A 15-day long Maghe Sankranti festival began at Tribenidham (bank) of Kamala river situating on the border of Katari of Udayapur and Dudhauli of Sindhuli district.
The festival of Hindus kicked off from Monday morning is organized on the occasion of the Makar Sankranti that is celebrated on the very first day of the Nepal month of Magh by taking holy dips into rivers and ponds, worshiping at various Hindu temples and enjoying delicacies like ghee, yam, khichadi and sweets like chaku and sweets made of sesame and molasses.
A large number of devotees from various places thronged the Tribenidham since early morning Monday to observe the Maghe or Makar Sankranti which has, as per the astrological chart, a special significance as the sun enters the northern hemisphere from this day onwards. On this day, the sun moves from the tropic of Capricorn to tropic of Cancer. It is believed that the days get longer from today.
The Maghe Sankranti festival has been organized on the bank of Makur Stream at Dudhauli also. Devotees took holy dips and paid homage to the Kamaleshwor Mahadev ( a form of Hindu God Shiva) and Mahalaxmi (the Hindu Goddess of wealth) on the occasion.
Over 500,000 people are expected to visit the 15-day long festival. Every year, a large score of devotees from Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Bara, Parsa, Khotang, Okhaldhunga, Udayapur, Sindhuli, Saptari, Siraha, Sunari, Morang, Ramechhap and Sindhuli arrive here to celebrate the Makar Sankranti. As stated by the 'Bhabisya Puran' and 'Dharma Sindhu', Hindu religious texts, devotees will get special blessings and will have a robust body if they observe the festival as per the rituals.
According to the festival management committee, devotees from Kathmandu, Banepa, eastern hilly region and also from Darjeeling and Sikkim of West Bengal of India and Bihar have arrived the Tribenidham to observe the festival.
The committee has made necessary arrangements for primary health care and ambulance services and other basic facilities like hotels, drinking water and toilet in the fair venue for the convenience of devotees.
Stalls relating to local cottage products and radi and pakhi (traditional Nepali blankets and carpets) made in Okhaldhunga and Solukhumbu and the exhibition of Bhutia horse are the central attractions of the festival.
