The Nepalese celebrate two different festivals of Dashain at two different times of the year. One occurs in autumn and another in spring. The former one is called Bada Dashain so to say a big Dashain which is celebrated for ten long days whereas the latter one popularly known as chaite Dashain a small one is celebrated only for two days. Chaite dashain is very pleasant in its character and color. It arrives every March/ April on the eighth day of the bright fortnight of the month of Chait. Another name of this festival is Vasanti which means something very colorful in the spring.

What is so special about the spring? As we all know that spring is the best of all seasons. It is during this particular season that the vital forces of entire nature plunge into full action and show their most powerful creative beauty. Spring in fact always inspires human souls to appreciate the divine beauty of nature. Thus spring has a direct bearing with the celebration of this ancient festival. According to some historians, this festival goes way back to the Vedic period. According to a holy Hindu text, this is the day the universal mother Goddess Durga manifested herself in her most powerful material form to protect the weak from the wicked. So this day is specially observed as an auspicious day to worship the Devi with deep devotion. The Puranas say that, those who worship the Devi with deep devotion and with single minded devotion are sure to obtain her divine grace. It was by the grace of Devi Durga that the great Hindu king Rama was finally able to defeat his enemy Ravana.

Traditionally speaking, the day Rama killed Ravana is believed to have fallen on the 9th day of chaitra. That is why this particular day is regarded as Ram Navami the second day celebration of Chaite Dashain. One of the most interesting features of this festival is the animal sacrifice to goddess durga. This age old ritual takes place at important Hindu temples dedicated to mother goddesses. The other venues for this ritual are the courtyard of the military guard house near Hanuman Dhoka in kathmandu and Bhaktapur durbar square. There is no fixed routine set for this ritual. It is usually takes place in the morning sometime between 07:30 am and 08:30 am. The main purpose behind the animal sacrifice to be performed by the army is to please the divine spirit of Devi durga latent in the banners and insignia of various military units. The animals put aside for this ritual include mainly the water buffaloes and goats. Visiting tourists are allowed to watch this open air show from a certain distance and also photography is allowed.

Hinduism tradition, honors Rama as the incarnation of Dharma. Nothing for him is as important as Dharma incarnate. He never failed to fulfill his promises. For instance, his father king Hasaratha commanded him to live in exile for fourteen years and he obeyed his command without any grudge. Rama is also regarded as supreme Brahman and Sita as Shakti. Shakti as a law of nature always activates the eternal Purusha. It must be remembered here that Rama got so upset when he came to know that his beloved wife Sita was taken away by the demon king that he immediately rushed out and frantically wandered around the dark dense forest in search of his sweetheart. This gives an idea of what man is like without woman, the activating divine energy with which the world keeps going on.

The war he fought with the ten headed demon king Ravana symbolizes his untiring struggle against ten sense organs (5 of knowledge and 5 of action) which he finally overcame. Now let us to try to remember how the golden deer episode described in Ramayana came out to be a turning point and brought Manu troubles to Rama when Sita saw a nimble footed in the forest she was seized by the desire of possessing it the creation of this desire also created a bit weakness in the mind of Rama. Unknown of this illusive trap, Rama started blindly chasing the golden deer turned animal. This is the perfect example of how even the most Dharma conscious soul like Rama could at times be carried away by Maya symbolic of temptation in this context. It must be remembered here that Rama was regarded as Maryada purusottam- the man god only after he had fully realized his weakness.