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Visits To Rituals, Festivals and Celebrations
Nepal is famous for having more festival and celebrations then there are days of the year.
 In Kathmandu we'll
encounter mostly
Hindu rituals, and
many of them include
a Fire Puja.
In the mountains we'll see more Tibbetan Buddhist ceremonies. A major one is the Mani Rimdu Festival, at Thame Monastery. It is about the introduction of Buddhism to the region, but has a broader meaning—the Coming of the Light. It begins with the Procession of the Lamas, escorted by an orchestra of astounding
 instruments, including gongs, giant conch shells, and long brass horns call dun chen. Our group will have an area of reserved seats for the festival’s centerpiece, The Day Of The Masked Dances, where spiritual lessons are acted out by colorfully caparisoned dancers. During your time in Nepal, you’ll find that rituals are woven into daily life. Some happen dozens of times a day, such as each person you meet greeting you with your hands in the prayer gesture, in front of his or her heart, a slight bow, and “Namaste”—“The spirit of God within me, honors the spirit of God within you”.
Throughout the Adventure we’ll also have rituals of our own. Some will be brief, such as when we walk over the spectacular Larja High Bridge over the Larja Gorge. The leaders will teach you how to make a ritual offering to Naga, the Tibetan water spirit that lives in the river. Some rituals will be longer, such as a perambulation of a Buddhist stupa, turning each of the 108 prayer wheels.
There will be many other rituals on the Adventure, each with its own characteristic energy—empowerment, healing, grace, joy, and reunion. Our last ritual will be about your return home, and what your goals are for your re-entry. |
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