Nepal is one of the smallest and most beautiful countries in the world. Economically, it is a poor country but the tradition and culture of Nepal are rich and unique. The tradition of Nepal is very unique and special in its own way.
It is incredibly influenced by its music, architecture, religion, and literature, and somehow by Indian, Mongolian, and Tibetan culture and traditions as well. The traditions of Nepal naturally are incomparable to any other nation. Some of the most famous traditions of Nepal are listed below:
10 Facts About Traditions Of Nepal
1)
Nepal is called a multi-racial, multi-religious, and multi-lingual country. It is also known as the garden of four castes and thirty-six sub-castes. People living in mountains are of different traditions than those in the hills and the Terai. Similarly, All of the castes people in Nepal like Brahmin, Chhetri, Newar, Sherpa, Rai, Limbu, Tharu..etc have their own kind of rituals and practices.
2)
In the case of Brahmin and Chettri, these castes people are mostly found in hilly areas. They follow Hindu tradition according to which they celebrate Nwaran ceremony i.e. (naming the born child) after the eleven days of childbirth. Bratabandha is done for a son and they are given a sacred thread (Janai) after the religious rites. The dead body of these castes is burnt according to the Hindu.
3)
Talking about the practices of Newari people who are mostly found in Kathmandu valley. Their Nwaran is done from the fourth to the eleventh day of birth. “Belibiwaha” is a very famous ritual among the Newari There is another custom of Gufa for girls. The dead body is burnt according to their tradition. They celebrate the festivals like Dashain, Tihar, Gai Jatra, Ghode Jatra, mage Sankranti ..and so on.
4)
Another group of people who lives in high hills and mountains are “Sherpas”. They belong to Buddhists who celebrate Nwaran ceremony on the third, seventh, and eleventh day of the baby’s birth. Losar and Buddha Jayanti are the festivals celebrated by them. On the other hand, there is another different group of people who live in terai areas and they are called “Tharus”.They are simple-minded and their particular culture and tradition are famous all around the world. The Nwaran is performed from the sixth to the ninth day of birth. Maghi, phage, Jitia.. are the major festivals they celebrate.
5)
In the eastern mountain of Nepal, we can find the Limbu people who worship nature like rivers and Himalayas. One of the very famous rituals of this community people is “Chori Bibaha”. Limbu people celeb take the festivals like “Udhauli” on the full moon day of Mangsir and “Ubhauli” on the full moon day of Baisakh. The Limbu community is very famous for its folk dance called Dhan Naach. Similarly, other caste people i.e. Rai people live in the eastern hills of Nepal and give a name to the new babies from the third to the sixth day of birth. After the dead body is buried in a fixed place, they have the ritual of firing guns during the funeral. Their major festivals are Chandi Naach, Nwayiand Badangnet.
6)
Nepal, a multi-lingual country has people of various religious strengths among the people. However, Hindu people are great in number and Buddhism is one more popular religion in Nepal. The creator of Buddhism, Gautam Buddha was born in Lumbini and is famous as the ‘Light of Asia’. Besides this, there are lots of disciples of Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, and Kirant All of these disciples have their own kind of festivals and other practices.
7)
“Dashain” is one of the great festivals in Nepal which is especially celebrated by the Hindu religious people of Nepal. Not only the Hindus in Nepal but Hindu people all around the world celebrate Dashain. This festival is celebrated for fifteen days from the day of
“Ghatasthapana”.
The special thing about this festival is the younger members of the family put tika and Jamara from their elders and receives blessings and good wishes as well. Similarly, “Tihar” is another huge festival for Nepalese people. This festival is also called “Deepawali”. It is celebrated for five days from “Kartik Krishna Duwadashi” to “Kartik Pratipada”. Its unique feature is the first two days of this festival are devoted to crow and dogs. On the third day, cows are worshipped in the morning and goddess Laxmi at the time of the evening. people keep their houses clean decorate and light them with candles, oil lamps, or colorful electric bulbs.
8)
The people in the Himalayas like sherpas, Gurung, and Tamang celebrate “Losar” as their main festival. The strange thing is all of these castes people celebrate their own kind of Loshare. Gurung people celebrate “Tamu Losar”, the Tamangs celebrate “Sonam Losar” and the sherpas celebrate “Gyalpo Losar”. This is a festival of fun, dance, and singing.
9)
A unique celebration that comes under the Nepali tradition is the celebration of “Janai Purnima”. This festival is celebrated on the full moon day of Shrawan. According to this festival, the male members of Brahmin and Chettri take bath early in the morning and change Janai ( a sacred thread) for the year. On the same day in Terai, sisters tie rakhi on the wrists of their brothers with a belief that it would save their brothers from any kind of mishaps. However, people in the newar community prepares a delicious soup, “Kuwati” on this day which is a mixture of different kind of seeds.
10)
The next uncommon ritual that comes under the tradition of Nepal is “Teej”. This festival is celebrated on Bhadra Shukla Tritiya (the third day of the full moon of Bhadra). This is the day when women keep fasting the entire whole day for better status and long lives of their husbands and the unmarried girl’s wishes for a good
Likewise, there are many more rituals and rites that come from Nepali tradition. Though there are many groups of people with different castes and cultures, many of them live together sharing love, help, and cooperation with each other in the same society.