Nepali Mother's Day - (Mata Tirtha Aunsi 2014)

  Nepali Mother's Day - Aamaako Mukh Herne Din or Maataa Tirtha Aunsi

 (आमाको मुख हेर्ने दीन, माता तिर्थ औंसी)

 

 Mother's Day is April 29, 2014 in Nepal  (Baishak 16, 2071 B.S.) 

A very Happy Nepali Mother's day to all our wonderful mothers, grandmothers, mother-in-laws, and mothers-to-be.

 (Haardik Subha-kaamanaa - हार्दिक सुभकामना!)  

Celebrating Mother's day by cooking for Mom. 

This day is my favorite time of the year.  It gives me the opportunity to tell my mother how much I appreciate, admire, and respect her.  This year I am preparing her favorite meal of traditional home-cooked Daal-Bhaat-Tarkaari, with fresh ingredients and bright Nepali flavors -- all made from the scratch.

Dinner consists of larger portions of freshly boiled rice and the accompanying dishes are daals,  seasonal vegetables, yogurt based cucumber achaar, tofu, mixed salad, Quail curry and fiery tomato chutney.  The dessert includes freshly cut-up fruits with home-made yogurt and pistachios topped cashew barfi. 

Freshly cooked Basmati rice with butter

Maharani Mixed Daal

Buttered Peas with ginger-garlic and spices (kerau ko tarkaari)

Taaba roasted tomato chutney (taabaa ma poleko golbheda ko chutney)

Quail with yogurt and spices (battain dahi masalaa)

Potato-onion-tomato-radish medley (alu-pyaj-golbheda-mula ko tarkaari)

Black Urad daal (jhaaneko kaalo maas ko daal)

Shredded Cucumber, yogurt and sesame seeds (koreko kankro ko achar)

Sauteed Asian eggplant (Nepali bhantaa aloo)

Cucumber, red onion, tomato salad (mismas salad)

Freshly cut-up tree ripened mangoes, papaya, ripe jack fruit, home-made yogurt and cashew-pistachios barfi (phalphul, dahi, barfi)

A very Happy Mother's Day to a very special mom!

आमाको मुख हेर्ने दीनको धेरै-धेरै शुभकामना! 

Here are some news clippings from different Nepali newspapers about Matha Tirtha Ausy or Mother's Day which is being observed all over the country -  

E- Kantipur reports  - April 29, 2014 - Mata Tirtha Ausy or Mother's Day is being marked all over the nation on Tuesday to celebrate the love and the bond between mothers and their children.

Major market places in the Capital have been crowded since morning with people shopping for sweets, fruits and gifts for their mothers.

As per Hindu traditions, children revere their mothers for having given birth to them and provided protection.

Children of deceased mothers visit Mata Tirtha Kunda near Thankot and take a holy bath, among other rituals.

People also perform 'shraddha,' a Hindu ritual of making offerings to the deceased, at different religious sites throughout the country in memorial of their departed mothers.

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Republica online reports - KATHMANDU, April 29: Large numbers of devotees have thronged Matatirtha in capital to mark the Matatirha Aunsi or Mother´s Day on Tuesday.

A special fair is organized at the place every year where large number of people takes holy dip in the Matatirtha pond commemorating their deceased mother.

It is widely believed that remembering one´s late mother during the holy dip will free oneself from his/her debt towards his/her mother and also liberates the mother’s soul.  Please click here to see more pictures. 

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Gorkhapatra online reports -  Kathmandu, Apr 28: The Nepali Hindu people across the nation are celebrating the mother’s day on Tuesday.

The mother’s day  which falls on Matatirtha Aunsi day during the month of Baishak is observed by offering respect along with sweets, gifts and delicious foods to  mothers.

People who have lost their mothers visit Matatirtha located in Machchhegaon VDC nearby Kirtipur, have a holy bath and pray for the eternal peace of their mother’s soul.

The people who cannot visit Matatirtha of Machchhegaon visit Aryaghat of Pashupati.

Married women visit their mothers' place with various gifts for their mother. The sweets and fruit shops were crowded with the people buying gifts for their mothers.

In Newar community they celebrate this day by offering curd, boiled egg, fruits, sweets and fabric to their mother.

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2014 - Nepali New Year (2071 BS)

  A Happy Nepali New Year!

 Shubh Nav Varsha! (Baisakh 1, 2071 - bikram-sambat)

 May Peace, Love and Prosperity follow you always and forever!

 नव वष॔ २०७१ को मंगलमय शुभकामना!

Come, celebrate the Nepali New Year (April 13, 2014) with me by viewing my pictures from several rural Nepali villages. You will smell fresh flowers, see newly painted mud houses, and observe the spectacular rolling hills of golden mustard seed plants.  You will also see the customs of the friendly, welcoming villagers and all the good things happening here to celebrate a new beginning for the New Year.

Please set aside sometime to view these pictures and let me take this opportunity to thank to my blog readers for your support, comments, feed backs and following me regularly.  May this Baisakh month and throughout the year bring a lot of happiness to you all!

