Vijaya Dashami festivities begin in Nepal

Kathmandu: The major Hindu festival of Vijaya Dashami, or Dashain as it is popularly called in Nepal, began on Thursday amid landslides and floods, which has also affected the import of goods ahead of the festive season.

In their respective ways, Nepal’s Hindu and Buddhist communities celebrate the festival known as the national festival.

On the first day of ‘Dashain’ barley seeds called Jamara are sown in a mud vessel while a metal vessel ‘Kalash’ with water in it is kept besides it for a ritual known as Ghatasthapana.

In Kathmandu, the main Jamara was placed in the centuries-old royal palace Hanuman Dhoka’s ‘Dashain Ghar’ at the auspicious time by performing a special Vedic ritual on Thursday morning.

With the Ghatasthapana, celebrations and worship take place in all the Shaktipeeths or religious power centres across the country, including in the Kathmandu Valley.

The barley seeds grow into Jamara or barley shoots on the 10th day, the Vijaya Dashami day, and are offered with tika or vermilion powder mixed with rice and curd applied to juniors on their forehead marking Vijaya Dashami festivities.

Even after Dashami, people visit elderly ones to receive tika on their forehead for the next few days extending the celebrations up to 15 days.

Kathmandu becomes almost empty of vehicles and people as half of the people residing in the capital city return to their native homes in the countryside.

The festivities this year are marred by days of relentless downpours that have triggered widespread floods and landslides, leaving more than 240 people dead across the Himalayan nation.

On Wednesday, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak directed authorities and disaster management agencies to remain on high alert as the meteorological department has forecast continued heavy rainfall in the Koshi and Bagmati provinces as well as in the Kathmandu Valley.

Over 17,000 people have been rescued till Wednesday from flood and landslide-affected areas.

Meanwhile, newspaper The Kathmandu Post said that goods arriving from the north and south for Dashain have been stuck in bordering areas for the last five days.

Quoting Hari Bahadur Gautam, president of the Nepal Traders Association, the newspaper said that more than 300 containers -- carried festive and winter goods, especially readymade garments -- have been stuck on the Tatopani and Kerung borders points as of Tuesday.

The border with China has been closed since Friday due to the floods and landslides caused by incessant rainfall, it added.

Across the country, the government offices have a week-long holiday while schools and colleges remain closed for two weeks. People fly kites, play cards, buy and dress in new clothes, visit temples, make feasts, visit relatives and perform daily worship on the occasion.

In many temples of Bhagawati (Goddess), people also sacrifice animals and birds on the occasion. However, of late, the animal sacrifice has become less popular with campaigns by animal rights groups and growing awareness among the people against such rituals.