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Client's Testimonials
Man,Thank you for helping me to complete the spectacular Annapurna circuit trek. You made an excellent guide as a leader, a negotiator and a friend. I had great confidence in your knowledge of the track and conditions.
Dashain is Nepalese longest and most favorite festival of Nepal. During this time, everybody’s stay at home with his or her families, offices close and Radio Nepal plays Dashain music. The sky of Kathmandu is filled with kites and the market places are crowded with farmers bringing their buffaloes, goats and chickens to sell. The first days of festivals called Ghatasthapana, the installing of the sacred vessel. Each day they put the holy water over the vessel and worship Durga every evening and morning. The seventh day of Dashain called Fulpati, the sacred flower day. Thousand fill the streets near Rani Pokharai where the royal kalash, filled with wild flowers and holy leaves, arrives from its three-day journey carried on foot from the ancestral royal house in Gorkha. The eight day of Dashain is the most important days to sacrifice hundreds of goats, ship, chicken, buffalo and ducks at Durga temples to the goddess Durga to celebrate her victory over evil. Durga, Divine protectors is representing either as a simple holy water pot or in her full powerful from with 18 hands holding 18 weapons. Durga also manifested as ferocious kali with a protruding tongue and a necklace of skulls. On the day of Dashami, everyone puts on new clothes and goes to honor their family elders, where they receive large red tikas of vermilion paste on their foreheads. In the following days of Dashain, families and friends unite, feasts are consumed, blessings are imparted and gifts are exchanged. Nepal's most beloved festival ends with the full moon.
Tihar is the second biggest festivals of Nepal, known as the Festival of Lights, is a time of candlelight, glitter decorations and festive colored sweets. On different days, there are offerings and small celebrations for crows, dogs, cows and oxen. The first day of Tihar is known as 'Kag Tihar', crow’s day. Crow is an underworld henchman. On this day, crows are offered food on a plate made out of leaves in the morning before anyone in the house takes in food. The second day is called 'Kukur Tihar (dogs day). A dog plays many roles in our society. We have dogs in our houses as guardian of the house. So on this day a big red tika is put on a dog's forehead and a beautiful garland around the neck. After worshipping the dog, it is given very delicious meal. The third day is the most important day of the festival. It is called 'Laxmi puja', the day when we worship goddess of wealth. On the night of Laxmi Puja, garlands are hung and lamps are lighted to invite Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, into the home. Mha Puja, the New Year's Day according to the Nepal Era, is the day of the self, when people give themselves blessings to remain healthy and happy for the rest of the year The fourth days of this festival called Oxen day. Similarly, the last day of Tihar is Bhai Tika, the last day of Tihar, is the day when sisters make offerings to their brothers. The rituals of breaking a walnut, putting on garlands of makhamali flowers and encircling brothers in rings of mustard oil protects them from Yama, lord of the Netherworld. During this festival, some groups of people play Deusi and Vhailo with Madal, a typical music instruments.
Mani Rimdhu is a Sherpa festival celebrated at Tengboche Monastery lies in the Everest region. For five days, Lamas and Sherpa gather for "the good of the world." There are plays, masked dances, prayers, and feasting. The monks were elaborated masks and costumes and, through a series of ritualistic dances, dramatize the triumph of Buddhism over Bon, the ancient animistic religion of Tibet. Local people believe that during Mani Rimdhu Demons are quelled and the pious are rewarded. Hundreds Sherpa from all over the Khumbu region attend the performance. It is an important social occasion as well as entertaining spectacle. The days are colorful and trips to the Everest region are very rewarding indeed, if you can arrange your trip during the days of the festival.
Goddess Swasthani's three eyes burn like the sun. She is the ultimate gift grantor; if insulted, she can make life miserable. By worshipping Swasthani, Parvati attained Lord Shiva as her husband. In the worship rites of Goddess Swasthani, outlined by Parvati, the Swasthani scripture is read every evening for a month. Worshipping Swasthani will bring together parted relations, remove curses, and result in limitless gifts. This Puja last for a month. The legend tells that many years ago the daughter of the Himalaya wanted to marry with Lord Shiva. When the Vishnu knew it, she was told to perform Swasthani puja to achieve Lord Shiva. After her hard effort, she was granted Shiva as a Husband by Swasthani Mata. On the remembrance of this auspicious day, Hindu people celebrate this festival every year.
