Category Archives: Nepali Culture

Loving Nepali Culture and traditions

Posted on June 4, 2013 | 23 comments

This article was published in +977 (a Nepalese Lifestyle Magazine in Australia) in June 2013 issue.

plus977

I have lived in Australian for over a decade and I have to admit, I love Nepal, its culture and traditions more than the day I left her.

It is funny to remember how relived I was when I received the visa to come here. It was like; finally, I was going to be out of Nepal, far from all the stupid traditions and cultures to a new land where I could start all over again. Even though I was very sad leaving my family behind, I was really excited for the possible future. The preparation to leave the country was done with high spirit and positive attitude.

Finally the big day came. Before I left the house, in a traditional manner, my grand ma put a red tika on my forehead, and blessed me with sagun. I still remember the time I spent at the airport in Kathmandu. I was a bit teary eyed while bidding good bye to all the people who came to see me off. I realised that day that I had so many people around me who loved me. I had my parents, my brother, my relatives, my cousins, my school friends and my college friends, more than 30 people there wishing me well and saying their good byes.

Travelling in a plane to Sydney for the first time, I knew I was blessed with loved one but still at the back of my mind, I was happy about my decision about leaving Nepal and coming here.

The first few weeks in Sydney were really exciting as it was a new place, so much to see and explore. I got my first mobile phone and it surely felt like my dream country. But then reality hit me. For the first time in life, I needed to find a job. It was quite an effort to work, to cook meals and study at the same time. I was missing Nepal and home a lot. I convinced myself that the hardship was just temporary and once I got settled, things would change.

Things did change for the better after I got a job and started making friends but I still missed my family and Nepal a lot. I was surprised that I was missing my morning ritual in Nepal, going to the temples with my dad. I was missing my mum’s puja in the morning, the noise of the chaotic traffic of Kathmandu, the vegetables and fruits vendors’ calls selling their stuffs door to door, the sound of temple bells, and missing all the festivals. Being far from home, I realised and slowly started to value the culture and tradition of Nepal which I used not to like.

The first Dashain and Tihar away from home were really hard ones. Even though holidays were the best part of Dashain and Tihar in Nepal, I missed the tika and other religious aspects of these festivals. I also missed celebrating my birthday in a traditional way, tika with sagun in the morning and visiting many temples during the day.

As time passed by, I started embracing Nepali culture and tradition and started following it as much as possible. I started taking down notes of what happens in our culture and it was a joy to explain to people from other countries the different aspects of Nepali tradition. It felt so good to see their reaction when I explained what we do during our festivals, wedding, birth and death. I realise that our culture is so unique and old that it is worth all the effort to preserve it

I started celebrating Dashain and Tihar in full swing and having more family and friends here definitely helped to make it better. Even though I am from a Newar background, I joined my friends when they celebrate Teej and love every minute of it. Living abroad definitely has made me appreciate Nepal and its culture lot more than before.

I went to Nepal and had a very traditional wedding and I was happy to participate in a very elaborate ceremony over many days. Recently, my brother and sister in law were blessed with a baby boy and we made sure we followed all the traditional rituals here even though we are so far away from home. He had his Chhaithi and Nwaran here and we all went to Nepal to celebrate his Pasni with our loved ones.

These days instead of getting annoyed by the tradition and culture in Nepal, I feel inquisitive. I always want to know more why we do Ihi, Gufa , Bartamanda, Saradha, Pasni, Nwaran or any other ritual. I want to learn the legends behind our every festival and one day wish to pass this knowledge on to my kids. I want them to be proud of Nepal and Nepali culture. Even though I am not in Nepal, Nepal and its culture and tradition will always be in me and I hope to spread this love to the next generation so they can be proud of our heritage, tradition and culture.

Do you still follow your cultures and traditions?

Till next post, take care.

M from nepaliaustralia

XOXO

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Posted in Nepal, Nepali Culture, Nepali food, Newari Culture, Published

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Bokshi’s bites

Posted on May 31, 2013 | 19 comments

Bokshi means witch or a woman who practices black magic.

I have never believed in those stuffs but it is funny how things come up.

I have been sick the last few days and for the last few weeks, I am having nightmares. I really can’t remember them much but I know they were bad dreams as I remember running or falling and waking up in the middle of the night, panicked. I tried everything to get a better sleep but with no success.

