A devotee offers a ritual prayer during the first day of the month-long Swasthani Brata Katha festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Jan. 25, 2024. (Photo by Sulav Shrestha/Xinhua)
KATHMANDU, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- People were busy celebrating the Swasthani Brata Katha festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, with devotees offering ritual prayers during the first day of the month-long festival.
The festival usually begins every year on the full moon day of Poush, the ninth month in the Nepali calendar. Swasthani, a Hindu goddess responsible for good fortune, welfare and power, is mostly worshipped in the holy month, and devotees practice religious fasting, holy bathing and the study of the Swasthani book.
Devotees offer ritual prayers during the first day of the month-long Swasthani Brata Katha festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Jan. 25, 2024. (Photo by Sulav Shrestha/Xinhua)
Devotees offer ritual prayers during the first day of the month-long Swasthani Brata Katha festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Jan. 25, 2024. (Photo by Sulav Shrestha/Xinhua)
Devotees offer ritual prayers during the first day of the month-long Swasthani Brata Katha festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Jan. 25, 2024. (Photo by Sulav Shrestha/Xinhua) ■
