Tag Archives: nepali festivals

Update time

Posted on October 8, 2014 | 11 comments

I have been super busy lately because of Dashian and because AS’s Mama (Mum’s brother) and his family is in Sydney visiting from Nepal.

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AS usual, Dashain is already a crazy busy time for us but this time it was busier as we needed to go and visit his mama as well as invite them to our place.

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Even thought it was busy we still had a great time and I am still tired from the celebration. We had Bhoj (feast) for 5 days straight , played cards and heaps of celebration. Here are some pics from this year Dashain.

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Last weekend was also a long weekend here, so we were able to spend some time with Mama and his family.

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One day we went to the temple and a picnic afterwards and another day we went to the city.

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We are hoping they will have great time here and return with beautiful memories.

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On another news, my in-laws will be here soon (in 10 days) so our Tihar is gonna be super busy as well. I am excited and scared at the same time. I have lived with my in-laws before but for only a short period but this time it will be three months.

I know me and AS have been so independent for so long that it will be nice to have them at home when we go home from work. However, at the same time, I am slightly scared thinking how they will feel in a new place with new people.

We have a long list of places to go and things to do while they are here. If you have any ideas about how to keep them entertained while we are at work that will be highly appreciated. We will be taking time off from work here and there but they will still have many days at home without us.

That is the reason, I am a bit scared as I want them to enjoy Sydney and have lots of good memories when they return. It is the first time for them here so I would love them to have a great time in very possible way so they will want to come back again in the future.

I have a million things going on in my head every time I think of their arrival but I am keeping an open mind and hoping for the best.

Hope everyone had good Dashain and weekend.

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

P.S: Do not forget to nominate  your favorite blog .

Nominations open for NEPALIAUSTRALIAN’s Blog Award 2014

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Posted in Family, Nepali Culture, Nepali Festivals

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Why I blog (Nepaliaustralian)?

Posted on August 12, 2014 | 8 comments

This is a guest post I wrote for , nepalichori, amazing blog I have been following for a while. Thank you so much for the opportunity and sharing the post here.

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First of all thank you Nepali Chori for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas on your blog. I believe that it is a great initiative and a brilliant idea.

Today I am going to share my ideas on why I blog and why Nepaliaustralian?

I think most of the people who know me via my blog know that I am an IT professional which means the computer is my livelihood. So when I spend so much time in front of the computer it is natural that I do lots of research and on one of these researches I found a few really nice blogs that I loved to read. The bloggers wrote about their lives, their likes and their thoughts.

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I started reading these blogs regularly and there were times I wanted to leave a comment, which forced me to make an account with WordPress so I could comment easily rather than answering the same questions many times. One time when I was writing a comment I realised that I had typed more than a page and I was a bit ashamed to post it as a comment. It’s like I was hijacking the original post.

That moment I realised that I had so many ideas and thoughts that blogging might me a good place to share and that is how Nepaliaustralian.com was born. Initially I was not sure what I was going to share in my blog but as time went by I knew I wanted to blog about my life and my love for Nepali culture and traditions. I am also glad that people started reading my posts, commenting, and liking it which encouraged me to continue.

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As you know the theme of my blog is “Living in west with values of east” and I stand by it every day. If you read my blog, you will find posts and information about different places of Nepal, Nepali festivals, Nepali food, how I brought Nepali traditions to my home here in Sydney and much, much more.

I wanted to have a blog where words are not pre-planned, and thoughts are not edited. I have a passion for sharing whatever I know about Nepal, its cultures, traditions and to become a part of the community.  There are so many great people sharing their experience on the blogosphere that I am glad to share my ideas in the same platform.

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I am overwhelmed when I receive an email or a comment thanking me for helping in someone’s life, how they read my blog regularly and how I inspire them. I could have never thought in my wildest dream that my writing could help someone I have never met in some corner of the world. It led me down a new road of adventure, learning so much about just everything along the way.

Through my blog, I have made some good friends who are a part of my life now. There are also many more I would love to meet one day as they are such beautiful human beings and it will be my pleasure to get to know them better.

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So this blog has not only let me share my ideas and thoughts but also helped me get many excellent ideas from people as well as learn a lot from their experience.

I hope to continue writing for a long time.

What are your favorite blogs? What do you like to read? Do you have a blog yourself? Do you write your thoughts and ideas?

Take care ,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

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Posted in Personal

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Gai Jatra

Posted on August 11, 2014 | 4 comments

As you know in Nepal, there are heaps of festivals every year and today is Gai jatra. Gai means cow in Nepali and jatra means festival, so it is a festival of cows. It is said people in ancient times started worshiping Yamaraj,”the god of death” on this day.

The festival commemorates the death of people during the year. According to the tradition, every family who has lost a relative during the past year must participate in a procession through the streets of Kathmandu leading a cow. If a cow is unavailable then a young boy dressed as a cow is considered a fair substitute. It is believed that the cow, revered as a holy animal by Hindus, will help the deceased relative’s journey to heaven.

Legend has it that, when King Pratap Malla lost his son, his wife, the queen, was grief-stricken and would not be consoled. The king was very sad to see the condition of his beloved queen and in spite of several efforts could not lessen the grief of his wife.

Thus Pratap Malla announced that anyone who could make the queen laugh would be rewarded adequately. He also asked everyone in the valley to send a cow each for every dead relative in the family to show the queen that their son was not the only one who died.

During the festival of Gaijatra, the cow procession was brought before the grief-stricken queen. Then the participants began ridiculing and be-fooling the important people of the society. Finally, when the social injustices and other evils were highlighted and attacked mercilessly, the queen could not help but smile. The queen laughed and the king instituted a tradition of including jokes, satire, mockery and lampoon into the Gaijatra celebration. This still continues till today.

After the procession is over, in the afternoon, nearly everyone takes part in another age-old tradition in which the participants dress up and wear masks. The occasion is filled with songs and jokes. Mockery and humor of every kind become the order of the day until late in the evening. Hence, Gaijatra is a healthy festival which enables the people to accept the reality of death and to prepare themselves for life after death. According to Hinduism, “whatever a man does in his life is a preparation leading to a good life after death”.

Take care ,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

4 Comments

Posted in Nepal, Nepali Culture, Nepali Festivals

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