KATHMANDU, Dec 15: The Newar community is celebrating Yomari Punhi festival today with great enthusiasm, marking the joy of harvesting new rice.
Yomari Punhi, celebrated on the full moon day of Margashirsha Shukla, is also known as Yomari Punhi. Recognized as one of the major festivals of the Newar community, it is considered a delightful celebration of food. Yomari is made from rice flour prepared from freshly harvested rice, filled with molasses (chaku) and sesame seeds.
Women of the household start making Yomari from early morning on this day. After completing their morning rituals and cleaning the house, it is customary to prepare Yomari. Cultural expert Tejeshwar Babu Gwong states that the Newar community celebrates this festival as a form of ‘Nava Anna Prashan’ - a ritual marking the consumption of new grains. Yomari is shaped into dumplings filled with milk-based ‘khuwa’, ‘chaku’, and sesame seeds.
Celebrating Yomari Punhi
The Newar community celebrates Yomari Punhi by worshipping and performing rituals in the granary or the room where rice is stored. There is also a tradition in the Newar community of sending Yomari filled with sesame seeds and molasses ‘chaku’ as a ceremonial gift ‘sagun’ from the maternal home to the daughter's house, wishing for the complete health and well-being of the child during pregnancy.
Dhanya Purnima being celebrated by worshipping rice grains
Today, Dhanya Purnima is also being celebrated by performing rituals and making offerings. After harvesting paddy in the month of Mangsir, it is customary to worship deities such as Paddy, Ganesh, Kuladevata, Gaidu Devata, Goth Devata, Maharudra, and Mahalaxmi on Shukla Purnima. Freshly harvested paddy is husked to produce rice, which is then ground into flour to prepare ‘sel’, ‘puri’, and ‘malpua’, which are offered as part of the tradition.
Those who have not yet performed the ‘Nava Anna Prashan’ ritual are required to do so today. On this occasion, fairs are held in places such as Dhaneshwar in Kavrepalanchok, Anantalingeshwar in Bhaktapur, Champadevi in Kathmandu, and Shikharbesi and Dupcheshwar in Nuwakot.
