The rich cultural heritage of Nepal is best expressed in the many large and small festivals that occur throughout the year. Though the Nepalese have diverse beliefs and ethnic backgrounds, all unite in the celebration of the year's major festivals. There are many kinds of festivals: some honor Buddha or Hindu gods or goddesses, some reenact important events from ancient mythology and epic literature, some herald the seasons or mark important times in the agricultural calendar, and others propitiate the minor deities that populated the spirit world of the country. The annual dates for the festivals were fixed long ago on specific days of the ancient lunar calender. The Newar community in Kathmandu valley, which includes Patan, are traditionally and sentimentally attached to their own calendar which is, appropriately, called "Nepal Era". This Nepal Era started in 879-880 A.D. The year begins on the festival called Tihar that takes place on the new moon night of the month of Kartik. The date for the each festival changes every year according to the lunar calender.Many festivals are tied to Hindu holidays, Buddha's life, and the harvest cycle. An important Newar celebration is Gunhu Punhi. To begin this nine-day festival, Newar men and women eat a bowl of special sprouted mixed cereals, receive a ritual protection cord tied on the wrist by a Brahman priest, and offer food to frogs in the farmers' fields. On the second day, those who have lost family members in the past year dress up as cows and parade through town; it is a popular belief that cows help souls enter heaven. The last day is Krishnastami, birthday of Lord Krishna.   Basanta Panchami (January)      On this day people bid farewell to the winter season and look forward to welcoming the spring. Most of the people of Nepal worship the Goddess of learning called Saraswati. The people of Kathmandu Valley go to a little shrine near Swayambhunath to worship this Goddess.There is also Depuja feast in some parts of Patan City including Sanu's old neighborhood. The feast begins with the making of rice bread, taking bread to a very close relative, and preparing food for the rest of the festival. On the second day, people pay respect to the goddess, and then have a picnic together in some nearby place. On the third day, relatives are invited to the house to eat. Different parts of Patan City observe the Depuja feast at different times over a period of a month and a half.      Groups also chant Buddhist suttas with musical accompaniment early in the morning in public roadside shelters every day for the whole month. Some houses, including Sanu's, also practice the recitation of religious texts throughout the month. During January, one day is designated as a day for eating sweets, and another is set aside for the worship of the god of Piwogndeo.   Holi (February-March)      The ancient Hindu festival of Holi, festival of colors, falls in late February or early March. It is celebrated across the country for eight days. It marks the demise of the demoness Hilika at the hands of Lord Vishnu. Revelers mark the occasion by smearing colored powder and throwing colored water at each other. On the full moon day, the last day of the festivities, bands of revelers roam the city throwing color at anything that moves. This festival does not have any religious flavor.On Silachare day there is a bonfire in front of the Shiva temple; while on another day a ritual tree is erected in front of the Krishna temple.   Ghode Jatra (March-April)      Ghode Jatra, or Sasupuja in Newari, is the horse-racing day. In the Patan version of the Ghode Jatra festival, a horse in made to drink liquor, and the townspeople chase the intoxicated animal through the streets with much cheering and clapping. In the morning, students go to pray at Saraswati Temple, which is dedicated to the goddess of learning, hoping that Saraswati will bless them to be intelligent and successful students. During this month, one day is for people go to wash their faces in Jobar, while another day is special for drinking soup.   Shiva Ratri (March)      This is the grandest among the numerous festivals observed in honor of Lord Shiva. On Shiva Ratri, the great night of Lord Shiva, devotees throng all the temples of Shiva, but the most elaborate activities take place at Kathmandu's Pashupatinath temple, situated beside the Bagamati river. Devotees and hermits spend the night at Pashupatinath Temple, lighting sacred fires, singing praises of Lord Shiva, and keeping a vigil to welcome the descent of the deity. Early the next morning, devotees take a sacred dip in the Bagamati River to purify their bodies and souls. Then the fetch holy water in their cupped palms to offer to the Shiva lingam, enshrined in the innermost sanctum of the temple. People visit the temple throughout the day with offerings of rice, vermilion, fruits, flowers, and coins.   Pahan Charhe (April)      Pahan Charhe is one of the biggest festivals for the inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley. Being an exclusive day of pisach (ghostly spririts), worship is offered to Luku Maha Deo, an elusive manifestation of the Hindu deity Lord Shiva. The festival marks the defeat of evil spirits, and people invite their relatives and friends to join in feasting and merry-making, so the streets are filled with families on their way to visit relatives. There is also a seasonal song which is played during Pahan Charhe   Rato Macchendranath Jatra (April-May)      This festival is the biggest socio-cultural event of Patan. It begins with chariot journeys of the most widely venerated deity of the Kathmandu valley, who resides in his twin shrines at Patan and Bungamati. His popular name is Bunga Deo, Avalokiteswara according to Mahayana Buddhism, but non-Newars call him Red Machhendranath. On the full moon day of the month Baisakha, the wheeled chariot is prepared at Pulchowk, near the Ashoka Stupa. For the next month it is pulled through the town of Patan in several stages until it reaches Jawalakhel for the final celebration of this festival called Bhoto Kenegu or Bhoto Dekhaune.      