Kathmandu, October 26
The 10th day of the 15-day Badadashain festival, Vijaya Dashami, is being observed across the country on Monday.
This day is considered the most important part of the festival, which is the biggest cultural event for Nepalis every year.
Today, on the occasion, people receive red tika (uncooked rice grains mixed with curd and vermilion powder) on their foreheads and jamara (barley seedlings) on their heads from seniors in the family as blessings from Navaradurga, who are considered sources of power.
In many places of the country, people travel to their relatives’ places in the next five days, until the full moon day (Kojagrat Purnima) to receive tika, and jamara.
Nepal Panchanga Nirnayak Samiti, the government body responsible for finalising festival dates as per astrological calculations, says the most auspicious time to receive tika and jamara today is 10:19 am.
Meanwhile, state officials such as President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun, and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli have extended their Dashain greetings. In this wishes, the officials have also reminded people of the coronavirus infection fears, urging them to maintain needful safety measures while following the rituals.
The Covid-19 pandemic is certain to have an impact on the celebrations this year. People are less likely to travel to their relatives including senior citizens whereas many are planning to celebrate their Dashain indoors.
