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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