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.