set of nine numbers. There is no other independent number after nine. Thus, it represents the universe, too.
Literally, Ghatasthapana means installation of a holy water jar for invoking the supreme Goddess Maha laxmi popularly known as Goddesses Durga Bhawani. On the first day of the bright forthright of the Aswin month in the Bikrarm calendar, every household following their tradition performs Ghatasthapana rituals. This year, it falls on October 12 almost a month later than the last year as this year has one additional month in the lunar calendar. It happens every third year.
The Newar community performs Tantric rituals to invoke omnipotent Goddess Maha laxmi - manifestation of all nine Goddesses in their family prayer room called Agam. They set two clay pots of about one and a half feet diameter, one pot on another, and in them, they set smaller clay dishes with sand collected from a holy river bank; they sow barely seeds in the sand to germinate holy shoots over the nine days period, and then harvest them on the tenth day as the blessing of Goddess Maha Laxmi.
Communities other than Newars perform Ghatasthapana rituals in a slightly different manner. They spread the sand collected from a riverbank in a square shape at one corner of their prayer room, and sow barely seeds in it. On this square sand bed, they set a Kalash - a jar filled with holy water, and invoke Goddess Maha-Laxmi to dwell in it.
After invoking Goddess Durga Bhavani in their prayer room, all Hindu Nepalis celebrating Dashain festival offer the Goddess holy water in the morning, and a mustard oil lamp in the evening for nine days. 
Starting on the Ghatasthapana day, Nepalis celebrate Nawarat festival. Nawarat literally means nine nights.  This is so called because devotees visit and make offerings to nine different Goddesses called Nava Durga before dawn during Nawarat. The Nawarat days are the most auspicious days for revering Goddess Nava Durga. Devotees go to a riverbank dedicated to each Goddess before dawn, take a holy dip in the river or simply wash their face, and then, they revere the Goddess.  In the evening they visit the same Goddess to revere Her offering mustard oil lamps. This goes on until the ninth day of Dashain. (SBR)