Kathmandu at Dashain time is a bit like Berlin at Christmas. Family Time, all locals fly out. Empty streets, parking spots everywhere. More air to breathe, because much less pollution.
Everything is festively decorated: whether with fairy lights or the typical Tibetan prayer flags.
All around there are numerous activities around the big cultural festival. Dashain is a Hindu festival. Not only one of the many, but the largest and longest of them all. It lasts ten to fifteen days and ends at full moon. The first nine days are in honour of the goddess Durga,
the beautiful woman riding a lion, in this case in the role of the killer of the buffalo demon. This is to be appeased by sacrificial offerings. As a result, countless sheep, goats, ducks, chickens and water buffalos can be found on the markets at this time, which are bought as sacrificial animals.
Need of 70,000 goats
Horrified I´m reading in the Daily Newspaper (Himalayan) that 30,000 goats have already arrived in Kathmandu. The demand for goats at Dashain time is estimated at 70,000. To meet this demand Nepal is dependent on India, where 60% of the animal supplies come from. This year the Nepal Food Cooperation (NFC) has fixed the price of live goats at Rs 510 per kilo, which is the equivalent of about 3.85€/kilo. This means that the price has risen by around 40 cents per kilo (55 Rupies) compared with the previous year. Mountain goats are more expensive at Rs. 710 per kilo.
First the blood is sacrificed, then the flesh is eaten.
First the blood is sacrificed, then the flesh is eaten. So the custom. Because there can also be sick animals among them and diseases spread among the people through bad meat eating, the state has considered the following: Since last year it has formed a Medical Control Team, which travels to the big markets, checks the animals and then marks them accordingly: blue colour on the horn = healthy, red marked horns = sick. On the eighth and ninth day the slaughtering takes place. Mass slaughtering gives me stomach ache, but a condemnation would not be right. The customs are part of the religion and belong therefore to the culture of the Hindus.
This is not compatible with my conscience. The family reunion, on the other hand, is. In addition, everything in the house is cleaned and there are long queues in banks, because everyone needs new notes to place them on the sacrificial table next to the other gifts.
The banks are prepared for the fact that the demand for clean and fresh banknotes rises at the time of the biggest festival of the year. I think kites flying is the most beautiful custom. Right next to swings. What a beautiful tradition!
In many places extra swings made of bamboo and coconut ropes are erected for the children. The meaning: The swinging takes away the bad feelings and replaces them with life-giving ones. The tenth day is called Dashami and is a big family festival where the children visit the parents and get the Tika (the red dot on the forehead) from them. On this day the relatives travel from near and far. Coming together with the family is the most appreciated aspect of Dashain. Similar to the German Christmas. According to custom, new clothes are worn and a feast is held. The whole country travels from A to B.
2.2 million people leave the Valley in just 4 days
The Himalayan Times reports 2.5 million people (2.2 million of them overland in 4 days only) are leaving the Valley to go to their families, a million more than I was writing about the same festival three years ago. Here is the excerpt from my article:
The Metropolitian Traffic Police Division tells the newspaper: “50,000-59,000 people have left the capital for Ghatasthapana (the 1st day of the Dashain). In the previous week there were 33,000-43,000. Less than usual due to the gasoline crisis. Last year, 71,000 people left Kathmandu to visit their relatives. On normal days, around 7500 vehicles leave the Valley. A total of 1.5 million people are leaving their home district these days.”
This means that there has been an enormous increase at this point: From 1,5 Mio to 2,5 Mio. Also the figure of 2015 “7500 vehicles leave the Valley daily on normal days” is now 9000 a day which is an amount of 1500 more each day.
The festival stands for the victory of good over evil. Dashain reminds people that sometimes times can be “very hard and very sad”, but in the end the good will always win.
Shakti, the female primal power.
This is how the victory of the goddess Durga over the demons is celebrated. Durga is the most famous form of the goddess in Hinduism, which exists in different manifestations. She is the goddess of perfection and embodies power, knowledge, action and wisdom.
In Tantrism, on the other hand, she is Shakti, the feminine primordial power, the energy of the universe. According to legend, the buffalo demon, which she kills together with his army, stands not only for power in its symbolism, but also for delusion, egoism and spiritual death, for the inner enemies of humanity. Durga fights with spiritual and cosmic forces, with the “sword of wisdom”. Through her victory she is recognized as a lender of divine wisdom and knowledge. So the faith theory. So far, so good.
For the Dashain Festival own music is made, which is called “Mal Shree Dhun”. Temple visits belong to it. On the 10th day of the festival the people give “Prasad”. Prasad means: “That which gives peace”. Accordingly, the Hindus sacrifice food, tulsi (basil), flowers and vibhuti (holy ashes) to the deities. As we say: “Merry Christmas”, the Nepali Hindu wish themselves these days: HAPPY DASHAIN!
Behind the lines:
If the Nepalese people had no religions and thus no festivals, they would have neither hope nor distraction from the dramas that life plays out in this little corner of the world. Because life can be very tough and rough out there. But instead of sinking into mourning as one of the poorest country on the Asian continent (on position 5 worldwide), as the most earthquake-prone country, people decide for the joy of life, celebrate their feast and forget a little the hard burden that life imposes on them. For a cultural anthropologist like me, the preparations for this great spectacle are very interesting, because within it the culture shows itself in full splendour. The more I know, the better I can understand. And I prefer to understand everything around me.
Because this festival is the most popular and longest in the country, the authorities including the government in Nepal have closed for 7 days. If you plan to fly to Nepal in October, it is important to know exactly when Dashain is and when the authorities – like TAAN, NTB, Immigration Office etc. have closed/opened. In addition, many shops and restaurants are closed on the main days. Today is the last day of the festival, so tomorrow everything will be back to normal.
HAPPY DASHAIN VIBES to all of you celebrating it.
Friday, 19.10.18 Thamel / Kathmandu. Nepal
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