Spiritual Dimensions Of Dashain Festival

We are in the midst of Dashain, a grand festival with spiritual, cultural, and commercial significance. As it begins, crowds flock to shopping malls and markets, eagerly hunting for bargains. It is a time when businessmen lure customers with tempting offers and discounts. Excited by the irresistible pull, customers, in turn, generously open their wallets to splurge on goods—many of which they may not even need. Even the businesses that see tepid sales at other times, generally enjoy brisk business at this time. This is why many have come to associate this period of the year with the time for shopping when markets remain flooded with money. 

Dashain leads to an economic boom as people spend money on travel, shopping, food, and rituals. Businesses, especially in agriculture and retail, experience peak demand during this festive period. Despite having spiritual origins, the latter two aspects seem to have been overshadowing its spiritual aspects in recent years. An attempt to keep up with changing times may define these shifting sands, but the spiritual aspect holds equal significance, if not more. On the cultural side, flying kites is a popular cultural activity during this time, considered to be a way of sending messages to the gods for favourable weather. Also, large bamboo swings are set up in villages and cities, marking community spirit and a nostalgic return to childhood. Dashain also coincides with the end of the monsoon and the beginning of the harvest season, celebrating fertility, abundance, and the agrarian lifestyle of much of rural Nepal. 

Social bonding

People also wear new clothes, exchange gifts, and clean and renovate their homes. It is a time of material renewal, symbolising the idea of starting anew. Dashain is also about family and social bonding. Family members return to their ancestral land for gathering and to worship their tutelary deity, considered to protect them as well as the lineage. Some even come from abroad to be part of the festivities. Elders bless the younger family members by putting tika (a mixture of rice, yoghurt, and vermillion) and giving jamara (sacred barley grass). 

These symbolise prosperity, good health, and long life. The rituals underscore how elders are respected and held in high regard in our society and go a long way to consolidate intergenerational ties. It is marked by feasts, with special foods such as goat meat (sacrificed to the goddess), sel roti (a rice flour doughnut), and other delicacies. Sharing food with neighbours is a key cultural feature. Dashain is also spiritual renewal within families and communities, bringing people together for prayers, blessings, and feasts. 

However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival has undergone major shifts. What used to be a time for celebration is now increasingly being taken over by hardships. During the past four years, growing misery has marred the celebration for many. In 2022, as the country was trying to emerge from the pandemic, the subsequent Russia-Ukraine war sent the prices of fuel and goods skyrocketing, making even daily necessities unaffordable. Two years later, the lingering effect of the two events continues to affect us, though things had started to improve in recent days with the falling in oil prices and the resulting dip in inflation. 

Then came the rarely-seen-before rains and the subsequent devastating floods and landslides towards the end of September. Fourteen districts have been declared disaster-hit, and millions have been affected. Hundreds have lost their lives, and dozens more are still missing. Thousands have been left homeless. Making matters worse, many critical roads have caved in, severed, or washed away, preventing millions from traveling. Those who have lost their loved ones in the devastation are now in mourning. Overall, the catastrophic event has cast a shadow over the festival’s otherwise joyful atmosphere.   

Amid this sequence of hardships, leveraging Dashain’s deep spiritual dimensions can give us the strengths and resilience to cope. The festival honours the victory of good (dharma) over evil (adharma), symbolised by goddess Durga’s triump over the demon Mahisashura. Various forms of Durga are worshipped over the first nine days (Navaratri), with prayers for strength, prosperity, and the destruction of evil forces. The legend of Durga slaying Mahishasura signifies the defeat of negative forces and ego, inspiring people to reflect on overcoming suffering and their own weakness. Offerings of animal sacrifices (increasingly being discarded) or symbolic alternatives, such as fruits and flowers, are made to honour the deities and seek their protection. These rituals are believed to purify the mind, soul, and environment by eradicating negative energies.

Inner reflection

Many people use this time to go within for inner reflection, renewal, personal introspection, offering prayers, and mediating on their own inner battles. Dashain encourages us to cleanse our hearts of negative emotions like greed, anger, and jealousy and embrace compassion, humility, and truth. People also fast during the nine days, offering prayers to the goddess Durga. Different regions follow varied customs, with special puja and rituals dedicated to each day. The festival culminates on the tenth day, known as Dashain, also marking the victory of Lord Rama over the demon king Ravana.

Navratri emphasises feminine energy (Shakti), celebrating its strengths, power, and spirituality, and focussing on inner purification, the triumph of the soul over ego, and the embodiment of divine feminine energy. This energy is the primordial cosmic energy responsible for creations, preservations, and destruction in the universe. Goodess Durga, representing Shakti, manifests in nine forms known as Navadurga, each associated with a specific virtue or power.

Spiritually, Navratri symbolises the worship of the divine feminine within oneself, seeking strengths and guidance to overcome inner weakness and grief.

(Basyal works as a journalistat The Rising Nepal.)