I think I am having bad dream because I am stressed out. So much is happening around me that some nights, I am half sleep and I feel that someone is talking to me. Then the other day I saw this bruise on my thigh. It was oval shaped and dark blue in colour. I couldn’t remember bumping into anything but I have a bruise and it hurts.

bokshi biteSo, when I showed that to AS, he said it looks like something they call Bokshi’s bite in Nepal.

In Nepal, people believe that a bokshi sucks blood of other women to harm them. People still hold to the myth that such blue patches are marks after the bokshi has bitten and sucked their blood. Accordingly, the patches seem like a bite, kind of like a hikey. The mark of upper and lower teeth remains for a couple of days and it hurts as well.

I am sure it is nothing like that but hearing those things, we are always reminded of myths like that. I wonder how these things come to exist but doing further research, this is what I found.

According to a doctor, blue patches are frequent amongst women who are anemic. Accordingly, such patches develop often if there is any kind of deficiency in blood components or the person’s blood itself – for instance, in anemia. Generally, women in their fertility period get the patches. Such condition is known as bruises, bluish discoloration of skin, or ecchymosis.

A woman’s body is in need of blood as there is a heavy loss of it during menstruation. Thus, the blood capillaries burst in specific areas, causing bleeding under the skin. Besides, such bluish bruises also occur in women who have had their menopause, or are in that phase, as changes occur in the blood-clotting factor, which also affects the colouring factor of blood. And similar is the case in girls who have just reached their puberty. In the meantime, if there is deficiency of Vitamin C, then such bruises occur frequently.

As an early treatment, the doctor suggests taking iron capsules since it boosts hemoglobin. However, if this does not help, it is wise to have a blood test.

Furthermore, the doctor explains, the second layer of body skin has the most blood veins among the three layers. So if there is any kind of pressure on the capillaries, then bleeding can occur in the second layer of skin. But there can be no superficial bleeding. Blue patches appear more often if it is aplastic anemia. Usually, in this type of anemia, there is superficial bleeding and a continuous one, such as from the ears and nose.

Bluish discoloration of the skin can be related to many diseases. For instance, liver disease, scurvy, abnormal functioning of the kidneys, eye diseases, hormonal disorder, problems in circulatory functions, and lack of blood platelet, which helps in blood-clotting.

Unlike women, men don’t lose blood from their bodies so such patches are rare in them. If it appears then it’s serious. The patches might develop on men with liver cirrhosis or hormonal disorder. Men with hemophilia, a genetic disorder, also get such patches.

Explaining the shape of the patch which appears like a bite mark, the doctor says, It’s hypnotism. Because everyone has been repeating the same thing, we also feel that it’s a tooth mark. But actually, it’s the path of blood vessels, which can vary.

So here is the explanation for Bokshi’s bite on my leg. I don’t believe in black magic and divine power. If a person possesses divine power then why don’t they use it to make their life better than selling it to other for money? I really think there are so many things we can’t explain in this universe and that is why we give them different names.

I believe that everyone has a darker side, some darker than others. Therefore, when someone calls a person bokshi (witch), it is just a stage when that person has a personality disorder or a mental illness. So we need to help these people get proper medical treatment to make them better.

Do you believe in black magic? If you have any interesting story please share.

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Cheers to Nepali New Year 2070

Posted on April 15, 2013 | 12 comments

As I have mentioned before, Nepal follows a different calendar than the Gregorian calendar so Nepali New Year falls on mid-April instead of 1st of January. Bikram Sambat or Nepali Calendar or Nepali patro is approximately 56 years and 8½ months ahead of the Gregorian calendar. Unlike Gregorian months, the lengths of Nepali months are not predetermined, and change from year to year, varying from 29 days to 32 days. The year 2070 started yesterday as 1st of Baishak, 2070.

In Nepal, people celebrate Nepali New Year in many different ways. Please read this post to learn more about celebration of Nepali New Year in Nepal.

For us, in Australia, this year had been great as the New Year Eve fell on Saturday and New Year on Sunday. First of all I can’t believe its year 2070 as the last Nepali year I remember writing would be year 2056 in Nepal.

