Me and my husband just recently had the chance to travel to my husbands home land of Nepal and to India for our epic 2 month trip, visiting family, friends, temples, palaces, deserts and so much more. In total we visited four different districts in Nepal and five different districts and states in India.
We travel every year, and we have been to India many times over the past 22 years, as well as Nepal every 2-3 years to see family.
But this year was different as we was seeing family and friends as it was festival season. And for me it had been 8 years since I had been to Ravi's family home which is in Dhangadhi, which is the far western region of Nepal near to the border of India of Uttar Pradesh. It is the 9th largest city in Nepal.
Here you can experience Nepalese rural life, enjoying wonderful flat land landscapes, countryside, rice fields, traditional farm land, nature reserves, lakes and rivers.
Nepal is truly beautiful, its not only known for it's highest mountains in the world, but for it's rural landscape is also a most to visit and it's nature reserves for seeing wild tigers, leopards, one horn Rhino's and elephants to name a few on safari.
We got to see all that and enjoy family time with family and living in Ravi's family village home for over a month.
We celebrated Dashain with family after many years apart, which is the 15-day-long festival and holidays of Nepal. It is the longest and the most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar, celebrated by Nepalese Hindu people throughout the globe. It is not only the longest festival of the country, but also the one which is most anticipated. The festival falls in September or October, starting from the shukla paksha (bright lunar fortnight) of the month of Ashvin and ending on purnima, the full moon.
Among the 10 days for which it is celebrated, the most important days are the first, seventh, eighth, ninth and the tenth, but tenth day is very important. This festival is also known for its emphasis on the family gatherings, as well as on a renewal of community ties. People return from all parts of the world, as well as different parts of the country, to celebrate together. All government offices, educational institutions and other private offices remain closed during the festival and holidays period.
It marks the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana as recounted in the Ramayana. It is also celebrated to mark the victory of Goddess Durga over demon Mahishasur and end of Navratri. Dussehra or Vijyadashami signifies the victory of good over evil.
The last time I celebrated the festival with my husbands family was 8 years ago, but we still celebrate it every year at home. But this year was special for me, my husband and his family, as it had been so long since we all celebrated together.
Everyone was there, all of Ravi's family from all over the country came. It was amazing and to follow the traditions and customs was a true gift and honor to be apart of such a loving family and time of celebration.
We also celebrated Tihar also known as Deepawali and Yamapanchak or Swanti which is a five-day Hindu festival celebrated in Nepal. Tihar is analogous to the Indian festival of Diwali, the festival of lights, but with some significant differences.
Like with Diwali, Tihar is marked by lighting diyas inside and outside the home but unlike the Indian festival, the five days of Tihar include celebration and worship of the four creatures associated with the Hindu god of death Yama, with the final day reserved for people themselves
and ends with Bhai (brother) Tika on Dwitiya of Kartik Sukla Paksha every year. In the Gregorian calender the festival falls sometime between October and November every year.
Here are some of our family pictures of Dashain, Tihar and Bhai Tika...
After festival time we spent time away from home to visit other parts of Nepal with family and spent quality time together, visiting lakes, nature reserves, parks and so much more...
After our time seeing family, we headed to Lumpini in Nepal, which is the birth place of the Buddha.
It has always been a place that I wanted to visit, as I have visited many places in Nepal, but have never had the chance to visit.
Luckily we did, as we was going to cross the border from Lumpini over to India into Uttar Pradesh in a few days as our visa was about to end and our next trip to India was about the begin...
As many of my clients know that I love the Buddha and I have many Buddha statues around my home and therapy room. I believe very much in his teachings and Hindu philosophy.
It was amazing , everything was -
seeing family,
having safari seeing tigers with family was all amazing
spending quality time together, was fantastic.
my husband having quality time with his family. Priceless and necessary.
We loved every minute of it and we hope to be able to visit again next year or the year after, if we can!
Next we are off to India, across the border from Nepal and heading to some sacred temples, medieval palaces, desert safaris and so much more...
I hope that you can join me for my next blog post of our travels in Asia...
Like below to see more...
Best Wishes and Happy festivities to you and all my wonderful clients.
Looking forward to seeing you all again in the new year!!!
Kelly and Ravi
x
Website: www.pureblissretreats.co.uk
Email Kelly : pureblissretreats@mail.com