Dashain (daas-sai)

Dashain and Tihar are the two main festivals in Nepal. They are Hindu festivals that celebrate the planting and harvest of rice and other crops. The Dashain festival lasts about 15 days, but the tenth or “dashain” day is the most important. The festival takes place during the middle of October. During this festival each day is given to a different God or animal and the people worship them. One of the days I find most interesting is the day they worship iron. People will worship their cars! I was in a fabric store that had their scissors on display. Imagine owning your own fabric business but worshiping the scissors that you use to cut the fabric! Tihar is the first week of November and it is the festival of lights. It reminds me a bit of Christmas in the states because people put up twinkle lights everywhere, and many people put luminaries along their walkways. This holiday also lasts several days, each day worshiping different animals or Gods. The cow, water buffalo, the goddess Laxmi, brothers and even dogs. One day is given to the worship of street dogs because their barking scares away the evil spirits. Brothers are worshipped by their sisters, each one asking the Gods that her brother will live long, bring lots of wealth and honor to the family. One night in particular is important for worshiping the goddess Laxmi. Laxmi is the goddess of wealth and luck. The people will put tea lights and candles along their walkways, having lined the path with a coat of red mud, to guide Laxmi to their door. If they don’t light the path, the goddess will not see their house and skip over them. Isn’t it interesting that when we don’t understand truth, we will grab on to almost anything to save ourselves. So many people are fervently working to get favor by gods that don’t have power. They try desperately to gain merit from animals and family members. Please remember these people in your prayers. They so desperately need the freedom from religion that Jesus offers. They can easily have assurance of salvation, and the blessing that comes with being a child of God!