Janai Purnima Festival Nepal- Celebrating Through Out the Country

Janai Purnima Festival is one of the important religious festivals for Hindus in Nepal. Festivals in Nepal begin with religion and flow with the natural spirit. They are rituals that symbolize the cultural sensibility of a particular group or society.

Rituals like MatatirthaAusi Buddha Jayanti and Janai Purnima festival occur in this sequence of festivals. Before knowing what’s done here, let’s see what it is. Brahmans are regarded as pure souls who have and will not have any sin in their lives. The mindset of people is that Brahmins and sacred souls are interlinked. So, for this, they wear a holy thread around their body, keeping them away from committing sins.

Janai is a cotton string worn across the chest by Hindu males. Only Hindu males are supposed to use this thread in a religious ceremony called Bratabandhan.

Biggest Hindu Festival

As a sequence of rituals goes hand in hand, the Janai is linked with another ritual called Bratamandha. Every single person does not wear Janai. Randomly, if some person puts Janai, it’s not given any worth. Janai is only worthy if it is placed after fulfilling the criteria and performing a special ritual called Bratamandha.

Janai is a thread that is worn around the body of Brahman boys. After the boys reach a certain age, which is more than 5, then Bratamandha can be done. In Bratamandha, some spiritual activities are carried out, and finally, he is allowed to put on a Janai.

Now that we know what Janai is let’s look at Purnima. The full moon day when the moon is apparent. That day is called Purnima. Nepal’s government will declare a public holiday to celebrate the Janai Purnima festival.

Janai Purnima festival Mantra

Below is the RakshyaBandhan Mantra enchanted on the day of Janai Purnima:

Raksha Bandhan Mantra

“YenabaddhoBaleeraajaadaanavendromahaabalah
tenatwaamavibadhnaamirakshemaachalamaachala”

“एनबद्धुबलिराजादानबिन्द्रोमहावल

तेनत्वं बधनामीरक्षेमाचलमाचल”

The meaning of this mantra is this thread will protect you

Festivals in Nepal

In Nepal, festivals are celebrated by gathering people and worshipping God through acts, dramas, and ritual performances. These are different ways of offering gratitude to gods and goddesses. Festivals are marked as days of happiness, togetherness, social goodness, longevity, and prosperous health. The origination of various festivals is different and based on their own stories. Janai Purnima Festival has its own story.

In addition, it helps minimize bitterness among family members. It also brings joy to merry-making in the family members, realizing they should celebrate the rituals. People forget about their past and future and are mesmerized by the beauty of clustered festivals. Nepal has numerous festivals gathered on the calendar. Each ritual is unique, and jatras occur, giving a picturesque view. With the rise of a year to its end, many festivals occur that flow as a cycle.

Celebration of Janai Purnima Festival

The Janai Purnima festival is a ceremony where the Janai (sacred thread) is changed, worn around the wrist, and so on. On this day, all the people who clean their bodies wear clean clothes, and boys who have done Bratabandha unclutter the old Janai and offer the new one. All other people go to nearby temples and reach the priest.

The priest provides them with Janai, and they wrap it around people’s wrists; people give Dakshina to the priest and celebrate it happily. The aged people and infants have covered it around the wrist. People go to the nearest temples, which are regarded as pure, to offer Janai, but the most obsessed place is Gosainkunda.

Gosaikunda is a lake at a high altitude located in a distant area or an everyday place where people reside. Getting to Gosainkunda is an arduous journey. You have to overcome many struggles to get there.

Despite all those obstacles, people get there to celebrate it. Many groups of people go there on this day. Although the journey to Gosaikunda is exhausting, the pleasurable feeling after going there is beyond your imagination.

Kwati is eaten as a particular dish.

Thus, the special moment is worthy of a challenging journey. Some people are obsessed with the beauty of nature around here. Not only will these, but Goisaikunda also Possesses religious importance; going there gives you peace of mind and soul. People visit there to pray for their families’ happiness, prosperity, and longevity.

In the Janai Purnima festival, Newar people offer different food items to frogs, who are the agents of the God of rainfall. This is done to increase the production of crops by making happy to the God of rain.

Many beliefs exist regarding the Janai. During a famous festival called Tihar, there is a day called Laxmi puja. On this day, the cow is worshipped. So, the Janai, wrapped around the wrist of our hand, is opened and wrapped around a cow’s tail. Any wish we make during this is said to be fulfilled by God.

At every festival, various kinds of food are regarded as unique. Delicious food is cooked at various festivals. Likewise, the Janai Purnima festival also has a special dish called kwati. Ultimately, nine different kinds of grains are taken. It is soaked overnight and then cooked. All other spices are ground and put in, and a tasty curry is prepared.

Janai Purnima festival 2024/2025

Another task, Raksha Bandhan, is also done on this particular day. The siblings celebrate it. This occasion helps the relationship between the sisters and brothers flourish. Every sister puts the Rakhi on the wrist of the brother. The Rakhi is either prepared by themselves or bought. For this occasion, different kinds of Rakhi are ready to be sold.