A village mother and her children enjoying their evening time at one-room mud-hut (chapro-छाप्रो) made of wood, straw and a thatched roof.

Collecting grasses to feed the animals

Nepali Hukka-Chilim and pipe - a local instrument for smoking tobacco

A friendly local villager stops with a smiling face -- pauses for a photograph and asks me if I came from Kathmandu and inquires, "भान्छा गर्नु भयो" - translation "Have you had your meal (rice) today?"

At the end of season, harvesting the black gram daal, urad beans, maas ko daal (Botanical  Name -  Phaseolous mungo L., Vigna Mungo) - the local farmer is busy picking and shelling the dried out urad beans by the traditional methods - pulling the plants, cutting, threshing and gathering the seed pods.

A village woman is sitting on the floor and using a traditional circular grinding stone (Jaato - जाँतो) to split the Urad beans.  The stone grinder consists of two round stones and the top part has a hole in the center.  She is pouring the beans in the hole by using her left hand and her right hand to rotate the stone in a circular motion.

Farm-fresh vegetables - chopping, cleaning and cooking the vegetables in the open wood burning Nepali stove for the evening meal

Beautiful traditional two story, three-room mud house made of wood, mud and straw.  The floor and the walls are painted with red mud (रातो माटोले लीपेको घर).

A smiling young village women is pumping well water and washing her feet.

Boiling water in a large aluminum tea kettle over an open fire.

Meeting a smiling devotee after his visit to a local temple - he is wearing a long teekaa - टिका (multi colored vermillion powder) in his forehead that starts from his hairline to the top of his nose

After the sun set - members of the family and neighbor gather around and enjoy the leisurely time together

....Oops, not too happy today!

Rice planting and harvesting days - a women is cutting down the rice stalks and neatly laying down in bundles to dry in the sun

Posing for a photograph - four village children dressed in their best clothes

Two girls heading home with collected leaves for the livestock, in the background you will see some freshly cut rice stalks

Kubhindo - Ash Gourd (कुभिन्डो) hanging from the vine getting ready to be picked up.  Kubhindo is also called, Ash Gourd, Wax Gourd, White Gourd or Winter Melon, and it is a watermelon or pumpkin look-like large gourd.  The gourd range from oblong to cylindrical and has a pale green skin with a chalky wax coating.  The mature gourd has a hard and tough shell with a firm and white flesh.  It is one of the common vegetable grown in Nepal, India, China and many parts of Southeast Asia.

Collecting Holy Basil leaves (tulasi - तुलसी)

Too Heavy!

Daily chores - gathering firewood for the evening meals

Savoring a delicious and healthy Nepali meal of daal-bhaat with mustard greens

Children taking care of younger siblings while parents work in the field

Sun drying a heavily used winter blanket that needs a little mending before putting away

Decorating and writing in the vehicle is long-standing tradition in Nepal, perhaps came from India.  The message here says - "Blessings from the Parents" and below "Himal, Mountains and Terai is all ours"

Singing and dancing at a village feast

Hay stacks, several helping hands and a ladder

A village wood burning stove - a mild aroma of freshly boiled rice is spreading all over the kitchen

Going for a morning walk holding a stick in his hand

Panoramic view of rice terraces

Globe Amaranth blooming everywhere - मखमली फूल  - makhamali phool  or supaari phool

A village women is using a round wicker tray (nanglo) to remove husks and debris from the rice grain

Taking a picture of the tall grasses that are collected in bundles and left in the road sides to dry. They are used for roof thatching in the village mud houses

Corn hung on a pole to dry in a village house wall

Native tree of Nepal - Pipal tree (Ficus Religiosa) and next to it is Bar tree - Buddha achieved enlightenment underneath the tree when he was meditating.....

Saving dried beans with pods for next year's planting

Feeding freshly picked leaves for his goat

Taking a picture of an adorable Nepali child learning how to crawl in the grass holding a pair of traditional Nepali handmade slippers

"Me te budi maanche baa - jhandai chaar bees bhayo" says this  Nepali woman with honorary wrinkles (translation - I am an older woman, almost nearing 80), still active and doing daily chores happily

Witnessing life, untouched and unspoiled

Happy grandmother taking care of a little grandson

Good looking family and relatives - happy to pose for a picture

A simple and sweet village lady with an angelic face giving me a smile and posing for a picture

Collecting and tying the fresh leaves into bundles to feed the animals

Three friends resting and chatting in the warm afternoon,  weaving the tales of their daughter-in-law and happy to share with me.

The perennial Tiger Grass plant (Thysanolaena maxima) growing in abundance in the hilly region of Nepal.  Nepalese call it amliso ko kucho, and use it to make a broom.

Witnessing a life untouched and unspoiled in a remote village of Nepal

Mother-in-law with two  daughter-in-laws - on the way to work with doko (wicker basket) on the back

Enjoy a safe and happy holiday. Naya Barsha ko Shubha-Kaamanaa!

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