Dashain is the longest and most important festival in Nepal, celebrated over 15 days to commemorate the victory of goddess Durga over the demon Mahisasur. Key events include Ghatasthapana on day 1 where a sacred pot is established, Fulpati on day 7 where offerings are made, Maha Asthami on day 8 which involves animal sacrifices, and the final days of Maha Nawami and Bijaya Dashami on days 9-10 that celebrate the goddess's victory over evil. Dashain brings families together through rituals, feasts, and the exchanging of blessings through tika and sacred yellow jamara grass.

1. FESTIVAL OF
VICTORY OVER
EVIL
DASHAIN

2. ------------------------

3. Introduction
 Dashain is the longest and the most auspicious festival
of Nepal.
 It is celebrated by all caste and creed throughout the
country.
 It is celebrated over fifteen days during the month of
Ashwin(September-October).
 Goddess Durga in all her manifestations are worshiped
with innumerable pujas, abundant offerings and
thousands of animal sacrifices.

4. The Biggest Festival Of
Nepal
 Dashain is the biggest festival
of Nepal.
 It lasts for 15 days.
 It is celebrated all over Nepal.
 Family, friends gather together and enjoy.
 People visit temples of Goddess Durga.
 Flying kites and swings are fun to kids and youths.

5. Though Dashain lasts for 15 days, the important
days of this festival are:
 1st Day: Ghatasthapana
 7th Day: Fulpathi
 8th Day: Maha-Asthami
 9th Day: Maha-Nawami
 10th Day: Maha-Dashami

6. 1st Day: Ghatasthapana
 Ghata means pot or vessel and sthapana means to
establish which means establish a pot.
 Pot symbolizing Goddess Durga is placed in the prayer
room.
 The pot is decorated with red and yellow colors on which
seeds is spread. The plant which grow big in 10 days on
the pot is called Jamara.
 Sand collected form river bank is spread in the prayer
room as a cake around the pot and barely seed is planted
with chanting “mantras”.
 The pot is worshipped on all days of Dashain.

8. 7th Day: Fulpathi
 Seventh day of dashain is know as fulpathi.
 FulPati literally means flowers, leaves and plants.
 The Fulpati is brought from Gorkha to Dhading district
from where six Brahmins carried it to Jamal. From
Jamal, the Fulpati filled with holy water, banana stalks,
jamara and sugarcane tied with red cloth to be offered to
Goddess Durga. Then it is taken to the Dashain Ghar in
Hanuman Dhoka.
 General people also make fulpati and take to the place
where the have kept worship pot on the day of
ghatasthapana.
 A parade is held at Tundikhel ground in Kathmandu.

10. 8th Day: Maha-Asthami
 Eight day is called Maha-Asthami.
 This is the day is celebrate by worshiping, the blood-
thirsty Kali (Goddess Durga ), through the sacrifice
of animals like Goat, cock, duck etc.
 The night of maha-asthami is known as kal ratri
(Black night).
 General public sacrifice animals in the name of Kali.
 However these days people don’t sacrifice animals
but they prefer coconuts.

12. 9th Day: Maha-Nawami
 This day is the last day of Navarati.
 This is the day is celebrate by worshiping Goddess
Durga.
 On this day the Vishwakarma,the god of
creativeness is also worshiped.
 People worship weapons and vehicles on this day.
 The Taleju Temple gates are opened for the general
public on only this day of the year.

14. 10th Day: Bijaya-Dashami
 This day is the tenth day of dashain festival.
 People put Red tika from their elders on their
forehead and take blessings.
 The red also symbolizes the blood that ties the
family together.
 People enjoy over the night by playing cards.
 This continues to be observed for five days till the
full moon during which period families and relatives
visit each other to exchange gifts and greetings.

16. Why is it celebrated?
 The main celebration glorifies the triumph of good
over evil:-
1. Victory of goddess Durga over demon Mahisasur.
2. Victory of lord Ram over demon Ravan.

17. RAM FIGHTING WITH RAVAN

18. GODDESS DURGA KILLING DEMON
MAHISASUR

19. How is it celebrated?
-The first nine days signify the nine days of battle
between goddess Durga and the demon Mahisasur.
-The tenth day is the day when Mahisasur was killed.
-The last five days symbolize the celebration of the
victory with the blessing of the goddess.

20. OM
 In preparation for Dashain every home is cleaned and
beautifully decorated, painted as an invitation to the
mother goddess, so that she may visit and bless the house
with good fortune.
 During this time the reunion of distant and nearby
relatives occur in every household.
 The market is filled with shoppers seeking new clothing,
gifts, luxuries and enormous supplies of temple offering
for the gods, as well as foodstuffs for the family feasting.
 Thousands of sheep, goats, ducks, chicken and buffalo
are prepared for the slaughter.

21. OM
 The first nine days of Dashain are called
Nawa Ratri.
 During Nawa Ratri all goddess who emanated from goddess
Durga (known as Devi) are worshiped.
 The first day of Dashain is called Ghatasthapana , which
literally means pot (Kalash) establishing.
 On this day the kalash, filled with holy water, symbolising
goddess Durga is placed in the prayer room.
 A small rectangular sand block is made and the kalash is put
in the centre. The surrounding bed of sand is also seeded with
grains .
 At a certain auspicious moment determined by the
astrologers, goddess Durga is requested to bless the vessel
(Kalash) with her presence.

22. -OM-
 The room where the kalash is established is
called Dashain Ghar.
 A priest or a household man worships the kalash
everyday once in the morning and then in the
evening.
 The kalash and the sand are sprinkled with holy
water everyday and it is shielded from direct
sunlight.
 By the tenth day, the seed will have grown to five or
six inches long yellow grass. The sacred yellow grass
is called 'Jamara'

23. OM
 As days passes by regular rituals are observed till the seventh day. The seventh
day is called Fulpati.
 From this day onwards, Dashain feasting starts The eighth day is called the
Maha Asthami. Sacrifices are held in almost every house through out the day.
 The night of the eighth day is called 'Kal Ratri', the dark night.
 The ninth day is called Nawami. On this day, Military bands play war tunes
and guns boom to honor Durga as the goddess of victory.
 On this very day the god Vishwa Karma, the God of creativity, is also
worshiped. All factories, vehicles and machinery instruments are worshiped

24. -OM-
 The tenth day is called ‘Dashami’ . On this day we take
Tika and Jamara from our elders and receive their blessing.
 The importance of Dashain also lies in the fact that on this day family
members from far off and distant relatives come for a visit as well as to
receive tika from the head of the family. This function continues for four
days.
 Dashain ends on the full moon day, the fifteenth day. The full moon day is
also called 'Kojagrata' meaning 'who is awake'. The Hindu goddess of
wealth ‘Laxmi’ is worshipped. On this day the goddess Laxmi is given an
invitation to visit each and everyone.

25. TIKA AND JAMARA

26. AUSPICIOUS TIKA BEING TAKEN

28. After Dashain?
- After Dashain everyone settles back to normal. After
receiving the blessing of goddess Durga, people are
ready to work and acquire virtue, power and wealth.
- Dashain is not only the longest festival but also the
most anticipated one among all the festivals of
Nepal.
- It is truly a colorful festival.

29. ----------------
May this dashain bring
peace, prosperity and
happiness to all of the
people.

30. Made/Presented By:
 Kenneth Shrestha