Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Beautiful Begnas Lake
Begnas Lake is a lake located at Pokhara Metropolitan city of Kaski district of Nepal. The lake is the third largest lake of Nepal and second largest, after Phewa lake, among the eight lakes in Pokhara Valley. Water level in the lake fluctuates seasonally due to rain, and utilization for irrigation. The water level is regulated through a dam constructed in 1988 on the western outlet stream, Khudi Khola.
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
सुन्दर जीवन
सुन्दर जीवन
हाम्रो सुन्दर जीवन अनि हाम्रा हरेक प्रयास जीवनलाई सुन्दर बनाउने
तर्फ लागि परेका हुन्छौ l हाम्रा हरेक कदम अनि जीवन यात्रामा भेटिने साथी l जीवनका
अनेकौ चरण कहिले सुख त कहिले दुखलाई अंगाल्दै जिवनरुपी समय सम्झना अनि यादगार जुन
दिगो होस् l
मान्छेको मन पनि अनौठो कहिले त्यहि सम्बन्धमा जीवन देख्ने त त्यहि
सम्बन्धमा मरण पनि l कति निठुर हुन्छन मान्छेहरु
सम्बन्धलाई समय व्यतित गर्न मात्र खोज्ने l
देखिने र हुने कुरा फरक मान्छेको मनोवृति भित्र केके कुरा
खेल्छन अवस्था र समय त्यो स्वाभाविक नै हो तर ति मनोवृति मा आएका कुराले क्षणिक
निर्णय लिन्छन l
Monday, November 12, 2018
Chhath - Festival of praying sun
Chhath, the festival in which devotees worship the Sun God. During the four-day festival, celebrated especially by people from Mithila region, devotees worship and make offerings to the rising and setting sun wishing for prosperity, happiness and longevity of their family members.
During this festival, various delicacies are
prepared. Likewise, purity and cleanliness are strictly maintained. The
festival begins on Sunday marked by Nahai Khai, Kharna, Sandhya Argha and Bihani Argha rituals
respectively on the four following days before the festival concludes on
Wednesday. The name of the festival symbolises its day of occurrence, as
‘Chhath’ refers to ‘sixth’.
There exist different myths as to how Chhath began, People
started celebrating Chhath since
ancient times, showing gratitude to the Sun God for sustaining life on Earth.
Each activity of this festival represents a relationship between human life and
nature. During Chhath, the sun is worshipped as the
protector of life. Devotees worship first the setting sun and then the rising
sun. Water has a special place in nature as well as in Chhath celebrations.
Cleaning
up water sources also contribute to nature conservation and sustenance of
healthy life. The festival also attempts to end caste discrimination and
envisages bringing social harmony among peoples of different caste groups.
Likewise,Chhath gives
priority to sand and bamboo-made materials, which reflect the main occupation
of people with low economic status.
Monday, November 5, 2018
Tihar- Festival of light
Tihar is one of the
most important festivals for Hindus in Nepal. The festival of Tihar takes place
in late autumn and lasts for five days. This festival is also called the
festival of lights. It is a time when all the houses light oil lamps, and the
city is full of lights and decorations. This festival is about worshipping
different animals such as the crow, the dog, and the cow. During Tihar, the
people also worship their brothers and sisters and the goddess of wealth,
Laxmi.
On the first day of the
festival, people worship crows. Every family cooks a delicious meal in the
morning. Before they eat, each member of the family puts some food on a plate
of leaves and places it outside for the crows to eat. People believe crows are
the messenger of the Lord of Death. They worship crows to keep sadness away.
The second day, people
worship dogs. They decorate dogs with garlands of flowers around their necks.
They give dog’s delicious food and put a red tika (a special powder) on their
foreheads. They even do this to stray dogs. It is a day to respect all dogs.
They pray for the dogs to guard their homes. Dogs with garlands of flowers can
be seen everywhere.
The third day is the
most important day of the festival. Early in the morning, people start to
worship the cow. The cow is the symbol of wealth and is the most holy animal
for Hindus. They put tika on the cows’ foreheads and a garland of flowers
around their necks. They give the cows nice things to eat. People place the
cows’ manure in different parts of their houses. Later, in the evening, they
worship the goddess Laxmi. If people please the goddess, she will give them
wealth. People clean and decorate their houses. They put oil lamps in every
door and window. A female member of the family performs a special ceremony or
puja. She then puts a red mud footprint on the floor entering the home and
makes a trail to the room where the family worships the goddess. In this room,
there are pictures and an icon of the goddess. There is also a money box where
each year the family puts money away for the goddess. In the evening, group of
people go from door to door of their neighbors’ homes and sing songs of the
goddess. They receive gifts in return.
