As I mentioned in my previous post, I had my baby shower but I was waiting for my parents to arrive from Nepal to do a traditional baby shower, also known as Dahi chiura ceremony in Nepali or Dhau-baji in Newari.
In this ceremony, the mother-to-be’s family comes to feed Dhau-baji (yogurt and flattened/beaten rice) and brings Sagun and lots of food along with gifts for the mother-to-be as well as the unborn baby.
My parents have arrived in Sydney now so I am extremely happy as I will have a helping hand to look after the little one for the first few months. I could not imagine how I would have managed if they were not here.
Last weekend, my parents along with the help of my brother and SIL organised the Dahi Chiura ceremony. It was a traditional ceremony with the ladies all wearing saris.
My mum made Yomari and sagun (bara, boiled eggs, chicken and fish) for the occasion and bought some sweets, fruits and cakes as well. They also bought clothes for me along with jewelleries as well as things for little one.
It was a family affair with just me, AS, my parents, brother, SIL and my little nephew.
For the ceremony, my mum followed the followings steps, if anyone wants to know. It might be different for different cultures but I believe the basic will remain the same.
- The ritual started with my mother worshipping Lord Ganesh in the Sukanda. She put tika made of vermillion, rice and yogurt and flowers on Lord Ganesh..
- Then she put tika for me and AS.
- Then she gave us the gifts of fruits, sweets, clothes, and jewelleries.
- This was followed by Sagun and then the main event of dahi chiura, where everyone feeds me dahi chiura.
- Everyone was given Sagun and sweet as well after this.
- Thus the main event of dahi chiura is was conclude.
- Cake is normally not a traditional inclusion for dahi chiura but we had one so I and AS cut the cake together
For many reasons, the dahi chiura ceremony is one of my favourite celebrations for our coming daughter.
In addition to normal family dahi chiura, the pregnant mother is often invited by her relatives to eat meals with them. I had invited many of my family and friends who were pregnant to my place and done the same ceremony so it is my turn to be invited to my close friends and family’s place for the dahi chiura ceremony as well.
It was really nice of all of them to get involved making me and the baby feel special. Here are some of the pics from various occasions of dahi chiura. I was spoiled with lots of blessings, yummy foods and lots of useful gifts .
I am so glad that we are keeping Nepali traditional alive living so far from home and I want to show all these photos to my daughter one day and explain the traditions and culture.
Hope you enjoyed the traditional way of Nepali/Newari baby shower.
Take care,
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO
nepaliaustralian 