The Nepal Weekly 
August 5, 2025
The full moon day in the month of August is an occasion for wearing Janai, the sacred thread Hindu priests tie the sacred threads to their clients while in the early morning they taking bath at holy rivers like Bagmati or Bishnumati change their Janai, they wear crossed by right shoulder to left waist.
The priests tie yellow sacred threads around the wrists of their clients. In Terai and people who follow Indian tradition, sisters offer sacred threads to their brother on the same day.
Likewise, savouring Kwati, the soup of nine different beans cooked with traditional recipe in Nepal. Mainly, Newars of Kathmandu Valley call this festival Gunhi Punhi and they prepare a soup of a mixture of beans called Kwati as special food for the day. Kwatiis eaten as a delicacy and for its health benefits and ritual significance. Kwati is considered to be a healthy food. Because the soup contains varieties of beans, this recipe is high in proteins.
The Newars, local inhabitant believes that Gunla indicates the ninth month of the Nepal era lunar calendar. That somehow is connected with the nine varieties of the sprouted beans which are used to prepare Kwati.
Kwati surpassingly has a special mark in the Newar cuisine. Besides the taste, its aroma never lets it’s epicurean forget its existence. Plus, it is served only on a particular day. About that, the old folklore says people have had Kwati to re-energize themselves after all of the hard work which they did on the field.
Of course, during the rice transplantation during monsoon. Kwati, on the other hand, is a dish that is full of nutrition. It can cure colds, cough, and is also beneficial for constipation, diabetes, and piles like wellness quandaries.
Maybe, the then Newars were well aware of these things. That’s why they choose a particular food plus a day to refill themselves with this nutritious and flavourful recipe.
To prepare Kwati, first of all, all ingredients are soaked in water for at least two to three days. The soup includes ingredients like black gram, green gram, chickpea, field bean, soybean, field pea, garden pea, cowpea, and rice bean besides the spices.
Day after savouring Kwati and wearing sacred thread, Gaijatra festival takes place in the Kathmandu Valley and other Newar settlements.
Gaijatra in Kathmandu started during the reign of King Pratap Malla who ruled during 1641 to 1674 A.D. He had to convince his queen to cope with the demise of their son Chakravatendra Malla saying that the commoners also lost their beloved ones. So a parade with wearing a printed cow mask was organized. The families who lost their family members participated in the parade and took a round of the core town via the king’s palace.
Thus the commoners came out with cow procession praying salvation of departed souls observing Gaijatra. The festival also includes performance of comedies and parodies on the political and social situation expressing comments and dissatisfaction of people during the Gaijatra.
This year Janai Purnima and the day for Kwati fall on 9 August while GaiJatra falls on the 10th of August 2025.