In the holy month of Magh the sun enters the southern hemisphere, and the days begin to grow longer and warmer. On Maghe Sankranti (the first day of Magh) people take an early morning bath in a holy river, visit the shrines of Vishnu, and present flowers, incense and food to him. They read the Bhagwad Gita, also known as The Song of the Gods, rub mustard oil over their bodies, and enjoy feasts of rice cooked with lentils, yams or taruls - a must - and laddu, sweets made of sesame and a sugarcane paste.
Lord Shiva is one of the Hindu popular gods. During Maha Shivaratri, his "Great Night", followers throughout the Indian sub-continent crowds the Pashupatil temple to worship him. On this occasion -there is no space even for a sesame seed". Colorful sadhus, the wandering sages who emulate Shiva, rub ashes over their bodies, give lectures to disciples, meditate, or practice yoga. Devotees pray to Shiva's image inside the temple at midnight and may queue for up to six hours to look at the image. Bonfires are lit, neighbors and friends share food, and devotees enjoy two days and a night of music, song, and dance throughout the Pashupatil complex and in the streets.
Sherpa and Tibetans welcome their New Year with feasts, family visits and dancing. Families wear their finest clothes and jewelry and exchange gifts. Buddhist monks offer prayers for good health and prosperity thorough ritualistic performance, and perform dances at the monasteries. Colorful prayer flags decorate streets and rooftops; the colors seem especially brilliant at the Boudhanath and Swayambhunath stupa. Crowds of celebrants at Buddha bring in the New Year by throwing tsampa (roasted barley flour) into the air.
Fagu Purnima or Holi is one of the most colorful and playful festivals of Nepal. It is celebrated all over the Nepal. The chir pole decorated with colorful flags and erected on the first day of Fagu at Katmandu durbar square is a formal announcement to all; hide your good clothes, for throughout the week you may be splashed with colored powder and water balloons. The last day is the wildest youths covered with red vermilion powder roam the streets as inviting targets.
Red vermilion powder, family blessings, and goat and duck sacrifices are essential to praise the victory of Ram, hero of the epic Ramayana, over the evil king Rawan. Mother Goddess Durga, the source of all power, must be supplicated too, for her powers helped Ram achieve his victory Hindu woman.
The Nepalese follow their own calendar system known as the Bikram Era or Bikram Sambat. Nawabarsha is celebrated on the first day of the first month of the New Year and is observed as an official holiday. In Bhaktapur, fifteen kilometers from Kathmandu, the New Year celebrations take on added importance at Bisket Jatra. Images of the god Bhairav and his female counterpart Bhadrakali are enshrined in two large chariots and pulled through crowds of cheering on lookers. When the chariot reaches a sloping open square, there is a tug-of-war between the inhabitants of the upper and lower parts of the town. Winners are considered to be blessed with good fortune for the coming year. The festival concludes with several days of dancing and worship. Thimi, another ancient town of the Valley, also celebrates the New Year with special festivities.
Ever-benevolent Buddha was born in Nepal, and the religion he preached is the second most popular in the kingdom. On full moon day, the Lord's birth, enlightenment, and salvation are applauded throughout the valley with celebrations. Swayambhu and Boudhanath Stupa are prepared for the oncoming festivities several days in advance. Monasteries are cleaned, statues are polished, bright prayer flags waft in the breeze, and monks prepare to dance. On the Jayanti day, people reach the stupa before dawn, go around them and give offerings to the many Buddha images there.
The monsoon has arrived, and the fields have been planted. It is time for Kathmandu Valley Buddhists to observe Gunla. The month-long festivities celebrate a retreat- initiated twenty-five centuries ago by the Buddha. It is a time for prayer, fasting, meditation and religious music. Worshippers climb past jungles, stone animals, great statues of the Buddha, and begging monkeys to Swayambhunath hilltop where daily prayers begin before dawn. Oil lamps, prayer flags, religious statues, and scroll paintings adorn the monasteries as temple bells chime and powerful scents fill the air. Important Buddhist statues, and monasteries are on display at the monasteries, and the teachings of Lord Buddha are remembered as the rains nurture the rice, Nepal's most important crop.
On Janai Purnima. a full moon day, high-caste Hindus chant the powerful Gaytri mantra and change their Sacred Thread (janai), while a raksya bandhan, a red or yellow protection cord, is tied around the wrists of other Hindus and Buddhists. Pilgrims journey to the mountains north of Kathmandu. Here they emulate Lord Shiva by bathing in the sacred lake of Gosaikunda. Those unable to make the trek celebrate at Shiva's Kumbeshwor Mahadev temple. In this day, the temples are filled with devotee and priest and also exchanged gift and are blessed.
