In Nepali, seasons are called Reetu (ऋतु). Most countries around the world divides the year into 4 seasons with 3 months in each season. Whereas in Nepal, a year is divided into 6 seasons with 2 months in each. The six seasons are Basanta Ritu बसन्त ऋतु, Grishma Ritu ग्रिष्म ऋतु, Barsha Ritu वर्षा ऋतु, Sharad Ritu शरद ऋतु,Hemanta Ritu हेमन्त ऋतु, and Shishir Ritu शिशिर ऋतु.
In this blog, I am starting with Shishir Ritu which is the Winter season. Shishir ritu is cold in most part of Nepal and upper mountainous areas sees snow during this season. In Nepali calendar, Paush and Magh are the two months that is considered winter.
There are few important occasions in Shishir Ritu. We are highlighting three major ones here.
- Makar Sankranti (Maghe Sankranti)
- Sri Swasthani Barta Katha
- Sonam Lhochar
Let’s dive into the details of the Makar Sankranti in this post. Other two will be covered in following post.
Magh is the tenth month of the Nepali calendar. In Nepali calendar, beginning of each month is considered transition of one zodiac sign to another. Magh is considered special because the transition is from Dhanu (Sagittarius) to Makar (Capricorn) rashi and the transition is also of movement of Sun along with the zodiac sign. Makar sankranti has auspicious meaning because it signifies almost end of the winter and welcoming of warm season next month.
In Terai regions (plains of Nepal), Tharus mark this festival as end of winter. It is also considered New Year by Tharus of Kailai, Bardiya, Dang, Banke and Kahchanput districts. They plan their entire year in this month.
Hindus also take bath in the holy rivers on this day. The rituals are called Makar snan. The bath is mainly performed in tribunals where three rivers meet. Places like Shankhamol, Dolalghat, Ridit, Trivenighat (Panauti) etc are busy on this day.
Newari communities in Nepal celebrate this day as day of wellbeing by massaging their body and head with sesame oil taking sun bath. It is their belief that massaging the body with sesame oil and eating rich caloric diet such as Til ko Laddu (sesame seeds & special Molases), Ghiu Chaku (Clarified butter & special Molases), Tarul (Yam) etc helps people remain healthy and warm during cold season.
Mythological stories of Maghe Sankranti
One legend of goes like this. A Merchant of Bhadgaun (current day Baktapur) was a successful businessman. He made good sales of sesame seeds and at the same time his stockpile of the seeds never went down. He searched for the clue. Cleaning the stockpile and he found the Idol of Lord Vishnu down beneath the seeds. Then after the Idol is being worshipped as Til Madhav Idol. It is believed worshipping the idol would bring supply of food, prosperity and wealth.
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Read this blog on Medium as well.
