Cultural festival Asar 15: Paddy Day celebrated with curd and beaten rice

Kathmandu, . The Paddy Day, which is observed every year on Asar 15, is being observed today by eating curd and beaten rice while working in the fields. Tired of the rush of work, the farmers eat curd and beaten rice to gain power. During this time, it is believed that curd beaten rice cools the body and saves energy.

Asar 15 is also considered as the festival of eating curd and flattened rice in Nepali society. Apart from farming, Nepalis who are engaged in other occupations and businesses also celebrate Asar 15 by eating curd and flattened rice. Yogurt has an important place in our culture. There is a tradition of applying red tika on the forehead before going out of the house for good work, going abroad, etc. Before going out on such auspicious work, curd is also given as a good omen and farewell. There is a popular belief that eating yogurt while going out is an auspicious time.

Yogurt is also considered healthy from a scientific point of view. It is said that Guru Gorakhnath had prophesied that Prithvi Narayan Shah, the unifier of Nepal, would become mighty by feeding him curd. In Ayurveda, if you drink curd at the end of the meal, you do not need to go to the health worker for medical treatment. Phrases like ‘Bhojanante Pibet Takram Vaidyasya Kya Prayogyam’ are also mentioned in Ayurveda. Yogurt also increases digestion.

Curd and beaten rice work as a medicine in case of diarrhoea. Therefore, the ritual of eating curd and flattened rice has taken a big form in Nepali culture. In this way, Asar 15 has become a national cultural festival in the Nepali society.

Paddy Day

The National Paddy Day is being celebrated from Asar 15, 2062 BS following a ministerial-level decision on December 19, 2061. Being an agricultural country, most of the people in Nepal are engaged in farming.

Farmers are busy in farming this month to get food for the whole year. On this day, paddy is sown in the mud by singing folk songs in Asare Bhaka. People also enjoy themselves in the fields by singing folk songs like ‘Chhupu and Chhupu planting paddy in the mud, making a canal and bringing water to Godaula’. During this time of mid-summer, young boys and young women entertain themselves by splashing the mud of the fields. There is also a belief in Nepali society that one has to enter the mud once in June.

This year, paddy plantation has not been done as much as it should have been due to lack of adequate rainfall in all parts of the country till mid-June. Farmers have been complaining of shortage of chemical fertilizers in many places. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment, however, said there is sufficient stock of chemical fertilizers.