New Year (6) New Year (7) New Year (8) New Year (2)

Anyway, we had a great time with my cousins and brothers BBQing and drinking over the weekend. It was a good way to remember Nepal and enjoy ourselves on New Year’s Eve.

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Then yesterday, we went out with our friends for dinner. Have to say it is great to get together and celebrate Nepali New Year even though we are not in Nepal.

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I’m wishing every single one of you a year full of joy, good health, love, success and prosperity.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for riding along this journey with me. I appreciate all the love and support you guys have given me throughout the year and I hope you continue to do so this year too.

Till next time, take care

XOXO

M from nepaliaustralian

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Posted in Kathmandu, Nepal, Nepali Culture

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Manakamana Temple: Nepal

Posted on April 8, 2013 | 8 comments

Manakamana is the temple of Goddess Durga (Hindu Goddess), situated in Gorkha District of Nepal. Manakamana means the “Wishes from the heart”. It is believed that Goddess Manakaman fulfils the wishes of the ones who worship her with a pure heart.

The Manakamana temple lies 12 Km south of the town of Gorkha. The temple is located on a distinguished ridge 1302 meters above sea level and overlooks the river valleys of Trisuli in the south and Marsyangdi in the west. The spectacular views of the Manaslu- Himachali and Annapurna ranges can be seen to the north of the temple. The temple is approximately a 104 Km drive from Kathmandu.

Manakamana (11)

Initially we were planning to visit the temple on our way back from Pokhara so that we would get lots of time to spend there but while my FIL was reading the paper in the car, he came across a notice that the day we were planning to visit the temple, cable car to the temple would be closed for maintenance so we made the decision to visit the temple on the way to Pokhara. I hadn’t been there for over 7 years so it was nice to visit the temple. I was with AS, MIL and FIL.

Manakamana (1)

Once we parked the car, we bought the cable car ticket and joined the queue. The queue was not too long so we got our turn in a cable car quite quickly. We had the car to ourselves.

Manakamana Cable Car has 31 passenger Gondolas and 3 freight carriers. The time of travel from the station below at Kurintar to the top station situated at Manakamana is only 10 minutes. The Cable Car can hold 6 adults or 480 Kg and has doors that close and open automatically and the system is one of the most modern and is totally computerized.

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Once we got off the cable car, we have to walk for a while before we reached the temple. On the way there various vendors were trying to sell their products to us. They used the same dialogue “It is the best.” Or “It is the cheapest you can find”.  My MIL bought Puja stuffs from one of the vendors and we went to the temple.

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Manakamana is a Hindu Goddess so she is worshiped with offerings of flower, sound, scent, dress, make-ups and colours. There is a tradition of sacrificing animals at the temple. Devotees stand in line for even 5-10 hours during festivals. The line starts from the temple gate is longer than a few kilometres sometimes, especially during festivals. People can be seen standing in line with pooja samagri (worship materials) in hand and some of them carrying duck, cock or goat with them. People seem to enjoy standing in the line without food, some even with no water.

Manakamana (12) Manakamana (8)

 The legend of Manakamana Goddess dates back to the reign of the Gorkha king Ram Shah during the 17th century. It is said that his queen possessed divine powers, which only her devotee Lakhan Thapa knew about. One day, the king witnessed his queen in Goddess incarnation, and Lakhan Thapa in the form of a lion. Upon mentioning the revelation to his queen, a mysterious death befell the king. As per the custom of that time, the queen committed sati (ritual immolation) on her husband’s funeral pyre. Before, her sati the queen had assured Lakhan Thapa that she would reappear in the near future. Six months later, a farmer while ploughing his fields cleaved a stone. From the stone he saw a stream of blood and milk flow. When Lakhan heard an account of this event, he immediately started performing Hindu tantric rituals at the site where the stone had been discovered thus ceasing the flow of blood and milk. The site became the foundation of the present shrine. According to tradition, the priest at the temple must be a descendent of Lakhan Thapa

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The day we were there, there was not a long queue but it may still have taken us an hour to reach the front door of the temple.

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As we were on our way to Pokhara and short of time, we decided  not to stand in line and just prayed from the outside. My MIL did some puja and lit some diyo too.

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As the cable car was going to shut down for lunch we didn’t want to get stuck at the top for an hour so we decided to go back down and have our lunch in the restaurant there.

