Happy Dashain Festival

Happy Dashain Festival
Fulpati at Dashain Festival Nepal

Fulpati at Dashain Festival Nepal

The Dashain Festival is also celebrated by Hindus and Nepalese in practically every other part of the planet where they live. In Nepal, Dashain is the longest and most notable festival on the calendar, and many Nepalese expatriates actually return to Nepal specifically to observe Dashain Festival in their homeland. Dashain runs from the “bright moon” until the full moon in the Hindu month of Ashvin, lasting for 15 days. On the gregorian calendar, it falls in either September or October, varying from year to year due to the differences between a lunar versus a solar based time-keeping system. During Dashain, many Nepalese businesses and public buildings will be closed, so the tourist will need to plan ahead carefully.
Flying Kites

People Kite fly highly decorative kites from their roof tops and elsewhere and shout out “Changa Cheit” whenever kite strings get tangled.

Dashain is celebrated to mark the victory, according to Hindu religious writings, of Ramayan over the evil demon-king, Ravana, and over the demon Mahisasur, who cruelly terrorised the people of India in the form of a raging water buffalo. The Hindu goddess Durga was said to be instrumental in winning these victories, so she is especially worshiped at this time. In general, the holiday season of Dashain is a celebration of “the triumph of good over evil,” though it is tied to specific Hindu stories.
Dashain Festival

Dashain Festival

Dashain Traditions The people of Nepal celebrate Dashain with great festivity. Some of their traditions associated with the holiday include the following:
  • Kites a flown as Dashain Festival draws near and during the festival. People fly highly decorative kites from their roof tops and elsewhere and shout out “Changa Cheit” whenever kite strings get tangled.
  • Playing card games is common during Dashain. Families get together to play for both money and for fun. While all ages take part in kite-flying, kids usually are out flying their kites while adults play the card games.
  • Homes are cleaned thoroughly and decorated ornately. This is meant to be a gesture to the Hindu “mother goddess” to come down and bless the home with good luck. Distant family members also gather and enjoy reunions in the clean and beautiful houses.
  • Many purchase new clothing and wear it at this time of year. Those who live in dire poverty don their best clothing and may buy clothes at few other times of the year besides Dashain.
  • Temporary swings are constructed out of bamboo and set up for children to play at. Adults even stop to try out the swings, which can be up to 20 feet high. They are disassembled at the end of the festivities.
  • Literally thousands of animal sacrifices are made, including buffalo, rams, and ducks. They are meant to appease Hindu goddesses and are sacrificed at temples all over the country. Many also rise early in the mornings and visit temples to worship various gods.
  • Since Dashain Festival arrives just after the harvest, there is much rice and grain in homes at this time of year. Worshipers use pigmented, red rice, called “tika,” to mark their foreheads. Some also mark them with a white circle instead, however.
Dashain Tika

Dashain Tika

Some things for tourists to look for and take part in if in Nepal for Dashain Festival include these three:
  • Attend numerous small fairs held in Nepalese villages, which often have Ferris wheels and other rides and entertainment. In major cities, like Kathmandu, you can expect to find larger fairs with more options.
  • Listen to Nepalese musical programs held at this time of year. There is “Dashain music” as surely as there is Christmas music, and it is called “Mal Shree Dhun.” In the Terai and Madhesh regions, you will especially find many musical opportunities.
  • Observe Dashain processions through the “three royal cities” of the Kathmandu Valley. The spectacle is very colorful and busily attended. It has a religious bases, for it involves the carrying of numerous statues of Hindu gods.
Source: Publicholidays Landmark Forest Landmark Pokhara Creative Adventure Nepal Landmark Kathmandu Contact Us: E-mail: sales@samratnepal.com Phone: +977 – 9851030564 Location: Gairidhara, Kathmandu, Nepal. Website: www.samratnepal.com

VITOF Nepal organizes Rice Planting Festival at Lele

VITOF Nepal organizes Rice Planting Festival at Lele
VITOF Nepal organizes Rice Planting Festival

Rice Planting Festival 2018

The Village Tourism Promotion Forum Nepal (VITOF-Nepal) is going to celebrate Rice Planting Festival in Kathmandu this year. VITOF Nepal is going to organize the rice planting festival in collaboration with the Nepal Tourism Board on 29 June at Godawari Municipality of Lele, Lalitpur. According to the Chairman of the Forum, Ram Sapkota, this festival is organized to promote the culture, tradition, monuments, and sights of Newari culture. Dipak Dahal, vice president and media coordinator of VITOF Nepal said that most of the works have already been completed and this festival will play a great role to strengthen the agricultural sector. The festival is coordinated by Rajkumar Dhamala.
VITOF Nepal organizes Rice Planting Festival

