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Bala
Chaturdarsi
This siple festive day takes
place in the ancient forest surrounding the temple of
Pashupatinath. It is one of the oldest traditions of the Valley.
Families who have lost a loved one in the last year keep an
all-night vigil in the forst lighting oil lamps and singing
songs. Following a ritual morning bath people walk through the
forest scattering seven types of grain alongs the paths and over
the linga of Lord Shiva to give merit to their late kinsmen and
to cleanse the sins of mythological man called Bala who had been
transformed into a demon.
Bibah Panchami
All the people of the Hindu world know the story of marriage of
the hero Ram and the princess Sita as told in the epic Ramayana.
King Janak Sita's father proposed a tst of strength for the
suitors of his daughter to string the great bow of Lord Shiva.
Warriors Kings and chieftains come from after but no man could
even lift the bow. Ram lifted the bow with ease and when he
tried to string it the bow shattered into pieces. Ram and sita
were married in Janakpur now in southern Nepal and their
marriage is celebrated to this day. Each year idols of Ram and
Sita are brought out in procession and their Hindu weeding
ceremony is re-enacted during a week-longreligious fair.Bibah
PAcnchami reflects the devotion of Hindus to Ram perhaps the
most popular among the incarnations of Vishnu and to Sita the
model of the ideal Hindu woman. |
