| Festivals
in Nepal
Festival Calendars
of Nepal
Magh Sakranti
 This festival falls during the Nepalese month of Magh
celebrating the end of the coldest winter months with ritual
bathing, despite the cold.
Basanta Panchami (Saraswati
Puja)
This spring festival has a special importance for students
and scholars. This festival is celebrated by honoring Saraswati
as she is the Goddess of Learning.
Mahashivaratri (Shiva's Day)
Shiva's birthday falls on the new moon day of the month
of Falgun. Festivities take place at all Shiva temple but
most particularly at the great Pashupatinath temple, devotees
flock there not only from all over Nepal but also from all
over India.
Phagu Purnima / Holi
This festival takes place on the full moon day in the month
of Falgun and is known as festival of colours. This is welcoming
the spring with spraying water and colour powder to everyone
and everything.
 Bisket Jatra
The Nepalese new year starts in mid-April, at the beginning
of the month of Baisakh, and the bisket festival in Bhaktapur
is the most spectacular welcome for the new year and one
of the most exciting annual events in the valley.
Buddha Jayanti (Baishak Purnima)
This day is dedicated to Lord Buddha's birthday, enlightment
and Nirvana. Many colourful ceremonies are held nation wide
especially in Lumbini birthplace of Lord Buddha, swayambhunath
and Boudhanath.
Gai Jatra
The Gai Jatra takes place on the day after the Saaun full
moon and it is a big festival similar to carnival, which
lasts almost 8 days. This festival is dedicated to those
who died during the preceding year. Its highlights are dancing,
singing and making jokes. Those people whose family has
died during the year send out persons dressed up as cow
and different comic figures to parade the first day of the
festival.
Krishna Jayanti (Krishna Asthami)
The seventh day after the full moon in the month of Bhadra
is celebrated as Krishna's birthday, sometimes known as
Krishnasthanmi.
Teej
Teej is the festival women, which lasts for three days,
from the second to the fifth day following the new moon
in the month of Bhadra. It is centered on Pashupatinath
and women celebrate the festival in honour of their husbands
and in hope of a long and happy married life.
 Indra Jatra
This festival is a colourful and exciting festival which
manages to combine homage to Indra with an important annual
appearance by Kumari (the living goddess), respects to Bhairab
and commemoration of the conquest of the valley by Prithivi
Narayan Shah. The festival also marks the end of the monsoon
and the start of the fine months, which follow.
Dashin
The pleasant post-monsoon period when the sky is clearest,
the air is cleanest and the rice is ready for harvesting
is also the time for Nepal's biggest annual festival. Dasain
lasts for 15 days, finishing on the full-moon day of late
September or early October, and there are a number of important
days right through the festival. Dashain is also known as
Durga Puja since the festival celebrates the victory of
the goddess Durga over the forces of evil in the guise of
the buffalo demon Mahisaura. Since Durga is a bloodthirsty
goddess, the festival is marked by wholesale bloodletting
and features the biggest animal sacrifice of the year.
Tihar
It's a colourful Festival of Lights. Tihar is the second
biggest festival in Nepal. This festival is celebrated for
05 days and falls during late October or early November.
For
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