FALGUN

Falgun the festival month and the month with loads of holidays and with special meaning behind them. At the start of the month falls the Rastrya Prajatantra Diwas, marking the National Democracy Day. We than have our holy Maha Shivaratri, which attracts devotees not only from all parts of Nepal but also India and other nations which have huge following of hinduism. One of the popular story of the reason behind Shiva Ratri is that, on a cold night a person was sitting under a tree and shivering with cold. This then made the person make noise which sounded like "SHIV SHIV SHIV", and  with this pain and suffering he was going through the lord somehow created a fire and he was able to fight the cold winter. Hence, this day people light fire and enjoy the heat to fight the winter. Children collect money, rice, wood and chocolates from public for fun.

Then falls the Gyalpo Lhosar (I did not keep pics as I did not have one and the ones from the internet were confusing..). This is the new year celebration of the Tibetan New Year and is celebrated for three consecutive days. On the first day people make beverage called CHANGKOL, a tibetan version of beer. The second day is the Losar, the main event day and the third day people and families come together for celebration. Huge celebration is done by performing traditional dances, chanting mantras and ceremonial dances. One of the interesting thing done is the serving of dumplings with bizzare fillings like stone, wood, paper, chillies etc and people define the findings with the character of the person (Imagine finding a chilli inside.... what is that suppose to mean...) but its all done for fun.

Nari Diwas, Womens Day also falls in this month in celebration of womanhood. Various events, fashion shows, educational information and awards are presented throughout the nation to celebrate the achievements of women. Then comes the best celebration of this month, HOLI which is equally enjoyed by young and old generations. People throw colours, water filled balloons and plain water to each other and celebrate HOLI. (P.S. I kept my recent HOLI celebration pic here with my school buddies back home. Aww I love you all...). According to the story behind the celebration, HOLI is celebrated with the death of HOLIKA the sister of Hiranyakashyap who wanted to kill his own son Prahlad for chanting lord Bishnu's name every time. Nevertheless it also marks the coming of spring the colourful season.