Jimmy Thapa
This last day of the dark fortnight in the lunar month of Bhadra is celebrated in Nepal as Fathers' Day. On this day living fathers are honored with gifts and reverence, and the souls of deceased fathers are propitiated with the traditional shraddha ceremony of offering pindas, small pastry balls of rice and barley flour, which are either immersed in a sacred river, or fed to holy cows.
Offering pindas
Sweets for fathers
The most auspicious place
for performing these ceremonies is at the great Shiva temple of
Gokarneshvara on the bank of the Bagmati in the north of this Sacred
Valley.
Gokarneshvara Temple
The power of this lingam,
established by Brahma out of a portion of the horn of Lord
Pashupati-Shiva, who gamboled as a one-horned, three-eyed deer in the
forests of the Valley, is so great that Ravana, the formidable villain
of the Ramayana, gained dominance over the three worlds by performing
fierce austerities here. Sitting in meditation, every ten
thousand years, Ravana would cut off one of his ten heads and toss it
into the sacrificial fire. As he was about to sever his last
head, Lord Shiva relented, and gave him a boon of (near)
invicibility. He could only be killed by a man, which seemed like
a very remote possibility to the demon.
Ravana
Then, Lord Vishnu incarnated
as Rama, a human prince, and put an end to Ravana's shenanigans.
So, honor and cherish thy father, wherever he may be.
PS. The next day wll be the last day of Gunla.It will be the last time Swayambhu will be visited by the tuneful Jyapu bands.
PS. The next day wll be the last day of Gunla.It will be the last time Swayambhu will be visited by the tuneful Jyapu bands.
Let's
hope Lord Indra is gracious to the pilgrims, many are planning to
picnic on the hill that day.
