Dashai – A brief graphic description of Nepal’s biggest holiday

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by

in Culture, Nepal

The Nepalese celebrate Dashai for 15 days either in September or October, starting on the new moon and ending on the full moon. It is said to be the “Christmas of Nepal”, as it is their biggest holiday and is spent feasting with family and exchanging gifts (of money and sweets).

During Dashai, the Nepalese primarily worship the Hindu Goddess Durga, who spent 9 days battling the king of the demons and triumphed.

On the seventh day, Fulpati, my host brother and father went to the biggest temple in the region up on the ridge behind our house. There, they sacrificed a chicken for Goddess Durga. (We ate it)

On the 9th day, my family sacrificed a goat in front of our house. Yes, I witnessed it being decapitated, shaved, and dissected before virtually every part was fried and served to everyone in our home. Thankfully I haven’t eaten red meat from the get-go, so didn’t have to deal with it . . .

The tenth day is Tikka day: it’s the day the eldest family member (in our case my father’s father) comes to all of his family homes and gives tikka, jamara (barley spouts) and money to everyone. It’s the most important day. Everyone dresses nicely and feasts with their families once again.

During Dashai, numerous neighborhoods construct “Pings” (swings!) out of bamboo. After much observation and many attempts, we determined the best strategy to be “sit, stand, push ropes apart; repeat in same order when reversing direction.” Much easier said than done . . .

The End.

Comments

3 responses to “Dashai – A brief graphic description of Nepal’s biggest holiday”

Roxanna

November 4, 2012

You ate the chicken and not the goat…I do believe that would be my choice too!

Reply
Scott

November 8, 2012

Heh, these are awesome.

Reply
1. Amanda Bensel
  
  November 26, 2012
  
  Thank you Scott! May I ask what brought you to my page? (purly out of sheer curiosity!)
  
  Reply

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