When is Saune Sankranti
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law of Karnali Province usually state that a decision was taken to give a public holiday in all the districts of the province on the occasion of this cultural festival.
All government and public offices, academic institutions as well as the banks and financial institutions in the province would get a holiday.
The government announced a public holiday for the publicity and promotion of Deuda culture with special importance in the province, according to spokesperson Khadka.
The state government's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law stated that the day would be a public holiday in all 10 districts of the State to mark the Saune Sankranti festival and the Deuda Parba celebration.
A meeting of the State Government's Council of Ministers had decided to observe public holidays in Karnali State on seven special days, including on Saune Sankranti, throughout the year.
Traditions of Saune Sankranti
On Saune Sankranti, which marks the beginning of the month of Shrawan, Hindu devotees throng the Shiva temples and offer special pujas. Shiva Abhishekam (Jalabhishekam) is the main ritual on this day.
On Shrawan Sankranti, the sun enters the sign of Capricorn. During Shrawan, worshipping Lord Shiva is seen as especially auspiciousness.
According to Nepalese tradition, Shrawan is the month of cleaning and removing dirty things. Nepalese worship and beat Nonglo (large bamboo plates) to remove certain types of disease such as eczema.
Observing Mangala Gauri fast and worshipping ritually on every Tuesday of this month is thought to make the prospects of marriage and child of a woman more fortuitous.
According to the legend, Samudra Manthan (the churning of oceans) took place in the month of Shravan. During the Samudra Manthan, fourteen different types of rubies emerged and thirteen of these were distributed among the demons, leaving one type called Halahal (poison). Lord Shiva came to rescue, drank the Halahal and stored it in his throat. His throat turned blue due to the effect of the poison, earning him the name 'Neelkantha' (meaning blue throat). In order to reduce the strong effect of poison, Lord Shiva wore the crescent moon on his head. All the Gods thereafter started offering the Ganges water to Lord Shiva to reduce the effect of poison.
