Dashain

Planting and royal processions

The observance opens with Ghatasthapana, when a water vessel representing Durga is placed on sand seeded with barley in a darkened room. Over nine days, these seeds sprout into pale yellow shoots called jamara. By the seventh day, Phulpati, a bundle containing flowers, sugarcane, and sacred plants is transported from Gorkha to the capital. In Kathmandu, military detachments present gun salutes before delivering the offering to the head of state, while communities elsewhere march with music and decorated palanquins.

Rituals and elder blessings

Sacrifices of goats, ducks, and buffaloes peak on the eighth and ninth nights, appeasing fierce manifestations of the goddess and sanctifying tools, vehicles, and weapons. The meat is prepared as prasad and shared in family feasts. On the tenth day, Bijaya Dashami, senior household members apply tika made from rice, yoghurt, and vermilion powder onto the foreheads of younger relatives alongside yellow jamara sprouts. Mantras invoking divine protection and fortune accompany these blessings, which continue for several days.

Pastimes and seasonal games

High bamboo swings, known locally as ping, are erected in towns and villages before the start of the holiday, offering rides to children and adults alike. Roofs fill with kite flyers competing to sever opponent lines with shouts of celebration, an act traditionally thought to signal the end of monsoon rains. Families also gather for card games, don new garments bought at festive markets, and listen to classical seventeenth-century Malshree dhoon melodies that announce the season.

The concluding nights

Following Bijaya Dashami, Papakunsha Ekadashi brings fasting, charitable giving of grains, shoes, and umbrellas, and visits to sacred temples. The entire festival concludes on Kojagrat Purnima, the full moon night. Devotees remain awake until dawn to honour Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, believing she visits earth to bestow prosperity upon those who stay vigilant. Card games often keep households occupied through the dark hours before the ceremonial period officially ends.

How Dashain is kept

Observance begins at home with the planting of barley seeds in a sacred room, worshiping nine forms of Durga each day. Mid-festival brings temple offerings, processions of sacred foliage, and the blessing of everyday machinery and weapons. On the tenth day, family members visit elder relatives to receive forehead marks of red rice tika and yellow jamara grass, accompanied by Sanskrit blessings. Celebrations extend through village fairs, kite flying from rooftops, soaring on tall bamboo swings, and night-long vigils on the closing full moon.

When and where

Dashain is fixed to the lunar calendar, starting on the first day of the bright fortnight of Ashwin and concluding fifteen days later on the Kojagrat full moon. This period typically falls between September and October in the solar calendar.

The festival is celebrated across Nepal as the major national holiday. It is also kept in parts of India, by Lhotshampa communities in Bhutan, Burmese Gurkhas in Myanmar, and among the global Nepali diaspora.

What Dashain means

For devotees, Dashain marks the ultimate triumph of good over evil. The initial nine days mirror the celestial battle between the goddess Durga and the demon Mahishasura, culminating in her victory on the tenth day. The holiday also recalls Rama defeating Ravana. The vermilion tika represents kinship ties, while sprouting jamara conveys renewed vitality and blessings of future abundance.

On the table

• Prasad meat
• Rice and yoghurt tika

Days Dashain is marked

Dashain dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

Questions people ask about Dashain

See also

NavaratriA nine-night Hindu festival honoring the goddess Durga and her nine forms through prayer, fasting, and dance.Rama NavamiA Hindu spring festival marking the birth of Rama with prayer, fasting and processionsKarva ChauthA fasting festival kept by married women in North India and Nepal for the safety of their husbands.Krishna JanmashtamiA Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Krishna with fasting, singing and night vigils

Good reading and sources

• चार दशकअघि नेपाल आएका शरणार्थीले अझै बिर्सिन सकेका छैनन् भुटानको दशैँBBC, Article
• BBC NEWS | South AsiaBBC, Article
• चार दशकअघि नेपाल आएका शरणार्थीले अझै बिर्सिन सकेका छैनन् भुटानको दशैँBBC, Article
• BBC NEWS | South AsiaBBC, Article

• Dashain on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.