Sarangi, a traditional Nepali musical instrument is the best friend of Ghandarvas – a community…

With the start of the holy month of Shrawan, Kathmandu’s streets are swarming with excited women and girls buying green and yellow bangles, materials to apply henna tattoo and beads. Devotees mark the sacred month by wearing special clothes and adorning their bodies, and sales of festival paraphernalia soar this time of the year. “We see the highest sales during the start of the festive season in Shrawan,” said Alsha Prajapati, a cosmetics shop owner at Asan. “More than 40 percent of our annual sales happen during the months of Shrawan, Bhadra and Ashwin.” According to Prajapati, prices of glass bangles range from Rs30 per dozen to Rs.300 per dozen while metal bangles cost from Rs.150 per dozen to Rs.1,000 per dozen.

Festivals celebrated in Nepal

Being a multicultural country, there are so many festivals in Nepal. Albeit native, I find it difficult to keep track of so many Nepali festivals as they seem occur almost every month. Nepal is often considered to be the mystic Hindu kingdom which is not entirely true, as the country accepted the system of federal republic and secularism after the second popular movement of 2006. if you happen to glance the recent census of Nepal, you’ll observe multitude of races residing in different parts of the country and been following their own set of culture. Festivals appear as joyous part of the culture during which the people celebrate with the family, community and relatives. Originally, festivals were celebrated to mark any auspicious occasions like good harvest, plenty of rainfall, abundance of domesticated cattle in the agrarian society. So, the practice of agriculture in Nepal can be taken as one of the major reasons for the endless festivities.