Krishnashtami or the birthday of Lord Krishna is celebrated in commemoration of the hero of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. On this day, worshippers carry ornate, decorated statues and pictures of Lord Krishna through the streets, often with bands of musicians following or preceding the procession. In Patan, thousands of devotees flock to the Krishna temple to worship and receive blessings. In Nepal, the great Lord Krishna is on of the most adored of deities. The stories of his miraculous birth, fabulous childhood, endless romances and many deeds of velour have sunk deep into the imaginations and hearts of the Nepalese people. One of the main public celebrations of this festival is held at Patan Durbar square. On this evening, women throng to cover the great temple of Krishna in patan and keep vigil through the glorious night of Lord’s birth.
Teej is a festival of women of women’s strength of women’s; devotion to their family, and of women divine role, exemplified by the goddess Parvati, wife of Lord Shiva. This unique women's festival is marked by fasting, folk songs, and dancing as the women recall Parbati's devotion to her husband Shiva. Long ago in the mythological past Parvati, daughter of the Himalaya, fell in love with Lord Shiva. Although offered the hand of the great lord Vishnu, she was devoted to Shiva, the divine ascentic sitting along in meditation on the summit of Mount kailash. Shiva ignored her and Parvati, despite her father’s wished, changed her fine raiment for the simplest clothes and began a long fast, praying to Lord Shiva to rise from his mediation and take her as his wife. Parbati’s devotion and austerities finally won Lord Shiva’s. It is a loud and cheerful celebration until late at night, when strict fasting begins. Unmarried women who fast on this day will have good luck in finding suitable husbands. Married women who fast will find their husbands faithful and will see the bond of love grow. It is said that they do not even swallow their own saliva. The blessings of Shiva and Parvati ensure that family life will be joyous for all. This is one of the most colorful days of the year as the streets are filled with groups of laughing, singing women, all dressed in their bright red wedding saris.
Indra, King of Heaven and controller of the rains, has once again blessed the Valley. As the end of the monsoon nears, farmers look forward to a rich harvest: everyone is grateful to the deva for his help. For eight days, Katmandu’s Durbar square is the focus of a great celebration fit to -flatter the King of Heaven." Indra's dhwaj, or flag, is erected on the first day. According to the legend, many centuries ago, Indra's mother needed specially -scented flowers but could not find them in heaven's gardens. Indra discovered parijat flowers in the Kathmandu Valley and tried to steal them for his mother. He was caught and imprisoned by the Valley people. When Indra's mother came searching for him the people were appalled by what they had done. They released Indra and dedicated one of the most colorful festivals of Nepal to him to appease his anger. Masks of wrathful Lord Bhairav and sacred images of Indra and other deities are brought out of the temples and monasteries and placed on decorated platforms along the street, so the gods can watch the festivities along with the town people. Kumari witnesses the special occasion from her chariot. Indra is thanked for the rains and assured once again that he is respected in the Kathmandu Valley.
Why Ganesh has an elephant headed
Ganesh is the elephant-headed god who is in the forefront of all worship. As the remover of all sorts of obstacles, no ritual is undertaken without worshipping him first. This is what the myth has to say about his strange looking human body. It says that Parvati, the wife of Shiva, was in some kind of trouble with her over- romantic or jealous husband, who always needed to know too much. Her friends advised her to employ her own bodyguard who would safeguard her privacy. So she collected some "bukuwa" (a kind of paste) to wash her body and from this she moulded a child and gave life to him. One day she asked him to guard her door and not to allow anybody in while she took a shower, but Shiva returned home and wishing to enter her room was prevented. Shiva became angry, and not knowing who the child was, decapitated him. Parvati came out and cried at the fate of her some, while Shiva trying to pacify her ordered his servants to find any creature, chop the head and bring it to him. They found a white elephant, chopped its head off, and brought it to Shiva, who added the head to the torso of Ganesh and provided life to him.
