Matatirtha Aunsi being celebrated

Kathmandu, April 17: Matatirtha Aunsi or Mother’s Day is being celebrated in honour of mothers with devotion across the country today.

This festival is considered a day of devotion, respect, and recognition of mothers, who are revered as greater than priests and fathers in the religious scriptures, and a day to seek blessings from them. It is customary for children to get up early this morning, take a bath, dress their mother in beautiful clothes, and feed her with sweets to seek her blessings and recognize her contributions and very important roles in the family and society.

Those who have already lost their mother remember them and the great and difficult deeds she accomplished by making offerings to her soul and offering food to the needy in her remembrance.

Ancient Vedic scriptures highlight the importance of mother and the motherland in the noble saying, ‘Janani Janmabhoomischa Swargadapi Gariyasi’, meaning that the mother who gives birth and the motherland are greater and more loving than heaven, said Theologist and a Member of the Nepal Calendar Determination Committee, Prof. Dr Devmani Bhattarai.

He said it is mentioned in the scriptures that the importance of a mother is a thousand times greater than that of a father. Because of such importance, the living mother is honoured and served with sweet delicacies and gifts while offerings are made in the name of the deceased mother with devotion.

On this occasion, a fair is held today at Mata Tirtha in Chandragiri Municipality in Kathmandu while many visit temples and gather at river confluences and banks to pray for eternal peace for their late mothers. Those with a living mother visit her with various gifts while seeking her blessings.(RSS)