- Friday, 13 November 2026
Kathmandu, Nov 13: The government has announced one more day as a public holiday coming Monday on the occasion of Chhath festival.
The Home Ministry issued a notice, sharing the information on it today. Sunday has already been announced as a public holiday and the Chhath festival falls on same day this year.
Joint secretary and spokesperson at Home Ministry, Anand Prasad Kafle, informed that as part of the celebration, there is a traditional practice of offering curd to the setting Sun on the first day (Sunday) and the fasting is concluded by offering curd to the rising Sun next day (Monday). —
Around two-kilometer Chhath ghat has been constructed on the bank of Bighi river of Matihani municipality.
The ghat is the common Chhath ghat of Nepal and India. Mayor of Matihani municipality, Hari Prasad Mandal, said that celebrating the Chhath festival by citizens of two countries, bound together by cultural traditions, together is an example.
This Chhath ghat is the common ghat for the devotees of Matihani of Mahottari and Tulasiyahi of Dhanusha in Nepal as well as Madhawapur and Rampur in India.
Mayor Mandal mentioned, “Although border has separated the two countries, the cultural ties between the two countries remain profound. We have established cultural tradition where citizens of Nepal and India celebrate Chhath the festival together in the same Chhath ghat.”
He clarified that citizens of both countries would equally share the costs incurred for the construction of ghat. “The border has separated our countries, but our costumes, culture and festivals are the same,” said Balram Jha of Madhwapur Gram Panchyat of India.
Residents of bordering areas of both countries have started celebrating Chhath festival together at Bihgi ghat since few years. Professor at Matihani-based Yjnagyavalkya Laxmi Narayan Vidyapith, Hem Narayan Lal Karna, opined that a culture of standing together by citizens of both countries in sorrow and joy has been established due to this. —
The several rituals associated with the Chhath festival are starting from today. This festival is observed in the Tarai-Madhes and Kathmandu Valley as well as in other parts of the country with devotion and fervour. The festival is dedicated to the sun God, with offerings made to the rising and setting sun.
It is observed for four days, from Kartik Shukala Chaturthi to Kartik Shukla Saptami as per the lunar calendar. It usually falls between October and November in the Gregorian calendar. The sun considered as the god of energy and of the life-force, is worshipped during the Chhath festival to promote well-being, prosperity and progress.
The ritual of Chhath Parba includes taking holy bath, fasting, standing and worshipping the sun for a long time and offering Prasad and Argha to the ‘rising and setting sun”. It is believed that worshipping the sun on the special occasion of Kartik Shukla Paksha (bright- fortnight in the month of Kartik as per the lunar calendar) materializes one’s wishes.
Chhath is a festival of bathing and worshipping that follows a period of abstinence and segregation of the worshiper from the main household for four days. During this period, the worshiper observes purity, and sleeps on the floor on a single blanket.
This is the only holy festival which has no involvement of any pandit (priest). The devotees offer their prayers to the setting sun, and then the rising sun in celebrating its glory as the cycle of birth starts with death. It is seen as the most glorious form of sun worship. —