Legend of Kathmandu valley:
According to the legend, Katmandu valley was once a lake in the re-historic age verities of aquatic animals lived in it and no lotus grew upon it. Long time ago Vipasya Buddha, one of the fore runners of Lord Gautam Buddha Came and chanted over a lotus and threw it into the lake. He prophesisted, when the lotus flowers Swayambhunath shall be revealed as fame. Next came siti Buddha who prophesisted, this shall be the delighted above to the dwellers and a sweet place for pilgrimages and tourists. The third Buddha vipau Prophesisted the prosperity of the valley soon as abodhistawa cause the land to appear above the water. Later on, according to the Santmist, Vishnu or Krishna and according to Buddhist, Manjusri assumed the form of Viswakarma and walked around the lake seeing that the waters of Lake could be drained off, he cut the mountain with his sword through which the Bagmati drain the waters of the valley and its surface of good soil appeared. This was the beginning of the valley. The disciple of Manjusri built the stupa of Swayambhunath with the overseeing eyes on the summit of the Lotus hill and the valley made for settlements.
The legend of Kasthamandap
Once, the celestial tree Kalpavrikshacame in human form to the city to witness a festival. A learned tantric saw through his disguise and bound him with a spell which he was prepared to break if Kalpavrikshaprovided wood from the celestial tree to build a large building. Kalpavriksha accepted and the wood was provided. A huge three tier wooden building was built from the wood. The wooden structure stands to this day with an image of Gorakhnath at the centre of the ground floor. Named Kasthamandap, the building is said to be constructed out of a single tree. The city of Kathmandu is named after this wooden building. Kasthamandap stands in the Kathmandu durbar square, located at the centre of the city.
Legend of Living goddess Kumari
Legend has it that the Goddess Talaju used to visit the king in human form at night to advice him and to play dice. One night the king, Jaya Prakash Malla, looked at the goddess lustfully. Enraged the goddess announced that she would never come to him again. She predicted that both the end of his reign and the fall of his dynasty were at hand. When the king begged for forgiveness, the goddess at last made a concession. The king was to select a virgin child from a Newari caste, proclaim her the living goddess Kumari and worship her, for in the child she herself would manifest.
The Kumari is selected from the Newari caste of Shakya goldsmiths who are Buddhists. She must have the thirty-two virtues, among which is an unblemished body, the voice of a bird, and the neck of a duck. She must never cry or show fear. To test her courage the child is shut in a room where severed heads of sacrificed animals are placed. The one that emerges without a trace of fear is the chosen one. Her horoscope must match that of the king in every detail. She must also not bleed. As soon as she bleeds during puberty or due to an injury the goddess is believed to leave her body, the child is relieved of her duties as a living goddess, and the search for another goddess begins.
The Living goddess is housed in a building overlooking the Hanumandhoka palace and the Talaju temple, at the Kathmandu durbar square. Large stone lions guard the entrance to the building. If one is lucky, one can get the darshan of the Kumari as she looks out from the window of the second floor. During the Kumari Jatra, which coincides with the Indra Jatra celebrations, the king comes to receive tika from the Kumari. The king offers a gold coin and touches the feet of Kumari while seeking her blessings.
Why the moon has ascending and descending nodes?
The story goes that the moon was very handsome, attractive and enjoyed its life with 28 constellations. One day, he saw Ganesh and laughed at his appearance, but Ganesh (the elephant headed god) so humiliated cursed the moon that he should be destroyed by tuberculosis. The curse worked immediately with the moon thinner and darker every day. The worried moon went to Shiva who advised him to go and apologies to Ganesh. Ganesh blessed him for his apology, and said that for only 15 days would he lose his rays, and again would begin to grow bigger and stronger. So now, we have the cycle of the moon, growing to full moon and then waning.
Once upon a time death could be visible and could see by anyone. At that time the death was going through the list of people who had to die he came across a young blacksmith who was not ready to die. He still had a lot of dream to fulfill. In the mean time when he saw a death and knew that he was there to take him to Yamaloka (the place for dead). He requested him not to take him so early because he had to do many things to do before he died. However, the death did not agree then the man thought that if he could imprison him then he would have finished his task. He then told death that he wanted to show him his work and took him to a multi-chambered iron building, which he had built. He guided death to the innermost chamber and asked Death to relax there. He then locked Death inside the chamber, locking seven doors. The blacksmith told no one his secret. the Lord Shiva found out that Death was trapped and entrusted his consort, Parvati, to carry out a plan to release Death. Parvati, disguised as a beautiful woman working in the place where the blacksmith went every evening to drink, went to the world of the mortals. She served the young blacksmith many fine drinks, acting very seductive, and tried to find out his secrets. The intoxicated blacksmith revealed all she wanted to know. Then, Death was released from then on, death never went to the world of the mortals in its visible form.
