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10) Kartik (October/November)

1. Tihar, or Diwali & Laxmi puja:- The festival of lights starts with honoring the crow, the dog & the cow. The fourth day coincides with Newari New Year. On the fourth & fifth evenings Laxmi, the goddess of wealth & prosperity, is enticed into the home by lights. Thousands of oil lamps & candles adorn doors, windows & balconies. Brothers are feted by their sisters on the last day & honored with elaborate Tikas and garlands.

2. Haribodhani Ekadashi:- This most auspicious Ekadashi ( the 11th day of each lunar fortnight, there are 24 in a year) welcomes Vishnu back from his long summer sleep. Join worshippers at Budhanilkantha where festivities culminate as fasting devotees conclude the pilgrimage to his tmaples of changu Narayan, Bisankhu Narayan, Sekh Narayan & Ichangu Narayan.

9) Ashwin (September/October)

Dashain or Durga Puja:- This 10-days festival is celebrated all over Nepal, honoring bountiful fertility & the conquest of evil. Normal life comes to a standstill as everyone attends to his religious & family duties. On Phulpati, the day of flowers, there is a procession to Hanuman Dhoka attended by the king, on the eighth & ninth days there are massive numbers of ritual animal sacrifices, for every tool that is used during the year must be blessed. Shrines all over the country literally run with blood. On the final day the palace is opened for all who wish to line up to receive a Tika from the hands of the king or queen.

1. Tij:- This colorful women’s festival has groups of red sari-clad ladies singing in high spirits in the streets on their way to ritually bathe in the Bagmati river at Pashupatinath. | Picture |

2. IndraJatra:- Probably the most spectacular of all valley festival. Torch-lit processions & dancing to honor Indra, the gods of rain, are held in this eight-day celebration which centers on the Kathmandu, Durbar Square. On the third day of the Kumari, or living Goddess (goddess in Human form) is paraded in a special chariot & worshipped by the king himself. Masks of Bhairav decorate the city & local beer pours ferts from the mouths of these masks to refresh the local revellers.                                          | Picture |

9) Ashwin (September/October)

Dashain or Durga Puja:- This 10-days festival is celebrated all over Nepal, honoring bountiful fertility & the conquest of evil. Normal life comes to a standstill as everyone attends to his religious & family duties. On Phulpati, the day of flowers, there is a procession to Hanuman Dhoka attended by the king, on the eighth & ninth days there are massive numbers of ritual animal sacrifices, for every tool that is used during the year must be blessed. Shrines all over the country literally run with blood. On the final day the palace is opened for all who wish to line up to receive a Tika from the hands of the king or queen.

7) Shrawan (July/August)

1. Bhoto Jatra:- Astrologers fix the exact time. The culmination of the several month long procession of the Rato(red) Machhendranath chariot since it set off from Pulchowk in April, this important patan festival is designed to ensure a good monsoon for crops. The bejewelled waist coast or bhoto, supposedly belonging to the serpent king, is displayed at Jawalakhel in the presence of the royal family. Once every 12 years (the next time is 2003) the chariot is dragged painstakingly all the way to Bungmati.

2. Ghantakarna:- The Night of the Devil is traditionally the last day for rice planting, The evil demon was outwitted by a frog & children collect coins to pay for his funeral.

3. Nag Panchami:- Nagas, or the sacred serpents, are worshipped & pictures can be seen displayed above many doorways.

4. Raksha Bandhan or Janai Purnima:- Every Brahman & Chheti must renew their janai or sacred threads on this day after first taking a ritual bath in holy water. The kumbheswor Temple in patan is the is place to be, as the water in the tanks there supposedly, come from the sacred Gosaikund lake, high in Helambu. The beautiful gold & silver linga, Usually kept in the temple, are displayed on this day on a platform in the middle of the tank, reached only along a narrow plank.(August 16 2008)

5. Gai Jatra:- An epic love of a king & queen is celebrated in this festival, which is more like a carnival. Families in which deaths have occurred in the previous year will send cows or children dressed as cows to frolic & sing in the Durbar squares of kathmandu, Patan & Bhaktapur to assist their deceased’s entry into heaven.(August 17 2008)

6. Krishna Jayanti:- Birthday of the beloved god krishna is celebrated in patan durbar square.