Laxmi Pooja | Sukha Ratri | Laxmi Jayanti | Kukur Tihar | Narak Chaturdashi | World Cities Day

श्रीं ह्रीं श्रीं कमले कमलालये प्रसीद प्रसीद ॐ श्रीं ह्रीं श्रीं महालक्ष्मयै नम:॥
Hail to Maha Lakshmi who blesses with seed mantras like Sri Hrishri , he mother who is seated on a lotus, just by remembering that mother one gets all kinds of prasad and blessings.

Today, late at night, the goddess of wealth, Goddess Lakshmi, is worshiped. All the material, ornaments, and wealth in the house are worshiped by establishing Lakshmi, Ganesh, and Saraswati. The pillars of banana are considered to be very important in the Vedic Sanatan Hindu belief and today courtyards are decorated with the gates of banana trees and lights are placed on it.

Happy Energetic Tihar of 2024 AD.

Belief behind the Tihar celebration
Dashain marks the defeat of lord Rama against Ravana and Dewali marks his return to Ayodhya, the celebration and enthusiasm of the victory with lights and colors. Few legends say that Lord Lakshmi was born this day so the commemoration started, whatever it is but tonight is the brightest day in the year.

Bhailo
The girls from the neighborhood will come to play bhailo this evening by singing songs in sweet traditional rhythm. The traditional song sung by those who come to play bhailo is bhaleni, this is a prehistoric culture.

Selroti in Tihar
There is another rush in the kitchen for cooking selroti (Traditional Nepali bread). This is the third day of Tihar, Cow-day, or cow worshiping day. Normally its first crow, dog, cow, oxen, and brother's worshiping day but in the year 2020, cow and dog's day are overlapped.

Sukha ratri
Today is also called Sukh Ratri, Lakshmi Puja is also addressed as Sukh Ratri. Mother Lakshmi's footsteps in the courtyard, the flickering of the lights, and the footsteps of the vultures, this Sukhratri is one of the brightest and happiest days of the year.

Laxmi Jayanti

115th birth anniversary of Mahakavi Lakshmi Prasad Devkota
Our Mahakavi shall always remain in our heart and articulations.

The Nepali literary community observes the birth anniversary of Mahakavi Lakshmi Prasad Devkota as the Laxmi Jayanti on the day of Lakshmi Pooja, on the third day of the Tihar festival, every year.

Today is a very special day for Nepali literature. In 1966 BS, on the day of Lakshmi Puja, the great poet and most noted litterateur Laxmi Prasad Devkota was born. The contribution of the great poet Devkota in Nepali literature and poetry is remarkable. His immortal works: Munamadan, Kunjani, Shakuntala, and other works are still enhancing the beauty of Nepali literature.

The great Indian scholar Dr. Rahul Sankrityayan had said, "I consider Devkota to be the greatest human incarnation after the Buddha." He also stated that Devkota was the combo of three then-contemporary Hindi poets Jayshankar Prasad, Sumitranandan Pant, and Suryakant Tripathi Niraula.

Famous and surprising events of Laxmi Prasad Devkota's life
The various events of Devkota's life are also very famous and surprising. When he told his friends the poems he had written in school life, they did not believe that the poem was written by Devkota. In the early days, Devkota was inspired by the works of the poet Shiromani Lekhnath Poudyal. Devkota now also started to read western creators as he began to read the creations of Wordsworth and Sally.

In terms of education, Devkota did his ISC from Trichandra College and his Bachelor of Art and bachelor of law from Patna University. Tribute to Mahakavi on this birth anniversary of this great poet who passed away in the year 2016 BS. Language, literature, and creators live with their creations and will live as long as this earth lasts. Long live Nepali literature, may the Nepali language be immortal.

Kukur Tihar



Crow yesterday, Today for Dog
The crow was worshiped yesterday and today is the day for another creature. In every ancient discovery of human civilization, human society has been complemented by a loyal and courageous creature that has never been far away from us. Today is the day dedicated to dogs, In Vedic Sanatan Dharma, dogs are given special importance. Dogs have been very close to human beings since human civilization.
Importance of Dog in Rig Veda

The Rig Veda mentions 'Samara', the mother of dogs, who helped Indra, the king of the heavens, to find his lost object. According to the Vedic Sanatan Hindu tradition, the dog is considered as the guardian, security guard, and messenger of Yamaraj and it is said that the dog also guards the gate of salvation after death. Even in the Mahabharata, it is mentioned that the truthful Yudhisthira refused to go to heaven without his devotee dog. The dog is seen as a conceptual example of religion and a representative of the path of righteousness. The dog is also the wagon of the fearless Lord Bhairav, the seeker of Tantra.

Today is the day when these dogs are worshiped. Human society and dogs have a strong and old relationship, today that coexistence is worshiped. Today, not only pets but also street dogs are given food with garlands and Tika.

Every animal on this earth needs our love and virtue, and perhaps this is what the Yamapanchak period of the festival must have tried to alarm us. Science has also shown that the existence of every living thing as an eco-system is interrelated.

Give love, share love, and get love, good luck to all, may this journey of harmonious relationship between dog and human life go on forever. Good luck!

Narak Chaturdashi
Both Lakshmi Puja and Narak Chartudashi have taken place. Lakshmi Puja falls on the day of Aunshi but this year there is a rare coincidence of Chartudashi and Aunshi, this year's planetarium is different from other years, perhaps.
Narakasur and Narak Chaturdashi- anecdote

Narakasur, the son of Bhumidevi and blessed by Brahma, one day attacks Lord Krishna. These demons, who received the boon of being killed only from mother's hand, were killed by Satyambha, Krishna's third wife, as she was a part of Bhumidevi. After Narakasur invoked his mother at the time of his death and asked Krishna to keep his memory alive for eternity, Narak Chaturdashi was celebrated in the name of Narakasur.

World Cities day 2024



Today, 'World Cities Day 2024' is being celebrated with various programs all over the world.

Background:
2024 World Urbanization Day is being celebrated among various forums and virtual seminars as well as many other physical events. The month of Urban October will end, as always, this year with worldwide celebrations of World Cities Day on 31 October. The main Global Observance will be facilitated by UN-Habitat.

The first Cities Day was celebrated on October 31, 2014. World Urbanization Day 2024 is the eleventh edition. The month of October is called Urban October, the last day of October is celebrated as Cities Day.

Theme 2024
World Cities Day 2024 focuses on the theme of “Youth Leading Climate and Local Action for Cities” to explore how to unlock transformative investment in urban planning and achieve adequate fiscal decentralization. Meaningful wishes on Cities Day.

The theme of World Cities Day 2024 will be linked to Youth leading climate and local action for cities. Young people advocate for bolder steps and actions to tackle climate crisis in our cities. It will draw attention on how we can capture these bold ideas and ambitious targets and turn them into achievements.

-Suyog Dhakal