𝚂𝚛𝚒 𝚂𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚒 𝙱𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚊🙏🙏😇

A 400-year-old Nepalese book of fasting stories written on palm leaves

𝑯𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑵𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒍. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆. 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂 (𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕) 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉-𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒔. 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝑲𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅­𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊, 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑷𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒌𝒍𝒂 𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂 (𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒊𝒅-𝑱𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒚) 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒉 𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒌𝒍𝒂 𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂 (𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒊𝒅-𝑭𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒚).

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝑲𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝟑𝟏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂 𝑮𝒐𝒎𝒂 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒉𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒓𝒆𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑵𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒋, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒂, 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒎𝒂’𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒊 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒕 𝑫𝒂𝒌𝒉𝒔𝒚𝒂 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒋𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊’𝒔 𝒀𝒂𝒈𝒚𝒂, 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒗𝒂, 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑨𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒊 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒊 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒗𝒂 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒎𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍, 𝒔𝒚𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒎-𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 w𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒛𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.  𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒛𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

𝑫𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂, 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝑯𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑾𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆-𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌.

D𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉-𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒊, 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒗𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒔. 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒂𝒍 𝒏𝒂𝒅𝒊, 𝒂 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒉𝒖 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚.   𝑯𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒉 𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊, 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒏𝒂𝒅𝒊 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓, 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉-𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒗 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒏.

𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒉, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒔. 𝑨𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂, 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒗 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅, 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑮𝒐𝒅'𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒉. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒉𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝑷𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊’𝒔 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒊 𝑮𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒏, 𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝑷𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈’𝒔 𝑺𝒆𝒔𝒉 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒉𝒖.   𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝒗𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕.

𝑶𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂, 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒚𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑶𝒎 𝑲𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒗𝒂 𝑳𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕. 𝑳𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒑𝒖𝒋𝒂 (𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑) 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒗𝒂 𝑳𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝑺𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝑲𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒅.

𝕊𝕠𝕞𝕖  𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕊𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕚 𝔹𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕒 𝕂𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕒

A lot has been said and told regarding the festival, yet, here are some key interesting facts about Swasthani Brata Katha that you might have not heard yet:
1.𝓢𝔀𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓲 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓯𝓲𝓰𝓾𝓻𝓮
In Hindu mythologies, the women are portrayed in two major forms; a calm and compassionate figure with a male consort or a husband, eg. Parvati and Saraswati, while the second depiction is of unmarried, fierce and unforgiving girl, eg. Durga and Kali. Goddess Swasthani is both calm and composed, yet described as a fierce and unforgiving figure, like in the Chandrawati’s story. The popular depiction of Goddess Swasthani is of her sitting on a lotus flower between the Asthamatrika, eight protective goddesses. But, on a statue found at Makkhan, she has been depicted together with Lord Shiva, as her male consort.

2. 𝓘𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝓲𝓷 𝓝𝓮𝓹𝓪𝓵 𝓑𝓱𝓪𝓼𝓪
Although it has not been proven, it has been suggested that Swasthani Brata Katha was first written in Nepal Bhasa as early as 693 Nepal Sambat or around 1573 AD by Jayanta Dev. One can see some evidence when one considers the dates on the manuscripts found, along with the printed versions of the books, and the language it was written in. Researchers have found that Nepal Bhasa texts, in comparison to Nepali, are more heterogeneous.

3. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓭 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮
The text of Swasthani Brata Katha has changed considerably between the 16th and 21st centuries. The first 200 years of the texts were about Goma, Chandrawati, Navaraj and Swasthani. After that, three major additions have been seen. The first is in the story of Shiva and Parvati; the second is the narrative of Vishnu including Madhu-Kaitabha and the creation of the universe. The third is the stories about Vrinda, Kamadev and others. Two-thirds of the stories today have become of Shiva whereas only the latter part of the story is about Swasthani.

