Kartik Snan | World Cities Day

The Kartik Snan is starting from today. On the day of Ashwin Shukla Purnima, after worshiping Mahalaxmi and staying awake (Jagram) during the night, Bada Dashain formally ends.

The Durga Paksha, which started with Ashwin Shukla Pratipada, has officially ended today. There is a religious belief that Mother Lakshmi enters the house with wealth and auspiciousness if we stay awake in the evening by lighting lamps in the house.

This adoration is performed exactly 15 days before Lakshmi Puja. It is customary to wrap a long bamboo lingo with paper on its tip and light a lamp there. These lamps are lit in the dedication of Shri Hari.

In this way the lights are placed in the courtyard of every house facing the sky, thus the convoy of the lights raised towards the stars seems to have colored the whole village in the milky light. These lanterns are called sky lanterns or Akashe Deep. Today is the first day when the lanterns are lit, Akashe Deep is lit from today. This full moon is also called Kaumudi Purnima.

Tulsi Puja, which is performed from Ashwin Shukla Purnima to Kartik Shukla Purnima by bathing and performing rituals at home, has also started from today. Thus, with the beginning of Kartik Snan, it is believed that Tulsi should be worshiped every day before sunrise.

Now the winter has started, the dewdrops of winter have started falling and the nights have started getting shorter. With the end of the Dashain, now we are all waiting for the festive Tihar days.

Hail to all


World Cities Day

Villages and farms are gradually being transformed into concrete and pitch structures of the city in the name of development. Urban development may be a necessity, but urbanization needs to be organized and dignified. In this context, the celebration of World Cities Day is manifested.

 Every year on October 31, Cities Day is celebrated around the world with the motto of "Great City, Great Life". In 2014, the first Urbanization Day was celebrated in China under the slogan "Major Urban Transformation".

In the new normal and new urbanization needs, this year COVID-19 has entirely reshaped the dimension of urban livings.

UN-Habitat’s latest World Cities Report reinforces the benefits of cities that engage all stakeholders, including local communities to foster sustainable cities. The Secretary-General has identified cities and communities as being on the frontline of the COVID-19 response. Collectively, we can truly foster sustainable cities for all.

 World Cities Day is celebrated to meet the opportunities of global urbanization, to address the challenges of urbanization, to increase cooperation between countries and cities, and to contribute to urban development in the interests of the international community.

Suyog Dhakal