Navavarsha means a New Year in the Nepali calendar. There are actually three New Year celebrations that occur in Nepal; Navavarsha, the Tibetan New Year and the New Year of the Gregorian calendar. The Nepali calendar is known as Bikram Sambat and begins with the first month of Baisakh.
There are always a large number of festivals and religious events occur in Nepal during Navavarsha. The day begins with prayers and worships inside temples and the Hindu ritual of Puja. After Puja is presented, locals will walk around the temple in an anti-clockwise direction, whilst ringing bells. People go for picnics, have get-togethers and celebrate the day socializing in various ways as this day is also a national holiday.
The celebration of the Navavarsha also comes with many leisure activities that include street dances, parades and family reunions. The occasion has always been enthusiastically participated and fully funded by the organizations and individuals. Parts of the event are the traditional games and sports that the people organize during this day.
All of the children at Our Sansar celebrated by having a lovely meal of dhal (lentils), bhat, pakauda and achar (pickle) and chicken curry. This meal is traditional for the Terai region. In this region, there are less celebrations compared to regions with many tourists such as Kathmandu. However the children may not have had the luxury to celebrate the Nepali New Year at all, if it wasn’t for all the work by Our Sansar.
We’re hoping that they are able to celebrate the Nepali New Year, every year. And we want more of Nepal’s street children to celebrate with them. You can help us achieve this – by buying a chicken! Find out more about this here: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/buy-a-chicken/
Happy Navavarsha to all! We hope everyone has a great Nepali year 2072!