The fourth day is a
little different. The things people worship on this day depend on their
cultural background. Most people worship the ox. They put tika on the oxen and
a garland around their necks. They also give them delicious food. Other people
make a small hill out of cow manure, put some grass on it, and perform a
special ceremony, or puja, on it. Yet other people worship themselves.
The fifth day is the
day of brothers and sisters. Sisters wish their brothers long life and
prosperity. If you do not have a brother or sister, you can make one of your
relatives or friends a brother or a sister. On this day, sisters will perform a
puja and apply a special tika on their brothers. Then they put garlands around
their brothers and give them special gifts of food. Brothers in return honor
their sisters; they put garlands around their necks and give them gifts of clothes
and money. This festival finally ends after five days of cooking, decorating,
eating, singing, dancing, shopping, relaxing, gift giving, and worshipping.
There is no doubt that Tihar is the most popular festival in Nepal.
Source: National Geographic learning
Kukur (Dog) Tihar- Second day of Tihar
Tihar,
one of the great celebrations in the Hindu calendar, is a five-day autumn
festival generally known as the festival of lights. Each day has its own focus,
and specific observances vary from one denomination of Hinduism to another.
Regardless of regional and denominational differences, Tihar is a period of
gift-giving, storytelling, and recognition of the relationships humans have
with all things.
In
Nepalese Hinduism, Kukur Tihar is a day devoted to the celebration of dogs. Similar
to other Tihar observances, lamps are lit at night during Tihar. The festival
of lights celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of knowledge over
ignorance, and the dissolution of barriers that separate humans from authentic
experience of the world. Nepalese Hinduism is unique in dedicating the second
day of Tihar, Kukur Tihar, to the worship of dogs.
Kukur
Tihar, or Kukur Puja, is the second day of Tihar, during which dogs are
honored. Dogs are especially important to Nepal’s Hindu practitioners. During
day two of Tihar, Kukur Tihar, the role of dogs in human life and throughout
history is celebrated. In the Rigveda, one of Hinduism’s most ancient
texts, Samara — the mother of dogs — assists Indra, the ruler of heaven, in
retrieving stolen cattle. Hindu tradition holds that a dog is the guardian and
messenger of Yama, the lord and judge of the dead. A dog is also said to guard
the gates of the afterlife.
Indra
refuses to allow Yudhishthira's dog into heaven. Yudhishthira refuses to enter
heaven without his dog. At the close of the Mahabharata, the king of
righteousness, Yudhishthira, refuses to enter heaven without his devoted dog.
The dog is revealed to represent the concept of dharma, the path of
righteousness. During Tihar, each day is devoted to a honoring a different
concept or entity: crows, dogs, cows, oxen, and fraternal relationships,
respectively. On the second day, Kukur Tihar, all dogs are recognized, honored,
and worshiped.
Tihar
for dogs: the garland
During
Kukur Tihar, the mythological and real relationships between humans and dogs
constitute the day’s major focus. A garland of flowers is draped around the
neck of every dog; not only those with homes, but strays as well. This
beautiful dog wears a mala, or flower garland, around the neck during Kukur
Tihar. This floral necklace, called a mala, is a mark of respect and dignity.
It announces the wearer as important, and symbolizes the prayers that go with
the dog.
Tihar
for dogs: the tika
On
Kukur Tihar, a red mark is applied to the forehead of each dog. In Nepal, this
mark is called the tika, a paste made from abir — a red dye powder — along with
rice and yogurt. The tika is applied in a single stroke on the forehead upward
from the eyes. A dog in Nepal makes his way down the street with a tika on his
forehead. Like the mala that garlands the neck, the red tika marks the dog as
both a devotee of the righteous path and as an object of devotion. The tika
imbues the dog with an air of sacredness and acts as a blessing to those who
encounter the dog during Kukur Tihar.
Tihar
for dogs: food offerings
Prayers
and flowers are certainly nice, but as far as dogs are concerned, their
favorite part of Kukur Tihar must be the food. On the first day of Tihar, Kaag
Tihar, food is arrayed on the roofs of homes as offerings to crows. On the
second day, food offerings are put out for dogs in the home, as well as for
strays in the streets. These food offerings take a variety of forms. Depending
on the celebrant, the dog’s treats may include milk, eggs, meat, or
high-quality dog food. Some may even offer dogs a bit of sel roti, a deep-fried
confection similar to a donut. This is a day when dogs have the best of
everything.
This
is a very general overview of Kukur Tihar. While its origins are traced to
Nepalese Hinduism, variants of the day of the dog are celebrated by
denominations of Hinduism and Buddhism across the world. Kukur Tihar honors
dogs in all of their aspects: as guardians, companions, and friends.
Source: Dogster.com
