Celebrating Dashain in 2022

What is Dashain?

The Dashain festival is a symbol of unity that intends to bring happiness and joy to all who celebrate it. It stimulates a feeling of togetherness, bringing the whole family together to spend quality time with loved ones. The festival triumphs the victory of good over evil.

According to Hindu religious lore, this victory is celebrated because of Ramayan’s defeat of the evil, demon-king, Ravana, and over the demon Mahisasur. The Hindu goddess, Durga, was said to be key to winning these victories, so she is worshipped during this time.

You may have seen some of the iconic symbols of Dashain, such as the kites which are flown as the festival approaches. And while the children are out flying their kites, the adults spend their time playing card games. Children can also play on the temporary swings which are constructed out of bamboo.

Homes are decorated and cleaned, while many also purchase new clothing to wear. And since Dashain arrives just after the harvest, there’s also a lot of rice and grain inside people’s homes during the year. In terms of the religious context of the festival, animal sacrifices are also offered and some people rise early in the morning to worship various deities.

How is Dashain celebrated?

The Dashain festival lasts for a full 15 days or more, as it follows the moon cycle. Each day has a special significance to the Nepalese community. During the first 10 days, celebrants worship the goddess Kali (Durga Mata) and her various incarnations.

Elders in the community put tika on the foreheads of the younger people in order to get blessings on the 10th day of Dashain. Here are some of the traditions for some of the more significant days in the festival:

• Day 1:  Ghatasthapana – The first day of the festival is the day of sowing Jamara (the grass that emerges after barley seeds germinate)

• Day 7: Phulpati – Brahmins from the Gorkha bring out the Royal Kalash, banana stalks, Jamara and sugarcane tied with red cloth. The Phulpati procession ends at the residence of the President of Nepal

• Day 8: Maha Asthami – People worship the goddesses, Durga and Kali through animal sacrifice and grand feasts

• Day 9: Maha Navami – The ceremonies reach their peak on this day. People worship vehicles, equipment, and tools in the belief that this will prevent accidents in the future

• Day 10: Vijaya Dashami (Victory Day) – This day contains the most significance for celebrants. Tika (a mix of rice, vermillion and yoghurt is prepared by women) and given to younger people by their elders. These young people also receive a small sum of money called the “Dakshina”

• Day 15:  Kojagrata Purnima – The last day of the celebrations falls on the full moon day. People worship the goddess of wealth, Laxmi, and enjoy playing cards throughout the night

When is Dashain 2022?

Here are some of the key dates for each of these significant days in the Dashain calendar for 2022:

Celebrating Dashain away from home

If you’re currently living abroad, you may not be able to fly back home for Dashain. However, there are still plenty of ways to celebrate the Dashain festival and send Nepali Dashain wishes even from afar. One of which is to help your family members by contributing to their celebration expenses, or sending your “dakshina” home.

Here are some ideas for ways to celebrate:

• Play Open Faras with your family online

• Host a video call to celebrate while your family distributes the tika

• Build a miniature swing set as a traditional one might not fit in your house

• Plant Jamara plants ahead of time so they are ready to harvest during the festival

• Send pictures of your celebrations to family members

• Send Dashain greetings in the form of a card shaped like a kite back home

• Visit local shops to buy Dashain decorations like pom-pom garlands and mandalas

• Attend a Dashain event nearby (Student associations, for example, may organise events where you can eat foods like mutton curry or sukuti that remind you of home)

Sending money back home to Nepal

As the festival lasts for a full 15 days, we know that it does come with some expenses for you and your family members. This makes it all the more important to find a reliable service to send money back home. With this money, your family can buy new clothes, give each other gifts, buy Dashain decorations, or hand out their dakshinas to younger members.

Luckily, WorldRemit is just the reliable money transfer service you’ve been looking for. We’re secure and fast, too! In fact, 95% of our transactions are ready within minutes.* We also offer security checks to protect your money and personal information at all times, so your dakshina will never get “lost” in the system.

We also offer many different ways to send money back home for Dashain. Whether you want to try sending money for airtime top up, cash pickup, mobile money or our ever-popular method of a simple bank transfer.

Send money back home

If you haven’t used WorldRemit before, here’s what you need to do:

• Download the WorldRemit app

• Sign up using your personal details

• Select which country you’d like to send to

• Choose how much you’d like to send

• Input the promo code 3FREE to get your first three transfers for free

• Enter your receiver’s details

• Complete your transaction

• Track your transfer until it arrives

Sign-up

And that’s it! We hope this article has inspired you to be able to celebrate Dashain abroad. No matter how far away from home you are, there’s always a chance to get closer by using WorldRemit. We wish you a very happy Dashain this year, wherever you happen to be!

This communication is intended for marketing purposes only and does not constitute or provide legal, tax, investment or financial planning related advice.

*95% of our July 2022 money transfers were authorised within 60 minutes.

References: https://www.nepalsanctuarytreks.com/dashain-festival/