The Festivals of Nepal
Author: Mary M Anderson
Category: Culture   
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About  .

The Book

When Mary Anderson began her five-year residence in Kathmandu as the wife of diplomat, she attended the frequent Nepalese festivals up and down the Valley because they were mysterious, colourful and great fun. But soon she became more deeply absorbed in the meaning of these ancient activities as grew quickly aware that to the Nepalis themselves the ancient processions and ritual were of great importance and not merely entertainment. She came to see that for these people the continuous flow of interrelated festivals throughout the years is literally a way of life, reflecting their joys and fears, dreams and sorrows.

Somewhere, almost every day, there seems to be in Nepal a festival of some Kind, but much of this historic pageantry may well be lost soon….

So Mary Anderson determined to record as many of them as she could, explaining their mythological, religious and historical backgrounds, and relating some of the wealth of legends and folk tales that surround them. The festivals of Nepal are too many for any writer to produce a complete record, but this book describes that most important of them, which have been arranged according to the ancient Nepalese calendar, beginning with the New Year in mid-April. The author provides, moreover, a brief introductory sketch of Nepalese geography, history, religion and culture, to give background to what follows.