RAKKI

raksha bandhan 

Rakshya means "to protect" and bandhan is "tie" or "bond". Rakshya Bandhan is a bond or tie of protection. This thread is which is tied around the hand is called Doro. Some people even say Janai for Doro.

They believe doro brings them good luck, when one believes, that always becomes true. People keep the doro tied in wrist till  on Laxmi Puja day in Deepawali. This thread is then taken out from wrist and tied on the tail of a cow in the cow worship day (Laxmi puja) in about October. In Raksha Bandhan day male, female, children and kids regardless of status and caste get tied a doro (sacred colorful thread) around their wrist. Generally males get tied the thread around their right and the women around their left wrist. 

Hindu believe that they have to cross a river Baitarni after death to reach heaven. The cow will help him/her to cross the river Baitarni, by allowing the dead to cling to her tail, if he/she ties the doro to the tail of a cow on Laxmi Puja day. 

JANAI

JANAI PURNIMA

 JANAI PURNIMA is observed in the month of Shrawan. It is called Rakshya Bandhan as this festival observes the bond of purity and security.  This festival is celebrated by Hindus all over the world. 

Janai Purnima is Sacred Thread Festival. On this day, Hindu men, especially the Brahmins and Chettris perform their annual change of Janai and all who celebrates this festival put a scared thread around their wrist.

      

Janai is a cotton string worn across the chest by Hindu male. This thread is only given to males during a long and  impressive religious ceremony called Bratabandhan. Almost all the religion has type of Bratabandhan, but known by different names. Bratabandhan is basically a formal process of accepting someone in the religion.

A day before Janai purnima the persons wearing janai should make themselves 'clean' by shaving or cutting hair and take a good bath. They undergo a partial fasting, taking only one meal of foods considered to be 'clean' - no meat, no onions or garlic. Before big event Hindus prefer to clean their body by keeping fasting. Satvic food is prescribed for all Hindu ritual and festival. In the Purnima morning men usually go to rivers and ponds nearby, to take secret bath dipping himself thrice in the water. Men, then change their Janai. Break the old ones.  However in cities, the family priest (Pandit / Puret) comes to the residence. The entire family gathers around pandit as he reads the importance and stories of the from a holy book (patro) and performs a ceremony, which purifies the new thread, and places it about the men’s neck across the chest. In a payment the priest is given foodstuffs and monies. The money is called Dakshina and other stuff are called Daan in Sanskrit
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JATRA

Gai jatra

The Festival of Cows is one of the most popular festivals of Nepal. It is celebrated to diminish the sadness from the death of family members. During the festival, cows are marched in the streets. People also distribute food to others.Gai Jatra, (gāi means cow and jātrā means festival in nepali: गाई जात्रा, and nepali basa: सा पारु) is a festival celebrated in nepal, mainly in kathmandu valley by the newar community.
 The festival commemorates the death of people during the year and is generally celebrated in the month of [Bhadra (Hindu calendar)|Bhadra] )August–September). The date is set according to the lunar nepal era calendar: it falls on the first day of the dark fortnight of the month of [Gunla].

• The whole complex of Gai Jatra festival has its roots in the ancient ages when people feared and worshiped yamraj, the god of death. However, the ironic sessions synonymous with the Gai Jatra festival entered the tradition in the medieval period of Nepal during the reign of the malla Kings. Hence, the present form of Gaijatra is a happy blending of antiquity and the medieval era.
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• According to the traditions since time immemorial, every family who has lost one relative during the past year must participate in a procession through the streets of Kathmandu leading a cow. If a cow is unavailable then a young boy dressed as a cow is considered a fair substitute.

• In Hinduism, a cow is regarded the most venerated among all the domestic animals. It is believed that the cow, revered as a holy animal by hindus, will help the deceased relative's journey to heaven
• According to the historical evidence, when King Pratap Malla lost his son, his wife, the queen, remained grief-stricken. The king was very sad to see the condition of his beloved queen. The king, in spite of several efforts, could not lessen the grief of his wife. To show his wife that death is a natural part of life, he called on people for a carnival if someone has died in their family. Many people came which showed the queen that it is not only her son had died somebody has died in every family in this festival.