Rice Planting Festival

He also mentioned that that the festival will be accompanied by Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation minister, Rabindra Adhikari, and other organizations. VITOF Nepal has been organizing this festival since many years. Lele holds a different culture, traditional community and beautiful natural geography. Thus, it has a great potential of tourism. A short trek will also be organized that day. Source: Tourismmail Landmark Forest Landmark Pokhara Creative Adventure Nepal Landmark Kathmandu Contact Us: E-mail: sales@samratnepal.com Phone: +977 – 9851030564 Location: Gairidhara, Kathmandu, Nepal. Website: www.samratnepal.com

China ups travelling charges for Kailash Manasarovar

China ups travelling charges for Kailash Manasarovar
Kailash Yatra Map

Kailash Yatra Map

Jun 11, 2018-China has abruptly raised travelling charges for devotees going on the Kailash Manasarovar tour to the distress of Nepali and Indian tour operators. Hindus believe that bathing in Lake Manasarovar and drinking its water will cleanse them from all sin. As per the new tariff that went into effect on June 3, pilgrims travelling to Kailash Manasarovar over the Nepalgunj-Simikot-Hilsa route will have to pay an extra $180 per head, and pilgrims taking the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung route will have to pay an additional $140 per head. However, the new rates will not apply to pilgrims who have already purchased tour package this year. “Instead, it has created a huge burden for tour operators,” said a Nepali tour operator who did not wish to be named. “The new rules that were imposed unilaterally by the China-India Pilgrims Service Centre in China are expected to create a burden of Rs360 million for Nepali operators alone.”
Kailash Yatra by Helicopter

Kailash Yatra by Helicopter

“We are just a tour operator. We cannot afford to pay such a huge amount of money,” the operator said, adding that each operator would have to pay at least Rs15 million from their own pockets. Until last year, the devotees had to pay $1,085 per person for a three-night package using the Nepalgunj-Simikot-Hilsa route. Now it has gone up to $1,265 per person. Similarly, a five-night package using the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung route which used to cost $895 per person will now cost $1,035 per person. This is a mandatory fee that needs to be paid to the China-India Pilgrims Service Centre. According to operators, the new rule was enforced immediately after Wan Quan Lin was appointed the CEO of the centre. The fee covers food, hotel, vehicle service and guide as the centre does not allow Nepali or Indian tour operators to provide these services on their own. “The centre has also barred Indian pilgrims from carrying food, and they have to eat at the Chinese hotel and restaurants whether they like it or not,” said operators, adding that the fee was non-refundable if any pilgrim chooses not to eat the food served by the Chinese restaurants. “It’s a kind of cartel imposed by Chinese authorities after they saw pilgrim numbers from Nepal growing each year.”
Kailash Mansarovar

Kailash Mansarovar

This year, tour operators are optimistic about receiving around 20,000 to 25,000 Indian pilgrims. Last year, nearly 15,000 Indians visited the holy sites The Kailash Manasarovar Yatra normally begins in May and lasts till September. There are five routes to Mt Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. Two of them, Uttarakhand and Nathula, Sikkim, are in India. They are the longest and most expensive routes. It takes nearly three weeks to reach the holy place using these routes. Nepal offers three routes to the holy sites through the Tatopani and Rasuwagadhi border points. However, there are no movements from Tatopani after the Chinese government closed the Tatopani border point in 2015. Pilgrims have also started to go through Rasuwagadhi after the road was opened this year. According to operators, the Nepalgunj-Simikot-Humla route costs IRs175,000 per person, including the cost of flying by fixed with aircraft from Nepalgunj to Simikot, and by helicopter from Simikot to Hilsa. The package from Rasuwagadhi is IRs125,000 per person. Due to the cost factor, around 25 percent of the pilgrims are expected to choose the Rasuwagadhi route this year. Source: Kathmandupost Landmark Forest Landmark Pokhara Creative Adventure Nepal Landmark Kathmandu Contact Us: E-mail: sales@samratnepal.com Phone: +977 – 9851030564 Location: Gairidhara, Kathmandu, Nepal. Website: www.samratnepal.com

