Bala Chaturdarsi

This simple festival day takes place in December at Pashipatinath Temple and in the forested hillside behind. It is one of the oldest traditions in the Kathmandu Valley. Families who have lost a loved one in the last year keep an all-night vigil in the forest, lighting oil lamps and singing songs.

Following a ritual morning bath, people walk through the forest scattering seven types of grain along the paths and over the linga of Lord Shiva to give merit to their late kinsfolk and to cleanse the sins of a mythological man called Bala who had been transformed into a demon.