10-16-2006, 08:00 AM
vame via email.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Nepal bans firecrackers for Diwali </b>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am from Nepal and am a hindu. I found this topic as well as the responses very strange. As far as I know the notice to ban firecrackers during deepawali (Tihar in Nepali) is issued by his majesty's government's home ministry every year in Nepal. This notice is published every year before Tihar and I have seen it at least for last 20 years. So there is nothing new in it.
The way in which most of the hindu festivals are celebrated in Nepal is mostly unadulterated from any external christian/ muslim etc influences. So the way in which festivals are celebrated in Nepal is somewhat different from that in India. In Deepawali (Tihar), there is a holiday all over the country for 5 days, and it is also called as 'Yama Panchak'. On day 1, we worship crows, followed by dog and Lord Dhanvantari on the second day, then cow and Goddess Laxmi on the third day, Ox, buffaloes, ones' 'aatman' (soul) and replica of Gobardhan Parbat on 4th day, and Yamaraj and own brothers on the last day. Lighting 'oil or ghee lamps' (diyos) is a custom followed on all 5 days, but lighting candles and using firecrackers has never been a nepali way to celebrate Deepawali. This is being copied from what is seen on Indian media in the last one decade, and is in no way related to Nepalese traditions. And I don't think that the 'Dharma Shastras' have told us to celebrate Deepawali by using firecrackers. I think this is a custom imported in India as well from somewhere else.
The only holidays we have in our country is during hindu festivals, ranging from dussehara (dashain), deepawali (Tihar) to Mahashivaratri, Holi and many others. This year also there was a 15 days holiday in Dashain and people celebrated it with much more zeal than in past few years. Even the Maoists celebrated Dashain this year after a long gap of nearly a decade. Our national and official calender is Vikram Samvat, and most people don't know the year/ months in Christian era. Only non hindu festival in which there is a holiday is 'Buddha Purnima'. Nepal still has 82% hindus and 11% buddhists (total 93%). Buddhism in Nepal is very much interwined with Hinduism and Buddhists here regularly visit and worship in hindu temples. Out of the remaining population, 4% comproise the Kiraats. This is more of an animistic religion with lots of hindu influence and their main god is 'Kiranteshwor Mahadev'. Muslims only comprise 2% of the population, and they too are concentrated in just 2 districts adjacent to Lucknow of India. Christians don't comprise even 0.5% of the total population. Anti conversion laws here are very strict and still in place, and everyone including Maoists are still for these rules. Killing cows is a punishable offence and one gets sentence of 12 years on killing cows even now. So I don't think that there is so much threat to Hindu religion here, as is portrayed by the Media. And the Hindu festivals celebrated here are more old fashioned with less influence of the current modern world, that is why many of them may look peculiar to someone from India or anywhere else in the world. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Nepal bans firecrackers for Diwali </b>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am from Nepal and am a hindu. I found this topic as well as the responses very strange. As far as I know the notice to ban firecrackers during deepawali (Tihar in Nepali) is issued by his majesty's government's home ministry every year in Nepal. This notice is published every year before Tihar and I have seen it at least for last 20 years. So there is nothing new in it.
The way in which most of the hindu festivals are celebrated in Nepal is mostly unadulterated from any external christian/ muslim etc influences. So the way in which festivals are celebrated in Nepal is somewhat different from that in India. In Deepawali (Tihar), there is a holiday all over the country for 5 days, and it is also called as 'Yama Panchak'. On day 1, we worship crows, followed by dog and Lord Dhanvantari on the second day, then cow and Goddess Laxmi on the third day, Ox, buffaloes, ones' 'aatman' (soul) and replica of Gobardhan Parbat on 4th day, and Yamaraj and own brothers on the last day. Lighting 'oil or ghee lamps' (diyos) is a custom followed on all 5 days, but lighting candles and using firecrackers has never been a nepali way to celebrate Deepawali. This is being copied from what is seen on Indian media in the last one decade, and is in no way related to Nepalese traditions. And I don't think that the 'Dharma Shastras' have told us to celebrate Deepawali by using firecrackers. I think this is a custom imported in India as well from somewhere else.
The only holidays we have in our country is during hindu festivals, ranging from dussehara (dashain), deepawali (Tihar) to Mahashivaratri, Holi and many others. This year also there was a 15 days holiday in Dashain and people celebrated it with much more zeal than in past few years. Even the Maoists celebrated Dashain this year after a long gap of nearly a decade. Our national and official calender is Vikram Samvat, and most people don't know the year/ months in Christian era. Only non hindu festival in which there is a holiday is 'Buddha Purnima'. Nepal still has 82% hindus and 11% buddhists (total 93%). Buddhism in Nepal is very much interwined with Hinduism and Buddhists here regularly visit and worship in hindu temples. Out of the remaining population, 4% comproise the Kiraats. This is more of an animistic religion with lots of hindu influence and their main god is 'Kiranteshwor Mahadev'. Muslims only comprise 2% of the population, and they too are concentrated in just 2 districts adjacent to Lucknow of India. Christians don't comprise even 0.5% of the total population. Anti conversion laws here are very strict and still in place, and everyone including Maoists are still for these rules. Killing cows is a punishable offence and one gets sentence of 12 years on killing cows even now. So I don't think that there is so much threat to Hindu religion here, as is portrayed by the Media. And the Hindu festivals celebrated here are more old fashioned with less influence of the current modern world, that is why many of them may look peculiar to someone from India or anywhere else in the world. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->