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The ride down was equally spectacular and I really enjoyed it. Down by the river, in the restaurant we had typical Nepali lunch with dal (lentil), bhat (rice), tarkari (vegies), achar (pickle) and masu (meat). It was really yummy.

Manakamana (18)

After lunch we made our way to Pokhara.

Manakamana (19)

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Posted in Nepal 2012 / 2013, Nepali Culture, Travel

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My nephew’s Pasni Party

Posted on February 8, 2013 | 8 comments

After the Pasni Puja in the morning everyone was tired including the little one but there was no time to rest as we had a reception organised for 300+ people that evening to celebrate the Pasni ceremony. Pasni ceremonies have become very lavish these days, with large parties of not just close relatives, but also colleagues and friends being invited for the event. As my nephew was the first grand kid for my parents and for my SIL’s parents, they wanted to make sure everyone necessary was invited.

After lunch my MIL, FIL and AS left for home to get some rest and also to get ready for the evening. So as soon as I finished eating, I rushed to my parents’ house to prepare for the evening. There was not much to do as these days you just need to order catering in the party venue and they look after everything for you.

PARTY PASNI (11) PARTY PASNI (9)

So I just made sure that mum was ok with what to wear for the evening and she didn’t need any help. My SIL had 2 of her cousins helping her to get ready. We had already decided that my nephew was going to change into a red velvet pasni dress with blue and gold embroidery that I had bought for him.

PARTY PASNI (2)

So it was my turn to be ready and be there before guest arrived. I first went and did my hair and make-up. I was so excited to wear the special sari I had designed and ordered. It took me more than 2 hours to finally be party ready. When I was done AS picked me up to go to the party venue.

PARTY PASNI (7)

When we arrived at the venue, most of our close relatives were there already and a photo session was going on with my nephew.

PARTY PASNI (14)

He was looking really cute and adorable in the red velvet special pasni dress.We made sure we got heaps of family photos as well as photo of the little man.

PARTY PASNI (1)

Proud Grandparents

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Slowly guests started to come one by one. There were lots of relatives from my mum and dad’s sides so I spent lots of time mingling and making sure that everyone was looked after properly.

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PARTY PASNI (4)

Also AS’s side of the family including his aunts, uncles and cousins were invited. Once they arrived at the party I was even busier as I had to talk to everyone and make sure they were eating and drinking properly.

PARTY PASNI (13)

By this time, the dance floor was slowly getting busy with my uncles, aunts and cousins dancing. I wanted to join them as well but it was a bit hard for me initially as I didn’t know what my in-laws would think. For me party has always been more about dancing and fun more than food but being a new DIL and having all AS’s close relatives at the party, I didn’t want to  go and jump on the dance floor.

PARTY PASNI (6)

But then one of AS’s aunt showed her desire to join the dance floor and asked me if we shouldn’t enjoy ourselves too. That was the only excuse I needed so I asked all AS’s relative to join us on the dance floor. And yes, that included my MIL as well. I am so glad my MIL took it well and did show her few moves . It was really fun and nice of everyone to just go with the flow attitude. Also AS and his cousins joined and we had a great time. I had to go away from dance floor from time to time to meet relatives who had recently arrived but I was really enjoying everything. I also had few of my good friend joining us for the celebration.

PARTY PASNI (8)

The evening went quickly and slowly guest started to leave in ones and twos. By the end of the evening only close relatives were left so we all had our meal as well. We made sure everything was OK and then left for home.

PARTY PASNI (5)

Proud Grand ma

It was really great to be a part of the celebration and it was nice to meet everyone during the celebration.  One of the nicest memories I had from Nepal this trip.

PARTY PASNI (12)

Happy Fufu

And my nephew was an angel whole day. He didn’t cry and was smiling at everyone. He was held by more than 200+ hands that evening but he was just smiling and playing with everyone that everyone was so impressed to see such a playful happy baby.

He is growing up so fast and every time I see him, there are some nice changes with him. These days he has learnt how to move his fingers in the “come here” sign so it is so cute to watch him do that. Sometimes he is so amazed that he can do that, he keeps on looking at his own hands. Also he is falling in love with himself. Every time he is in front of the mirror, all he does is smile,

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Posted in Family, Nepal 2012 / 2013, Nepali Culture, Newari Culture

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