In the month of Shrawan, Janai Purnima is also called Raksha Bandhan. The literal importance of this festival is that it is celebrated to increase the bond of purity and security. All Hindus from different countries celebrate the Janai Purnima festival.

It is the sacred thread festival. On this day, Hindu men (Brahmin and Chettris) perform the ritual of changing Janai. They take a bath and change their annual Janai. Another will celebrate this festival by putting a sacred thread around their wrist.

When Janai Purnima falls?

The story behind the name Janai Purnima festival is interesting. The Janai is a sacred thread, and Purnima indicates the full moon day. This festival is celebrated on the full moon day of Shrawan according to the Bikram Sambat calendar. Another name, Ja, nai Purnima, is also called Shrawan Purnima. The answer to the question of when the Janai Purnima festival is this year is recorded as falling on the 30th Shrawan in Nepali date. Which also coincides with the English Calendar date of August 3rd,2024.

Rituals to perform during the Janai Purnima festival

In these rituals, a person should make a clean, long thread to wear the next day. Besides these, many priests sit in different places in the temple to put tika and tie thread on the pilgrims. All the devotees will visit their nearest temple to perform this ritual.

On the primary day, called Rakhsya Bandhan, a person takes a bath and wears clean clothes. Then, they will visit the temple to receive a tika on their forehead. They make themselves clean by shaving and cutting their hair. On this day, they undergo partial fasting. It is believed that they should only eat after replacing the annual Janai. Additionally, on this day, a person should eat only one meal.

Not only should this be the case, but their food should also be a pure vegetarian product. Some Brahmins also avoid onions, garlic, etc., in their meals. For your information, there is this unique trait of Hindus that they should clean their bodies for every big event.
In the Purnima dawn, men regularly go to nearby rivers and ponds. And they take a secret bath by dipping their body. After this, they fall significantly into the water; the men will change their Janai by breaking the old ones.

What is Rakshya Bandhan Doro?

The literal meaning of Rakshya Bandhan is associated with the protection of relationships. Rakshya refers to “to protect,” and Bandhan represents “bond or tie.” Thus, Raksha Bandhan is the Janai Purnima festival celebrated to strengthen bonds with loved ones. Celebrating this festival creates a stronger bond.

Females of all ages tie the thread around their wrists. It is also called Doro in a typical Nepali word. Some people say it is Janai or Dhago. Women and all males, regardless of their ages, tie it. Generally, women are supposed to tie it on the left wrist, and males are supposed to tie it on the right wrist.

Rakhi Day

This is the festival of brother and sister closeness, too. Both brothers and sisters will tie Rakhi to each other’s wrists and give blessings for their success. However, this Rakhi tradition is mainly followed in the Terai region. But nowadays, people of the hilly and Himalayan regions also adopt this tradition. Both of them pray for the long life and well-being of their sisters/brothers. Additionally, they exchange gifts and delicious food also to make them happy.

Doing so will promote their bonding forever. In the city’s houses, the family in Nepal the priest visits the residence of people to tie Doro. Family members gather, the priest reads the essential stories from the holy book and performs the ceremony. They also impart the importance of celebrating Raksha Bandhan in the Janai Purnima festival.

They do rituals to purify the new thread. Then, men will wear it across the chest. The priest/Pandit is then served with food and money as a return gift. The giving kinds of stuff are also called Daan in Sanskrit.

Importance of celebrating the Janai Purnima festival

Another belief associated with this Doro is that it will bring them good luck. Additionally, Doro is a symbol of love. It will strengthen the family bond. This Doro is kept safely until Dipawali. On the special day of Laxmi Puja, the thread is untied and later tied on a cow’s tail. This is an extraordinary ritual taken in Tihar. Doing this will fulfill your wish and wash away your sins. The thread can be found in various colors, such as orange and red.

There is a belief that Hindus should cross the Baitarniriver after their death to reach heaven. Thus, the cow should help them pass the Baitarni River.

They carry the dead to their tail and help them cross the river to take them to heaven. Thus, tying Doro to the cow’s tail would make your place in heaven after death. On this occasion, a special meal called Kwati is cooked. In the Janai Purnima festival, Kwati is made by mixing nine pulses. The unique Tejpatta leaves are added to the Kwati soup to make it more delicious.

Final Say,

Nepal is also known as a country with many festivals. Celebrating Janai Purnima festivals in Nepal is a way of exchanging happiness and showering love to family, relatives, and acquaintances. The prior region of celebrating the festival is remembering the past day and thanking God for these lives.

Nepal is a multiethnic and multicultural country. Due to this, festivals differ for the different ethnic groups, and the ways of celebration are vastly different. Spread Happiness Celebrate Janai Purnima this year on the 30^th of Shrawan, 2081. Above the Himalayas, the team wishes an advanced Happy Janai Purnima Festival 2081 for your prosperous health and well-being.

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