What Is Dashain? A Guide to Nepal’s Biggest Festival
If you have ever tried to book a bus out of Kathmandu in the week before Dashain, you will know how seriously Nepal takes this festival. Buses fill, roads clog, and the whole city seems to empty as people head home to their villages. Dashain is the one time of year when almost everyone wants to be with family, and it is worth understanding why.
What Dashain celebrates
Dashain is the longest festival on the Nepali calendar, lasting fifteen days. It follows the lunar calendar, so the dates move each year, but it always falls in autumn, usually in late September or October.
The festival marks the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura, a story about good winning over evil. Each of the main days honours a different form of the goddess, and temples across the country fill with worshippers. For most families, though, the religious story sits alongside something simpler: Dashain is the season for being together.
How the fifteen days unfold
The festival opens with Ghatasthapana, when families plant barley seeds in a tray of sand and keep it in a quiet, sacred room of the house. The seeds are watered every day and kept out of direct sunlight. Over the following nine days they sprout into pale yellow shoots called jamara.
The festival builds toward the final days. Phulpati, on the seventh day, brings flowers and sacred offerings into the home. Maha Ashtami and Maha Navami follow, with prayers, feasting, and rituals for the goddess. The tenth day, Bijaya Dashami, is the centre of the whole festival.
Tika and jamara: the blessing at the heart of it
On Bijaya Dashami, younger family members go to their elders to receive tika. This is a mix of rice, yoghurt, and red vermilion pressed onto the forehead, with a sprig of jamara tucked into the hair or behind the ear. The elder offers a blessing for health and good fortune, and often a small gift of money.
The tika giving carries on for several more days, until the full moon. In extended families, that can mean a lot of visiting. A grandmother might sit and bless dozens of relatives over a single day, and people travel from village to village to make sure no elder is missed.
What else happens
Beyond the rituals, Dashain has its own look and sound. Bamboo swings, called ping, are built in village squares and neighbourhoods, and children and adults take turns on them. Kites fill the sky over the valley. Many families buy new clothes for the occasion, and tables fill with a large shared meal. Goat meat is a common part of the feast for families who eat meat.
There is also a social side that is easy to miss from outside. Dashain is a time to settle old arguments, to visit relatives you have not seen all year, and to start again on good terms.
Why it matters outside Nepal
Nepali families overseas keep Dashain too, often with a smaller version of the same traditions. People in New Zealand, Australia, and the US gather for tika with whoever lives nearby, and share food and photos with relatives back home. For many, it is the strongest link to home they have all year.
If you have Nepali friends, colleagues, or neighbours, a simple “Happy Dashain” is always welcome, and being asked about the festival is usually met with a long, happy answer.
A note from us
Heavenly Himalayan began with a trip to Nepal, and we work with artisan women who hand-knit our headbands there. Learning about festivals like Dashain is part of understanding the place the wool comes from, and the people whose skill is in every stitch.
If you would like to bring a little of that home, every headband is hand-knitted from natural wool and makes a thoughtful gift for the season. Shop the collection at heavenlyhimalayan.com or on Amazon.