Kathmandu, October 11, 2026 — Nepal’s biggest Hindu festival, Bada Dashain, began on Sunday with Ghatasthapana, the ritual marking the first day of the festival.
According to the Nepal Panchanga Nirnayak Development Committee, the auspicious time for Ghatasthapana was set for 11:47 a.m. Committee chairperson Associate Professor Dr. Purushottam Bhattarai said the time was selected based on the Abhijit Muhurat around midday, as Chitra Nakshatra prevailed throughout the day.
Bhattarai said the decision to observe Ghatasthapana on Sunday followed the traditional belief that the ritual should be performed on the day when Pratipada prevails at sunrise. He also said claims circulating on social media that Ghatasthapana should be observed on Monday were not consistent with scriptural traditions.
Bada Dashain is celebrated with religious rituals and festivities from the bright lunar fortnight’s first day of Ashwin through the full moon. On Ghatasthapana, households establish a lamp, a sacred water vessel known as a kalash and an image or symbol of Lord Ganesh before beginning the ritual planting of jamara.
Sand or soil collected from a sacred riverbank or another clean place is placed in the designated worship room or Dashain shrine, and barley seeds are sown according to prescribed rituals. The barley sprouts are later offered to Goddess Durga and received as yellow jamara, a symbol of prosperity, along with tika prasad on Vijaya Dashami.
