Dashain!

I don't know how I missed it, or rather the first day of it. I had it in my diary as starting this Thursday, and didn't think to question it. Not even when the BBC was reporting the start of Dashain as they covered the fact that Nepal still has no government. Or when S. said she didn't have school because of Dashain. Or when my Nepali teacher had to cut our class on Thursday short to rush off to the tax office to get her taxes done before the government offices closed for the holiday.

I just thought it was all part of the lead-up to the actual holiday. D'oh!

So Dashain (as usual, 'sh' is more often pronounced like 's') started on Friday (8 October) this year. It's a 15 day Hindu festival that celebrates Durga's defeat of the asura / demon Mahishasur who had made a deal with Brahma that no man or (male) god could defeat him. The battle raged for 10 days, during which Durga and the Mahishasur transformed themselves into various forms to defeat the other. Finally, on the last day, Durga lopped the head of Mahishasur who had transformed himself into a demon buffalo.


Me and Aung Si at the statue of Mahishasura at Chamundi Hill, Mysore (Jan 2009)


Statue of Mahishasura as the demon buffalo at Chamundi Hill, Mysore (Jan 2009)

The 10th day of Dashain is the considered the 'big day', where families gather together and elders give tika (coloured powder placed on one's forehead) to their juniors. Married women also go back to their home villages to take tika from their parents.

The days leading up to the 10th day are filled with animal (particularly goat, but also water buffalo) sacrifice. I'm watching a news report on TV right now with footage of a man leading a herd of goats, presumably towards Kathmandu for the big slaughter. Lauren and I might do what she and Sara did last year and just sacrifice a watermelon.

Since I had the dates wrong, I was under the assumption that I would be away during the big sacrifice / massacre. As it turns out, the sacrifices will be held mostly this Friday and Saturday, while I only fly off to Lukla on my way to visit Sara in the Everest region on Sunday morning.

One of the perks of Dashain (unless you count widespread bloodshed a perk) is that Kathmandu slowly empties itself as people go back to their home villages, especially for the 10th day. So as the week draws on, I'm expecting to see less traffic on the road and fewer people on the streets.