The greatest Hindu festival celebrated for almost two weeks had started on October 5 with observation of Ghatasthapana by worshipping Durga, the goddess of power.
On the last day, the day of full moon, people stayed awake for the whole night worshipping Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. [break]
“This is the time for farmers to store their harvest. Traditionally, on this particular day, they keep vigil to worship goddess Laxmi, asking for abundance. There is a popular myth that Laxmi once roamed Earth on this particular day to check who were staying awake to worship her. During her visit, she found a farmer couple staying awake to worship her the entire night. Contended Laxmi bestowed huge fortune to the couple,” says Dev Raj Aryal, chief priest at Dashain Ghar inside Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square.
As the last day of the festival is related with the goddess of wealth, the day is also observed as an auspicious occasion for new business ventures, he informed.
With the end of the festival, people also consigned the plants of barely, rice, and corn and other ritualistic materials used during the Dashain to nearby rivers and ponds.
Though the tenth day is the main day of Dashain wherein people receive tika and jamara from their elders, people continue to observe the ritual till Kajograt Purrnima.
Meanwhile, those who had gone to their home outside the capital have started to return.
In the last three days alone, 220,723 passengers have already entered the capital, according to the Kathmandu Metropolitan Traffic Police. Likewise, over 23,000 vehicles have already entered the capital till Friday.
Over 1,750,000 people had left the Kathmandu valley for celebrating the festival from the first day of the festival to a day before Dashami, the tenth day of the festival, as per the traffic police record.
Dol Nath Khanal, general secretary of the Federation of Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs (FNTE), said that the number of the returnees will still be considerably low given the Tihar and Chhat festivals, which are round the corner.
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