During this month people also mark the traditional Mother's Day, which goes back a thousand years. On Mother's Day children go to pay their respects to their mothers with sweets. Anyone whose mother has passed away goes to bathe in Matatirtha Holi pond.   Buddha Jayanti (May-June-July)      This day marks the birth, enlightenment, and passing away of the Lord Buddha, and it falls on Jestha Purnima, a full moon night. During this month people also reserve one day for eating bread and another for cleaning their wells.   Gai Jatra (August)      The festival of "Gai Jatra" or Saparu is one of the most popular festivals in Patan. In this festival teenage boys dress up like cows and parade through the streets of the town. This costume springs from the belief that cows help the members of the family who died within that year to travel to heaven smoothly. Some also dress up as ascetics or fools for achieving the same objective for their dead family members. Groups of actors entertain the public by improvising short satirical sketches with material from the current social scene of the town.   Mataya (August)      Celebrated in mid-August, Mataya is another of Patan's extremely popular festivals. It consists of a day-long procession of devotees going around the town to worship and make offerings at every shrine. Carrying lighted tapers and joss sticks in their hands, Mataya participants hurry from one to the next of the hundreds of Buddhist sites scattered all over Patan. They toss rice grains, flowers, and coins at the shrines as they pass by. Some devotees wear elaborate and amusing costumes. Musicians also take part in the parade.   Janai Purnima (August-September)      The full moon of the month of Shrawan, the day when this festival is observed, is considered sacred all over the country and is celebrated in different ways by the various ethnic groups of Nepal. In Patan, people go to bathe in Kumbheshwor or Konti and have threads tied on wrist by the Brahmans as a mark of protection for the whole year. On Gathamuga day, people make small ghost images out of bamboo and throw them in the river to purify the city. This period also has special days for eating sweet rice, drinking soup, and giving food to frogs. On that day. farmers put food at the four corners of a rice field, believing that frog that protects that field will come to eat it. There is also a special Puja day for respecting the Hindu god, Ganesh.   Gunla (August)      Gunla is a sacred month dedicated to Lord Buddha. This festival commemorates the auspicious "rains retreat" when the Buddha, over 2,500 years ago, led his close disciples into solitary meditation and preached to them the essence of his principles.   Krishnastami (August-September)      The festival celebrates Krishna's birthday. Religious fasting is observed and Krishna'a temple is visited by devotees on this day. A procession goes around the town displaying pictures of Krishna.   Father's Day (August-September)      The most auspicious day to honour one's father is Gokarna Aunsi. It falls on the new moon of Bhadra in August or in early September .It is also known as Kuse Ausi.   Teej (September)      This is a festival for the ladies. On this day Nepalese women go to Shiva temples in colourful clothing to worship Shiva(Hindu God of Destruction). In the Kathmandu valley, they go Pashupatinath temple and worship Shiva to have their wishes fulfilled. This month also has Indra Jatra day for respecting God Indra.   Dashain (September-October)      In late September or early October Nepalese people celebrate the biggest festival of the year, Dashain or Monee, which begins by planting barley seeds in every household 9 days before the full moon. It is the longest and most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar, celebrated by all castes and creeds throughout the country. The fifteen days of celebration end on the day of the full moon. During this period Goddess Durga Bhawani is worshipped and offered blood sacrifices. Buffalos, goats, chickens and ducks are killed by the thousands at the temples, at military posts and in many households.   Tihar (October-November)      Tihar, or Sonti in Newari, is the festival of lights and is one of the most dazzling of all Hindu festivals. In this festival people worship different animals such as crow, dog, and cow, which are believed to be Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth. Worshipping the cow is call Laxmi Puja day, which is the most important day of Tihar. The most impressive sight of this festival is the illumination of the entire town with rows of tiny flickering lamps on Laxmi Puja. This festival begins the Newari New Year. On the fifth day, sisters show their affection towards their brothers with a puja and feed them with delectable food. They pray to Yamadut, the Hindu god of the death, for their brothers' long life.   Yomari Puni (December)      Yomari Puni is a popular Newar festival observed every year. A yomari is a confection of rice-flour (from the new harvest) dough shaped like fig and filled with brown cane sugar and sesame seeds, which is then steamed.   Samyak      The Samyak festival celebrates the virtue of alms-giving to which Buddhism attaches particular importance. Huge images of the Buddha from various monasteries, as well as those from private homes, are assembled in a large courtyard. The statues are kept on display throughout the day, and devotees file past, making offerings of rice and coins to the images. It is one of the most important ceremonies in Newar Buddhism.      The three cities of the Kathmandu Valley have their own Samyak festivals which take place at different times. In Kathmandu, the ceremony is held once every 12 years, in Bhaktapur, every year, and in Patan, once every 4 years, where it is known as Ilhanhe Samyak. It is held at the courtyard of Nagbaha. More than 200 Buddha images will be brought here for the grand occasion.      Beside these, there are many minor festivals, not mentioned here.