Our Festival

Festivals represent culture, religion and way of life of the people. We celibrate a number of festivals in a year. There is hardly any month without a festival. Most of the festivals are based on religion, some on social customs and tradition, and some to celebrate different seasons of the year. Some of the festivals are celebrated at the national level by all the people, at all places. Whereas, there are regional festivals which are celebrated by a particular caste or group of our main festivals like Dashain, Tihar, Buddha Punima, Chhat, Lhosar, id and Christmas. Now, set’s study about some other main festivals that are celebrated in our country. Described the any one festival is given below.

Social Problems

In the previous lesson, we talked about the social aspects of our life. We also pointed out the problems that our society faces. Now, let us discuss some of the major problems that we face and try to find ways and means to overcome them.

Depending on other

To do one’s own work without depending on others is called self-reliance. In developed countries of the world, children no longer depend upon their parents after they reach 16 or 17 years of age. They are free to choose their own course of study, profession and even life partners on their own. The courses of studies are such that they themselves create solutions to problems, instead of learning by heart from books. This is one of the reasons why people in the developed countries are always active, responsible and reliable. They have formed a habit of finding solutions to problems from their childhood.

We are fare behind in this respect with the habit of looking towards another’s for our work. We are not less than others in any sort of work. What we lack is the idea of self-reliance. Thus, we will be progressive citizens when we grow up and would not look for foreign-aid. Instead, we would be able to utilize our own resources to bring peace, progress and prosperity in the country.

Religious Tradition

 

We Nepalese practice different religious according to our own tradition, social customs, norms and values. The religious processes and ways we have been practicing also differ. The process and ways of observing religion for the Hindus are based on the religious texts like Veda, Upanished, Ramayan, Mahabharat, Geeta, Purana and smriti etc. The temples of each houses are decorated with the idols and photos of Gods and Goddesses. Omkar is always respected. The process of worshipping like panchopachar, Dashopachar, Sodashopachar etc. are used. There is the tradition of reciting stotar and worshipping.

Gautam Buddha founded Buddhism. His teachings to his disciples are collected in the story book entitled ‘Jatak Katha’, ‘Tripitaka’ which is classified into three parts is an anthology that contains the teachings for prieeses, philosophers and common people. Truth and non-vionence are the principal secrets of Buddhism. People pray in Bihar, Stupa and Monasteries. Charity is the main characteristic feature of this religion. The founder of Islam religion is Hazarat Mohammad. Quran is the religious bood of the people who follow Islam religion. In Islam religion idols or statues are not worshipped. They worship the God by praying and reading Namaz. ‘Id’ is their main festival. They also believe in Charity (donation). Item donated in this way is called ‘Fitra’.
Jesus Christ is the founder of Christianity. Their religious text (scripture) is Bible. The Christians protect their tradition and culture on the basis of this text and express good wishes among themselves. They worship Jesus Christ at Church. They also don’t have the tradition of worshiping the idols statues. They also don’t have the tradition of worshiping the idols statues. Besides that there are many people who follow Kirant, Shikha, Jain, Bahai feligion. They celebrate their own festivals.

Change in Cultural Heritage

The attitude, behave, value like code of conduct are the key factors to conduct on a community. Since the ancient time with the trial and error methods different rules are there in every society. The member of the societies or communities is determined by such cultural heritage. The cultural heritage of the Kathmandu Valley is illustrated by seven groups of monuments and buildings which display the full range of historic and artistic achievements for which the Kathmandu Valley is world famous. The seven sites include the Durbar Squares of Hanuman Dhoka (Kathmandu), Patan and Bhaktapur, the Buddhist stupas of Swayambhu and Bauddhanath, and the Hindu temples of Pashupati and Changu Narayan.

Our society and life

                        Our social life is based on the Aryan culture and Hinduism, on the one hand, and the Mongolian culture and Buddhism, on the other. Both Aryan and Mongolian cultures have mingled together into one and moulded and shaped the structure of our social life. Similarly, Hinduism and Buddhism do not seem to be different religions but the two aspects of the same religion. Followers of both religions live together in harmony and mutual co-operation. Factors that influence our social life are given below.