Bala Chaturdashi observed by scattering Satbeej

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 12: The Bala Chaturdashi festival was observed by paying homage to the deceased relatives across the country on Monday. Devotees thronged Pashupatinath Temple and other Shiva temples across the nation.

The festival is celebrated every year on the day of Marga Krishna Chaturdashi as per the Bikram Sambat calendar. 

On the occasion, devotees in Kathmandu took a holy bath early in the morning and visited Pashupatinath Temple, or the nearest shrines of lord Shiva and spread seeds of seven different kinds of grains (Satbeej) and prayed for the peace of their departed relatives.

As per the tradition, the devotees scatter the Satbeej in the Pashupati region and around other temples in the morning. It is customary to mix seven types of grains including paddy, barley, sesame, wheat, gram, maize, and kaguno (foxtail millet). 

People stayed awake all night by lighting the Mahadeep in the Pashupati area before spreading the seeds in the morning after immersing the Mahadeep in the Bagmati River and taking a bath.

According to the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT), several religious organisations, PADT and the Nepali Army pitched tents for the worshippers to perform the night-long vigil on the Pashupati premises.    

The spreading of Satbeej started from Vatsaleshwori in the Pashupatinath region and the devotees went all the way to Anantnarayan, Yamaraj, Batuk Bhairava, Jayanangala, Rajaraeshwori, Pashupatinath Temple and Bagmati Aryaghat spreading the Satbeej. 

Similarly, a large number of devotees thronged Galeshwordham of Myagdi, Devghat of Tanahun, Halesi of Khotang, Arjundhara of Jhapa and other places to observe the Bala Chaturdashi festival. 

According to the Galeshwor Shivalaya Area Development Trust, this year, a large number of devotees visited the Galeshwor temple on the occasion of the festival. 

Madhav Prasad Regmi, President of the Trust, said that the devotees from Myagdi, Rupandehi, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Kapilvastu, Palpa, Gulmi, Makwanpur, Kathmandu, Kaski, Syangja, Parbat and Baglung visited the site.   

Likewise, the devotees also thronged Devghat from early in the morning to spread Satbeej. 

According to Bhim Bahadur Rana, President of Devghat Area Development Committee, from Sunday night, devotees gathered to light lamps in memory of the departed family members and spent the night observing vigil. In the morning, the devotees spread the Satbeej.  

Devghat Rural Municipality provided a public holiday on Monday. All the government offices (except emergency service), public organisations and educational institutions inside the Devghat area were closed to mark the festival. 

Til Bahadur Thapa, Chairperson of the Rural Municipality, said that a large number of devotees visited Devghat to scatter the Satbeej.