Written by: Niva Shrestha - 30017, Grade VI
Posted on: 26 February, 2024
My Dashain vacation started off quite badly, with me being sick with a high fever and body aches. For this reason, I could not go to my village this year. I had been quite sad since I had not gone to my village last year as well. I did visit many temples on the four days of Dashain. For Ghatasthapana, my family and I visited the ‘Maitidevi Mandir’. The line there was not that long, but we still had to wait about half an hour. After worshipping and performing other religious rituals, we headed back to our house. For Phool Pati, my family and I visited the temple ‘Dakshinkali Mandir’. The line was quite long, maybe because our family did not come early in the morning, so we stayed in line for about 3 hours. After worshipping the goddess and performing other rituals, we headed home. It was a tiresome day, so my sister and I slept until dinner time while my parents cooked dinner for us. We had dinner and then went to bed. I woke up pretty late the next day, at about 10 a.m., while my sister woke up at 8 a.m.
On the third day of Dashain, which is called Mahaastami, only my parents went to a temple while my sister and I stayed home because we were tired. On Navami, everyone stayed home, deciding what to wear and which jewellery to match it with. A few guests also came over, and my cousin also came. I was super excited that she would be staying with us. She stayed at our place for a month because she had a school vacation. She made a huge mistake while packing her clothes because she brought clothes for the summer, but it was already winter in Kathmandu, so she borrowed my clothes.
On the final day of Dashain, which is called Vijaya Dashami, my mother wore a saree with a lot of gold jewellery, I wore a lehenga with a diamond set, my sister wore a kurta and some gold jewellery, and my cousin wore my kurta and one gold accessory and a simple necklace. The best time for putting tika that day was at 11:05 am, so we hurried up and went downstairs to put tika. My nini, mother, and father put tika on my forehead and gave us money, fruits, and blessings. Then, for the rest of my vacation, I went to my relatives to put on a tika. I enjoyed going to their houses, meeting up with my cousins, and playing with them. I did not go anywhere from Kathmandu this Dashain to avoid being sick again, but I could still meet my cousins, so I was not really that sad. For the last 3 days of my vacation, a lot of guests came and put on tika, gave money, fruits, jamara, and blessings to my sister, cousin, and me. My favourite part of my vacation was when my cousin from Dhading came to stay with me for a month. I enjoyed my Dashain wonderfully and happily.
