GAI JATRA

Gai is cow and Jatra is Procession (Festival). Gai Jatra festival, the procession of cows, generally falls in the month of Bhadra, which correspond to English Calendar months of August/September. This year Gai Jatra is on August 27,2018. That is on Bhadra 11, 2075 BS. The festival of cows is one of the most popular festivals in Nepal. It is said people in ancient time started worshiping Yamraj,"the god of death" on this day.

However, the modern form of celebration of Gai Jatra came into existence in the medieval period of Nepal during the reign of Malla Kings. The present form of Gai Jatra with humorous acts, parody, comedy and was started by then King of Kathmandu Pratap Malla. He made Rani Pokhari (Pond) in the heart of Kathmandu and build a temple in the middle of the same pond.

Traditionally every family who had death in the family during the preceding year must participate in a procession through the streets of Kathmandu leading a cow. If a cow is unavailable then a young kids dressed as cow is considered a fair substitute. However, there started tradition of leading a cow with kids in funny costumes.

Pratap Malla, lost his very young son. His wife, the queen was in great misery. The king was very disappointed to see the condition of his queen. King after millions try could not make queen smile. Pratap announced that anyone who could make the queen laugh would be rewarded adequately.

Pratap Malla asked to bring the cow procession before the sad queen.  Then people tried their best with different costumes and humorous acts. The dance and procession finally gave queen smile on her face. The smile at the moment was temporary but the procession gave queen a big relief. She knew that there are several death in the city during the period and she is not alone. Death is the natural phenomenon and no one has control on it.

Hence, from the day King Pratap Malla started the tradition of cow procession with boys with different funny make ups in funny costumes. The boys even put tails and make up like monkeys and Hanuman walk through the city road to show people that the death is the truth in the life and every one has to face it one day. The Gai Jatra tradition slowly developed into doing humorous acts including jokes, satires, mockery and lampoon in the Gai Jatra days.

After the cow procession is over, in the afternoon, everyone takes part in another tradition in which the participants dress up and wear masks. There also people enjoy the moments with songs, jokes, mockery and humors until late evening. Gai Jatra is a festival which enables people to accept the reality of death and to prepare oneself for the life after death. It heals the grief and sorrow, at least a little, when people see the cow possession and realize people die, and we are not alone in the country who lost our loved ones.

JANAI PURNIMA

Janai Purnima is one of the great Hindu festivals of Nepal celebrated all over the country. This festival is about the sacred thread. It lies in the full moon fortnight of Bhadra and August in Gregorian. Brahmans and Chhetris in Nepal change their sacred thread known as Janai on this day from Gurus, after taking a holy bath in the river.

This full moon day sees a large number of Brahmans at the holy riverbanks. They take ritual dips in the water and offer ablution to the gods. They then change their sacred threads. Brahman priests tie yellow sacred threads around the wrists of the faithful. Newars of Kathmandu Valley call this festival Gunhi Punhi and they prepare a soup of a mixture of beans called Kwati as special food for the day. Kwati is a nutritious soup made from sprouted beans. 

In this festival thousands of devotees worship lord Shiva at Pashupatinath in Kathmandu and Kumbeswor in Lalitpur and take holy dips in ponds and lakes to eradicate their sins. A very great religious fair takes place at Gosaikunda lake in Rasuwa District. Ganga Dhanus Sagar at Janakpur and Tribenidham mela is also observed in this day.

RAKSHA BANDHAN

Raksha Bandhan is one of the main festivals in Hindu religion. Although it is celebrated across India, it holds special reference for those belonging to the northern and western parts of the country.

The term 'Raksha Bandhan' means "bond of protection". The festival is observed on the full day of the Hindu luni-solar calendar month of Shrawan, which typically falls in Gregorian calendar month of August. The priests in the country announce special time for tying rakhi on the day of Raksha Bandhan. The atmosphere is filled with love and joy. The ritual begins with sisters applying tilak on their brothers’ forehead. They then tie rakhi on their brothers’ wrist and exchange sweets. Sisters wish for the well being of their brothers as they carry out the ritual. Brothers give gifts to their sisters and promise to take care of them in every situation. It is not only a special day for brothers and sisters but is also a great occasion to bond with other family members.

The advancement in technology has also helped in bringing the loved ones together on this day. The siblings living in distant lands can connect with each other via video call. Those who are unable to visit each other on rakhi celebrate the festival by seeing each other virtually on phone or laptop these days.

My Experience of ISA Journey

Hi, I'm Bandana. I'm the student of Grade 8. Today, I'm sharing my experience in the journey of ISA. We students of grade 8 were assigned the project to prepare note/report about herbal plants in Nepal.

For this project we visited Herbs Production And Processing Co. Ltd. , Koteshwor, KTM, Nepal on dated 7/29/2018 followed by short introductory class about the herbs available in Nepal. I also got information about their production and processing, social and cultural importance, and political and economic value given by Mr. Laxmi Datta Panta, Chief Extension and Planning Officer of the institution. Me and my classmates observed some of the herbal products and quality checking lab of the company. We all inquired several queries to the chief extension Mr. Laxmi Datta Panta related to herbal plants of Nepal.Our all queries were properly answered. It was very exciting and inspirational visit. I also learned how to conserve and preserve herbal plants and use in appropriate manner. I too learnt how to utilize them for beneficial purpose(i.e. health and economic). 

Actually, these information had held beliefs about the safety of natural treatments, valued antidotes from them, etc. as a form of evidence for self-prescribing and described confusion about herbal medicines and their cost as barriers to using them as a treatment option.