Dashain is the most popular and longest festival on the Nepali calendar – it’s a time to celebrate family and friends. The tenth day of the festival is Vijaya Dashami – on this day, a mixture of rice, yogurt and vermilion is prepared by the women, which is known as “tika”. Elders put tika on the forehead of younger relatives to bless them with abundance in the upcoming years. The red also symbolizes the blood that ties the family together. This ritual of taking tika from all the elder relatives (even the distant relatives) helps in the renewal of community ties – this is one reason why the festival is celebrated with so much enthusiasm.
Ama Ghar graduate Ashok taking tika with elderly relatives for Dashain.
We had a wonderful Dashain at Ama Ghar in spite of the petrol (gasoline) shortage that continues in Nepal. Normally visitors would come to Ama Ghar and we would go visiting as well, but we couldn’t do that this year because there is no gas for transportation.
Big sister Rama after tika with the younger girls.
The good news? We are all enjoying extra time with our new little ones, who were thrilled with the new clothes and Crocs that they received for the holidays! And of course our Ping (traditional bamboo swing) is busy with all of our neighbors coming to swing to celebrate this holiday of leisure time after the harvest.
… and the girls got new Crocs!
The boys got new tee shirts for the holidays…