Source

NEPAL, February 20, 2005: Nepal’s vivid cultures are an invaluable resource, one which Nepalese are striving to preserve. Among many festivals Shree Swasthani Vrata Katha is one of them. The solemn worshipping of Goddess Shree Swasthani (the Hindu deity known for miraculously granting wishes made in a solemn state by pure souls) in every Hindu household begins on the third week of January (Poush Shukla Poornima) according to Hindu Vedic calendar. The month-long telling of tales of Lord Siva and many other Gods and Goddesses focusing on the Goddess Swasthani was started on the January 25 this year and is to complete on the of February 23.



To mark this Swasthani Katha, women take vrata (vow of fasting) for the well-being of their husbands, or in order to get a good moral husband, for a month long. They wear red, which is a sign of good luck for Nepalese women. Family members gather in a room, clean and sanctified, in the morning or evening where the Deity is worshipped, amid chanting of holy hymns from Shree Swasthani Vrata Katha scripture recording divine feats of Swasthani Devi. Innumerable episodes, a breakdown in thirty-one chapters, depicting the devotees’ sufferings, and later, redemption, in a state of salvation, are read aloud with the guru or the elderly member chanting the hymns in Sanskrit. It is believed that anyone observing the holy ceremony for a month attains a state of purity and solemnity by strictly adhering to the rituals prescribed and will have his/her wishes granted. On the concluding day of vrata katha, after the completion of the month, the final ritual takes place. On that day on a copper plate the holy symbol of Om Kar is to be painted and a Sivalingam of holy sand is to be erected on it. Later puja (worship) of the Sivalingam takes place. In this way Shree Swasthani Vrata Katha comes to end. To learn more about the festival, click on “source” above.

Post Views: 689