Festivals

This festival, also known as the Sacred Thread Festival, involves Hindu men performing their annual change of Janai, a cotton string worn across the chest or the wrist, signalling their initiation into manhood. Females also tie a string around their wrist for protection. During the festival, there is a fair at Kumbeshwor in Lalitpur.

Also known as the festival of cows, Gai Jatra commemorates the dead, and is one of Nepal’s most popular events. The main celebration takes place in the Kathmandu valley, and families who have lost a relative must parade through the streets, leading a cow. After the procession, people wear masks, sing songs, and tell jokes.

This festival is a celebration of the Hindu god Krishna’s birthday, celebrated throughout Nepal around the end of summer. It involves dramatic enactments of the life of Krishna, as well as fasting, devotional songs, dance, readings of religious scripture, and the exchange of gifts.

Celebrated by the Khas women of Nepal to promote the wellness of their husbands, Teej is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Parvati. This three-day festival involves fasting and feasts. Both married and unmarried women participate, the latter group in hopes of being blessed with a good husband in the future.