The Nepali annual calendar is full of life and filled with celebrations and festivals enjoyed by communities from different castes, ethnicities, and religions. Shrawan (July/August), the fourth month of the Nepali calendar, reflects greenery in the environment and in the lifestyle of women.\n\nThe entire month of Shrawan is dedicated to Lord Shiva, the supreme deity in Hinduism. Devotees offer their prayers and seek blessings from Shiva for success, prosperity, and a better conjugal life. Shrawan is filled with religious celebrations.\n\nLegend\nIt is said that samundra manthan (the churning of the ocean) took place during Shrawan. Through that process, a number of valuable rubies emerged from the sea along with the halahal (a deadly poison with the potential to destroy the world). Lord Shiva came to the rescue by consuming the poison himself. It is believed that his neck turned blue due to the poison’s toxic effects, thus earning him the name Nilkantha (the one with a blue throat). The other gods came to help Lord Shiva using the water from the Ganges. He wore crescent moon over his head to reduce the effect of poison and maintains the temperature of his body. It is also believed that Lord Indra came to help by showering him with rain to reduce his body temperature. This is why water (particularly of the Ganges), leaves of the bel plant (bilva leaves), and milk are offered to Lord Shiva during Shrawan to earn good fortune.\n\nFasting and Bolbam\nShrawan is one of the most sacred months of the year in the Nepali calendar, and people devote themselves to religious activities. Although devotees visit temples regularly, it is believed that offering prayers on Mondays during Shrawan has special significance. People perform pilgrimages, also known as bolbam, barefoot and in orange attire to bring pure water from the holy river and offer it in temples to Lord Shiva. There are different practices of fasting. Some avoid grains, salt, oils, and spices on this particular day only, whereas others avoid meat, garlic, onion, and ginger for an entire month. Mostly Hindu women and girls continue fasting during this month. A married woman observes a fast for their husband’s healthy life while unmarried women do so in the hope of finding a better life partner.\n\nHenna and Bangles\nNepali women and girls are often seen wearing green and orange attire, hennas, and bangles to mark this month. Nepalese markets are filled with brightly colored accessories and apparel for the whole month. The green color signifies not only the cultural spirit but also the environment, which is verdant after the monsoon season. Married women can be seen wearing colorful glass bead necklaces, known as potay, a symbol of marriage in the Hindu culture. The potay is an important piece gifted by a groom to his bride during the wedding ceremony.\n\nPhoto 1 : A holy pilgrimage bolbam ⓒ Riwaj Rai\nPhoto 2 : Bangles and glass beads necklace potay ⓒ Smriti Rai\nPhoto 3 : Henna ⓒMamta Acharya

Bangladesh has been a place of religious harmony for centuries. The vast displays of cultural and religious properties on show here have been shaped over the last 5,000 years, following numerous political and social movements including those of the Pals (Buddhist), Sens (Hindu), Mughals (Muslim), and British (Christian), and have grown to become symbols of the country’s tangible and intangible heritage. Because of the presence of these varied political religious reigns, Bangladesh became home to famous tirthas or pilgrimage sites for different faith groups. Many notable monks, rishis (Hindu saints), bhikkhus (Buddhist saints), pirs, and darbeshes (Muslim preachers), and Christian priests were either born or passed away here.

The mask—a mystery in itself and a disguise that gets many names and forms along with the circumstances, context, beliefs, values and practices that always carry a story to be told. Nepal stands as one of the culturally rich nations with more than 365 different festivals celebrated annually, many of which have mask dance performances representing a specific religious deity. Ga: Pyakhaan or Asthamatrika Naach is one of many mask dances performed annually in the city of Patan, Nepal. The word astha means eight; matrika means mother goddess and naach means dance, thus, literally implying “dance of eight motherly goddesses.” This dance is performed during the Dashain festival from Ghathasthapana to Vijaya Dashami (first to last day of the Dashain festival) in the royal courtyard of Mul-chowk inside Patan Durbar. It is believed that these eight tutelary deities help in protecting the city from eight specific fears: threat from outsiders (historically from other states and kingdoms), wind, water, fire, natural disasters, enemies, thieves, and evil spirits. Thus, it is an annual ritual performed for wellbeing, peace and prosperity of county and citizens to protect them from unforeseen fears that might be faced in days to come.

The festival of Diwali in India is celebrated by different communities in different ways, performing different rituals. It is a festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs, and usually lasts for five days.\nThe Sindhi community in India celebrates Diwali for just three days. One of the distinctive features of their celebration is the worshipping of a haatdi. Haatdi is also worshipped by a few Gujarati communities.\n“Haatdi” comes from the word haat and symbolizes a shop. People worship it mainly to invoke the blessings of Lakshmi (the goddess of abundance and auspiciousness) for work or business, praying for their business to prosper. A haatdi is a colorful representation of a shop. There are some who believe it used to represent the male members of the family who were the breadwinners. The number of haatdis bought was equal to the number of male members in the family, with one being for the female child. Nowadays they are usually bought in pairs of two, four, six. After Diwali, the haatdi is immersed in water.\nThe making of clay haatdi begins on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, which is regarded as auspicious and usually falls in August or September. The people of a particular community in Ahmedabad are involved in the making of haatdis, with the whole family taking part. They even travel out of Gujarat to states like Maharashtra to make and sell their wares. Haatdis are made and sold until Kaali Chaudas (the second day of the five-day festival of Diwali).\nA demonstration of the process of making a haatdi was given by Mr. Chaturbhai, Mr. Varshrambhai, Mr. Bharatbhai, and their families at their place in the lane opposite APS International School in Ahmedabad. Even I enjoyed trying my hand at making a haatdi during this experience organized by India Heritage Walks and led by Mr. Keyur Shah.