MOTHER’S DAY

Mother’s Day in Nepal is also known as Mata Tirtha Ausi. People pay homage to their mothers presenting her favorite food, clothing and various gifts on this day.

Mukh Herne means "to allow someone as our relative or give respect or to recognize the achievement of or love to someone". This is the day when we recognize and pay respect to our mother for her care and unconditional love to us, so we call this day the "Mother’s day" – “Aama ko Mukh Herne Din” (the literal meaning is “to see Mother’s face”)

Mother's day is not attached to a certain religion or a particular community. This occasion is observed by many communities across the nation.

Mother's day in Nepal is a tradition rather than a festival of a particular group or community.

When is Mother’s day celebrated in Nepal

Mother's day is observed on Baishak Krishna Ausi. In 2015, it is on Baishak 05, 2072 which coincide with Apr 18, 2015 on English calendar.

This day is regarded as very auspicious. Those who have already lost his/her mother remember her giving Sida Daan to pandit (Sida is holy mixture of rice grains and other pure food materials with clothes).

Generally people around Kathmandu visit Mata Tirtha (a holy place 9 Kilometers North West of Kathmandu) to perform “Sraddha” or “Pinda Daan” to their deceased mother. People in different part of the country do the ritual at home or at a river or any other holy place nearby.

Story behind celebrating Mata Tirtha
Also according to a story a boy used to take his cows to graze nearby the pond. Whenever he started eating the food during the lunch time a bit of the food fell in the pond. This kept happening for a long time. One day the boy peeped into the pond to find what was going on in the pond. Surprisingly, he saw his dead mother in the pond.

The boy wanted her mother to go home with him. He insisted and started crying asking her to come home with him. But she said she was already dead and it is not possible to go back home once someone died. However, she said she would appear in the pond every year on Baishak Krishna Aushi (No-moon day of Baishak). He agreed and went back. He started visiting the pond and see his mother on same day every year. Many people started to visit the pond to see their mother on the same day.

It is said once, a lady visiting the pond wished to see her dead mom’s image but she could not see after long wait, with frustration she jumped into the pond and died. Since the lady committed suicide in the pond, the dead people stopped being seen in the pond.

How do we celebrate mother's day

Nepal has more than 60 ethnic groups with almost all have their own tradition, custom and languages. The people of different community and tribe have their own way of celebrating mother’s day. Some celebrate it early in the morning, pay homage to mother and start the day.

Some celebrate it in the evening. They prepare foods and tasty feast in the morning and serve it to their mother in the evening. The celebration and fun of the festival depends upon the place, climate and ethnicity. However, the ultimate essence of the festival is to give love and respect to our mother.