A trip to Nepal would not be considered authentic unless you celebrate a traditional wedding, birthday or religious festival… at least once per week. Some countries would measure the success of their nation in terms of political and economic stability, social equality and a high literacy rate. While these values are certainly appreciated and held in high regard by Nepalese, a successful Nepali week has significantly more to do with how many days off you have for festivals than the latest Nasdaq report. Hard work and progress are important, but celebration ALWAYS takes precedence.
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| Cassie's birthday begins with a morning-time prayer ceremony |
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| She is blessed with flowers and then instructed to throw them in each direction into the wind |
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| Our little brother Pratham receives blessings on his 2nd birthday |
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| Avi gets a tikka at Cassie's morning birthday ceremony |
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| People bring offerings of fruit, money, potatoes, eggs, bread and flowers for the birthday person and for the gods |
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| But one party isn't enough... students were sent home early so our school's staff could throw a party for Cassie |
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Even 2 parties aren't enough, so the whole family and town came over at night for Cassie's 3rd birthday party of the day
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It is Nepali tradition at birthday parties for the person celebrating to feed a piece of cake to each of the guests, and then each of the guests feed the birthday person in return...
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| Our Nepali sisters Laxmi and Pratistha celebrate Laxmi's birthday |
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| Our brother Pratit feeds cake to Mayke, a Dutch volunteer, at his birthday party |
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| Laxmi stuffs Cassie's face at her party |
No Nepali celebration is complete without a little music and dancing!
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| Pratit debuting his recently learned 'Happy Birthday' for Cassie's party |
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| Avi plays sitar at a school celebration for Saraswati, the goddess of music and learning |
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Nepalis teach our Ugandan friends how to get down, Nepali Style.
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Wedding season is fun, but long and kind of exhausting... especially as all Newari women have 3 weddings and the whole town is invited to each one. First marriage in adolescence is to fruit, second marriage is to the sun, and third is to a man.
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| School is dismissed early so the entire Prajwal School staff can attend the 2nd wedding of a student |
For the wedding ceremony, the groom's family will travel to the bride's house. At the bride's house a Brahmin priest will conduct the ceremony and then they will process back to the groom's parent's house for another huge party, and where the newly wed couple will reside for the rest of their lives.
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| If a family has the means, they will hire a marching band to process with the groom's family to the bride's house. |
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| A priest conducts a long ceremony while guests wander around, catching up, taking photos and cracking jokes |
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| Bride and groom are not supposed to make eye contact during the ceremony, even in the infrequent case of a 'love marriage' |
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| As always, a night on the town means hanging out with our students! |
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| Younger brother of the bride is dressed to impress |
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