Munindra Ratna Bajracharya 

Mepali lifestyle is regulated by religions through the performance of various rites and rituals. Whether it is a Hindu or a Buddhist festival, both the Hindus and Buddhists celebrate and observe them with equal enthusiasm and gaiety.
The devotees and followers always seek God's grace for the well-being of the family, prosperity and salvation for the self. Religious custom and tradition guide every step of a Nepali from birth to death and beyond. They have different types of objects, food and drinks and eating habits.

Monsoon Driven Cycle
The Nepali festivals are mostly woven around the monsoon-driven agricultural cycle. Many of these festivities are observed after plantation and harvesting of paddy.
During the full-moon day of Mangsir (sometimes in Poush) month, while celebrating Dhanyapurnima, the people of the Kathmandu Valley offer worship to Annapurna, the goddess of grains, for the rice harvest.
The paddy is kept inside the house in a large Bhakari, or a bamboo basket. On Dhanyapurnima day, the worship is performed with the rice, flour sandalwood and colour paste. This festival is also known as Yomari Purnima.
Nepalis are famous not only for their architectural and artistic skills but also for their excellent culinary tradition. A Yomari is a confection of the rice-flour dough with brown cane sugar and sesame seeds. This delicacy is the chief item on the menu during the post-harvest celebration on the Yomari Purnima day.
Yomari cakes are also offered to the deities at various temples. Yomari is a bread which is tastier than other bread. So in Newari language, it is called Yomari the 'lovely tasty bread'. It is made with careful preparation on special occasions.
Every festival involves the worshipping of the concerned deities and then sitting for a feast thereafter. The worship is recommended by Lord Narayan, which is written in the holy scripture of the Vishnupuran. The holy book instructs making different kinds of Yomari as the shape of Ganesh, Laxmi, and small Mayo and Bayo and also to worship on the bamboo baskets 'Bhakari' where grains are stored. Then the farmers should distribute alms to the needy ones on the day of Dhanyapurnima. On the occasion of Yomari Purnima, some southern villages such as Hari Siddhi and Thecho, sacred masked dances are also performed.

Big Celebration
A big celebration is also observed at night at Dhaneshwor Mahadev temple in Banepa. The Purnima is noted in Jitamitra Malla's palace inscription of NS 808, and among varieties of eatable articles like Yomari is offered to the deity.
The Buddhist text of Ratnabadan tells us a story about the Yomari turning into a bouquet of gems as a result of a pious deed performed on that day. "The wife of a merchant had mercifully fed a Yomari bread to the poor on that day. But the poor man was not an ordinary man, he belonged to God Kuber, who later turned out to be the god of wealth in disguised form and blessed her.
She had been asked to prepare a piece of Yomari, put it inside the granary, and worship the same as the Lord of Wealth. She did as he told and to her extreme satisfaction, she found that the cake had turned into gold and with it also all the grain particles. Since then, Yomari Purnima is observed every year in the Newar community.
Some legend is found that this festival is started from Panchalinagar (Panauti). Once Suchandra and Kriti, a married couple first experimented making the bread in a new shape of the fresh yield of rice which became so tasty and delicious they called it Yomari.
This new food was first offered to God Kuber who came in a disguise. Kuber was happy and disclosing this tasty bread. Every year this Yomari is distributed to all local children who come begging in the evening. The children of the Kathmandu Valley beg for Yomaris from all the neighbouring houses singing customary songs and dancing.
But nowadays there is no such tradition of begging Yomaris due to the lack of knowledge about the culture. A legend or folklore is found behind every festival in Nepal. Any arrival of festivals makes our farmers happy over the possession of their hard-earned resources like paddy. Owing to the concerns surrounding their farming on this occasion, the Kathmandu Jyapoos celebrate this festival enthusiastically.
They also call this festival as 'Koopuja'. Nowadays, in Kathmandu, Jyapoo farmer community mark the 'National Jyapu Diwas' on Yomari Purnima by organising various programmes like giving awards named as Jyapu Ratna, Jyapu Pragya Sanman and Jyapu Prativa. They have been organising a cultural rally in the town area since 2061 B.S. But this year, due to coronavirus pandemic, programmes to celebrate Jyapu Diwas will be a low key affair.

Precious Day
Dhanyapurnima day is also a precious day for some other communities like the Kirats, Rais, Limbus, Yakkhas and Sunuwars who observe Sakela or the Udhauli festival. The Sakela festival is a worship of the goddess of nature for well-being and good harvesting. This event is also called Bhumi Puja ( the worship of land) asking for good cultivation.
The young boys and girls participate in the Sakela dancing festival. They will dance with various instruments like Dhol, Jhyamate etc. during the festival. The celebration of migrating downwards from high mountains during the winter season is called 'Udhauli'. The Mundhum is a source of knowledge and guiding principle for rituals and customs for the Kirati people. The Kiratis are the oldest indigenous ethnic group of the Himalayan region, particularly the eastern mid-hills of present Nepal. On the occasion of this Purnima, Terai Tharus also celebrate this festival as saying Auli Uttarana or Jhajhara Parva. They eat bread made of rice. The day also signals the successful end of the year's harvesting season.

(Bajracharya is Retired Reader of Tribhuvan University)