Sithi Nakha is one of the important festivals in the Newar community which is celebrated every year on the sixth day of the bright fortnight of Jestha. This year it is on Thursday 15th Jestha, 2077 BS or 28th May 2020 AD. Sithi Nakha marks the first rain of the season before the full monsoon torrents begin to fall hence ending the dry season. It also marks the birthday of Kumar Kartikeya, the elder son of Shiva and Parvati, and the archetypal "rain baby" for the Nepalese people. The festival is celebrated in honor of Kumar, hence this day is also known as Kumar Shasthi. People worship the Pikhalakhu (a place outside the household) by drawing Mandap resembling Kumar.
Sithi Nakha also marks the end of the seven-week Dewali Puja (Digu Puja) period, during which people worship their family deity 'Digu Dya' on their particular day. By the day of Sithi Nakha, the Newar people must complete Dewali Puja. The Dewali Puja is of special significance as the newly married daughters-in-law are welcomed in the family. The Dewali Puja also includes an event of going to the open field for worshiping the family deity, where it is located in an aboriginal condition. Besides, the family members sit together and have a ritual feast.
On this day, people prepare a special Newar cuisine named 'Wo' which is made of lentils and 'Chatamari', which is made of rice flour. This day people usually clean the nearby water sources such as wells, ponds, stone spouts as the water level is believed to be the lowest during this time of the year. Houses, courtyards, streets, and allies are also cleaned during this day. It is believed that cleaning such water sources will bring in the rain for the good cultivation of crops. It is also believed that the Sasthi Nakha is celebrated to welcome monsoon as this is the ideal time to set up rice seedbeds.
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| Sithi Nakh - Locals cleaning a well |
Historians believe that the festival started in the Licchavi era between 400 and 750 AD. Cleaning of water sources also helped control water-borne diseases such as typhoid, dysentery, and cholera. According to historian Kasi Nath Tamot, "Stone inscriptions dating back to the reign of Yaksha Malla in Bhaktapur shows that it was made mandatory for local communities to clean water sources, roads, temples and sidewalks on Sithi Nakha."
This annual festival is significant that it teaches society the importance of conserving the water sources and keeping them clean. It also highlights the importance of water in life. This cultural ritual ensures that the water sources are kept clean and the drainage around them is cleared so as to avoid the pollution of the water sources by the runoff during the rainy season.
Culture expert Prof (Dr) Purushottam Lochan Shrestha said Sithi Nakha is important in the Newar community for two reasons: first, it is the birthday of Kumar, the older son of Hindu god Mahadev and goddess Parbati and second, it heralds the coming of the paddy planting season as well as teaches the need of cleaning the water sources.
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