Visit Nepal Year 2020

Visit Nepal Year 2020
Visit Nepal Year 2020

Visit Nepal Year 2020

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has planned the 2020 as Visit Nepal Year with the aim to increase the number of tourists to 20 Lakhs (20 Millions). Tourism vision 2020 Nepal has been set soon after the MOCTCA had planned to celebrate Visit Nepal Year in 2018 which was put off due to the delay in construction of airports (Pokhara and Lumbini), re-construction of heritage sites and roads. So, Visit Nepal Year 2020 will be the best time to celebrate the tourism vision year as the reconstruction of the heritage sites is expected to be completed before 2020. The Earthquake 2015 hit Nepal badly resulting in death of 2300 people and thousands of victim and homeless. After the Earthquake, the flock of tourists in Nepal decreased. Now, the tourism of Nepal has taken its path to grow and Nepal is receiving good number of tourists in the year 2017 and 2018. The announcement of the Visit Nepal Year 2020 will give a positive message to the world and the campaign will attract more tourists to Nepal. Recently, Nepal Government has published the official logo for Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign. Landmark Forest Landmark Pokhara Creative Adventure Nepal Landmark Kathmandu Contact Us: E-mail: sales@samratnepal.com Phone: +977 – 9851030564 Location: Gairidhara, Kathmandu, Nepal. Website: www.samratnepal.com

HIMALAYAN TRAVEL MART 2018

HIMALAYAN TRAVEL MART 2018
Himalayan Travel Mart 2018

Himalayan Travel Mart 2018

The Himalayan Travel Mart 2018 sets out with the aim to re-define Adventure Tourism and establish Nepal as a Gateway to the Himalayas. The event is scheduled from June 1-3, 2018, in Kathmandu. The mart is a Business to Business (B to B) event and shall be attended by Buyers (interested in Nepal and the Himalaya Region) from Europe, North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and CIS, Asia and Gulf. Sellers are expected from Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, Indo China, Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua and Central Asia.
Himalayan Travel Mart 2018

Himalayan Travel Mart 2018

The event will comprise a one-day conference on June 1, on key topics related to Hospitality and Tourism, Aviation and Management, with international speakers from around the world. On June 2 will be the international bloggers’ meet conference as in 2018.Buyers’ and sellers’ meet will be on June 2-3.
Himalayan Travel Mart 2018 Conference

Himalayan Travel Mart 2018 Conference

The event is coordinated by PATA Nepal Chapter in partnership with Nepal Tourism Board, PATA International, and travel industry of Nepal and pertinent stakeholders. Landmark Forest Landmark Pokhara Creative Adventure Nepal Landmark Kathmandu Contact Us: E-mail: sales@samratnepal.com Phone: +977 – 9851030564 Location: Gairidhara, Kathmandu, Nepal. Website: www.samratnepal.com

NEPAL EYES 1.5 MILLION TOURISTS IN 2020

NEPAL EYES 1.5 MILLION TOURISTS IN 2020 Annapurna Base Camp Trek Nepal aims to welcome 1.5 million tourists in 2020 with one third of them coming from China and India, Nepal’s Tourism Ministry has said. The country is set to organize the year 2020 as Visit Nepal Year. It will be the third national level initiative to promote Nepal’s tourism sector since the country first celebrated Visit Nepal Year in 1998 followed by the Nepal Tourism Year in 2011.In 2017, Nepal welcomed 940,218 foreign tourists. It expects a growth of foreign tourists by 30 percent every year since 2018 to meet the target of 1.5 million tourists by 2020. “China and India are two largest source markets for Nepal. But, there is still huge scope of more tourist arrivals from these two neighbours. So, our main focus of promotional activities will be China and India for Visit Nepal Year,” Krishna Prasad Devkota, secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said on Tuesday. “We have not set any target of tourist arrivals from China and India for the Visit Nepal Year 2020 so far. But, our tentative estimate is that there will be arrivals of 250,000 each from the two neighboring giants. In 2017, Nepal welcomed 104,664 Chinese and 160,832 Indian tourists.” Chinese Tourists Other traditional source markets of Nepal’s tourism are North America and the Europe. However, the country is also planning to explore new source markets including South East Asia and Eastern Europe.“We see great scope of attracting large number of tourists from these new source markets,” said Deepak Raj Joshi, chief executive officer of Nepal Tourism Board, the main tourism promotion body. As the tourism sector is recovering from the twin disasters – deadly earthquake in 2015 and subsequent Indian economic blockade for nearly five months in 2015 and 2016, Nepali government has expected the Visit Nepal Year would be helpful to heavily boost the country’s tourism sector. As a part of preparation for the Visit Nepal Year, the Nepali government has planned to organize road shows, promoting Nepal in three major cities of China and India in collaboration with tour operators of the two countries. On the other hand, Nepali government has planned to keep Nepal’s only international airport, Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, open for more than 20 hours a day from current 17 hours a day in the next three months. The target is expected to be aided by the possible completion of another international airport, known as Gautam Buddha International Airport which is expected to be completed by 2019, in Bhairahawa, a southwestern town. Source: Nepal Travel News Landmark Forest Landmark Pokhara Creative Adventure Nepal Landmark Kathmandu Contact Us: E-mail: sales@samratnepal.com Phone: +977 – 9851030564 Location: Gairidhara, Kathmandu, Nepal. Website: www.samratnepal.com