The Nepal Weekly 
September 23, 2025
The great Hindu festival Bada Dashain or Vijaya Dashami commenced on Monday with the observance of Ghatasthapana, the ritual that sets the tone for the ten-day celebrations. During the rites devotees across the country worshipped Goddess Durga and sowed maize and barley seeds in a clay pot to germinate jamara (barley shoots), a key symbol of the festival.
On the first day of ‘Dashain’ barley seeds called Jamara are sown in a mud vessel while a metal vessel ‘Kalash’ with water in it is kept besides it for a ritual known as Ghatasthapana.
In Kathmandu, the main Jamara was placed in the centuries-old royal palace Hanuman Dhoka’s ‘Dashain Ghar’ at the auspicious time by performing a special Vedic ritual on Monday morning.
With the Ghatasthapana, celebrations and prayers take place in all the Shaktipeeths or religious power centres across the country, including in the Kathmandu Valley.
The barley seeds grow into Jamara or barley shoots on the 10th day, the Vijaya Dashami day, and are offered with tika or vermilion powder mixed with rice and curd applied to juniors on their forehead marking Vijaya Dashami festivities.
The Bada Dashain, which starts on Ashwin Shukla Pratipada or the first bright Moon day as per the Lunar Calendar, extends upto Kojagrat Purnima, the next full Moon day. People celebrate the festival enjoying feast and putting tika on their forhead upto Kojagrat Purnima.
Kathmandu becomes almost empty of vehicles and people as half of the people residing in the capital city return to their native homes in the countryside. In the past 4,5 days around 200,000 people have already left Kathmandu for their destinations outside the valley.
This year people are observing the festivities in the aftermath of Gen Z protests and the chaotic situation that followed it. At least one and a half dozen big malls, Bhatbhateni Supermarkts, were burnt to ashes and many business houses were vandalized by the protesters due to their presumed political connections. The markets in Kathmandu do not have vibrant and shining look this time unlike in the past.
Last week, former chief justice Sushila Karki took charge of the caretaker government as the students’ two day long protests toppled K.P. Oli led government, which is charged with rampant corruption and nepotism and favouritism.
Across the country, the government offices have a week-long holiday while schools and colleges remain closed for two weeks on the occasion. People fly kites, play cards, buy and dress in new clothes, visit temples, make feasts, visit relatives and perform daily worship on the occasion.
In many temples of Bhagawati (Goddess), people also sacrifice animals and birds on the occasion. However, of late, the animal sacrifice has become less popular with campaigns by animal rights groups and growing awareness among the people against such rituals.