4. 𝓜𝓪𝓭𝓱𝓪𝓿 𝓝𝓪𝓻𝓪𝔂𝓪𝓷 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓢𝔀𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓲 𝓳𝓪𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽
According to Vishnu Puran, both Lord Vishnu and Goddess Bajrayogini have 12 names for 12 months of the year. Their names for the 10th Nepali month (i.e. Magh) are Madhav Narayan and Swasthani respectively. This is also the reason why their forms are worshipped together this month. Due to the lack of iconography or visual depiction of the goddess outside modern times, there is confusion and people consider Madhav Narayan idols as Swasthani. Many take the Madhav Narayan Jatra and Swasthani Brata Katha as the same.

5. 𝓢𝓪𝓷𝓴𝓱𝓾 𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓯𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓪𝓵
In an ancient book titled ‘Manishail Mahabadan’, there is a story of Lord Vishnu (Narayan), as the creator of the universe. The story says he once became powerless after which he came to Sankhu. There, he worshipped Goddess Bajrayogini as Goddess Swasthani, for which he took fast for 30 days, with 12 days of tirtha (pilgrimage), nine days for worshipping water resources and nine days worshipping the snake kings. After that, he got reinstated as the omniscient power of the universe. Following his footsteps, the followers started observing the fast for penance and believing their wishes will get fulfilled.

6. 𝓘𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓪 𝓵𝓸𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓲𝓶𝓲𝓵𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓣𝓮𝓮𝓳 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓢𝓱𝓻𝓪𝔀𝓪𝓷 𝓯𝓪𝓼𝓽.
Swasthani Brata Katha shares similarities with Teej and Shrawan month fasting that Nepali women observe every year. In all of these festivals, the story of Goddess Parvati and her long fast to get Lord Shiva as her husband are referred to. Historians say the stories get interconnected because Parvati’s fast and meditation for ‘Shivawati’ was very long. She was advised by Lord Vishnu to do the Swasthani Brata to get her wishes to get fulfilled. She took fast for Teej, Shrawan, and Swasthani to achieve that, so we can see the connection there.

7. 𝓑𝓾𝓽, 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓻𝓾𝓵𝓮𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓷
In Sankhu, male residents from seven different families participate in the month-long festival as ‘saptarishis’ or seven sages, as per the tradition. If a family has more than one men, they share the responsibilities in turn. For the whole month, all seven follow a strict diet and rituals to stay pure.

They avoid salt, three-time meals, human touch, or any kind of luxury including the warmth of the bed, a roof over their heads, and shoes. They have to get up at 4 every morning, take a bath, perform pujas, and follow a strict diet of rice, milk, molasses, ghee, Nepali red radish (daikon), oranges and apples, which are usually offerings from the pilgrims.

8. 𝓟𝓲𝓵𝓰𝓻𝓲𝓶𝓼 𝓿𝓲𝓼𝓲𝓽 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓵𝓼𝓸 𝓪𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓚𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓾 𝓿𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓮𝔂
Hundreds of thousands of devotees throng Sankhu every year. Many take shelter on the premises of the temple whereas many people visit every day throughout the month. On the 13th day, the male devotees go to the Bajrayogini temple from Shalinadi to offer their prayers. This ritual is called Dun Danegu, when they lay flat on the ground with their hands stretched out front. They return to the riverside in the same way without taking a single step, on foot.

As a part of the ritual, they also reach Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu on the 14th day followed by their pilgrimage to Shesh Narayan temple at Pharping the next day. Similarly, they reach Tribeni Ghat of Panauti on the 19th day and Changunarayan on the 27th day. On each of the trips, they take a bath at the destinations, do puja, and come back to Sankhu to sleep.

9. 𝓘𝓽 𝓲𝓷𝓿𝓸𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓼 𝓪 𝓾𝓷𝓲𝓺𝓾𝓮 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓪 𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝔀𝓪𝓵𝓴
Another reference made in ‘Manishail Mahabadan’ gives insight into this tradition. To complete his fasting ritual, Lord Vishnu needed a few items. For that, he first reached Pashupatinath to collect ekmukhi rudraksha, then to Pharping to collect golden lotus flowers, after that to Panauti to collect 108 types of flowers, and to Changunarayanto to collect rice grains from the Satyayug. He made the trips on foot. Pilgrims today make the same trip during the one-month long fast.