Kathmandu, Oct.3: Ghatasthapana is the first day of the Dashain festival, which formally begins by offering worship to Goddess Nava Durga and sowing the seeds to grow the Jamara, which is offered with tika to juniors on the day of Bijaya Dashami.

Ghatasthapana has been observed today in Dashain Ghar in Hanumandhoka in Kathmandu by worshipping Goddess Durga according to the Vedic rituals.

Ghatasthapana involves sowing maize and barley seeds in a pot filled with soil with Vedic rituals to initiate the germination of the auspicious Jamara (shoots).

 According to the Nepal Calendar Determination Development Committee, the auspicious hour for sowing  Jamara and placing the auspicious vessel is 9.16 am. Ghatasthapana means placing the vessel.

People first clean the place where a vessel is to be placed with the mixture of cow dung and red mud. The vessel filled with holy water with leaves of the Pipal tree and an oil-fed lamp are kept in the same place.

 Jamara planted on the first day of Dashain that is on Ghatasthapana is offered during the Bijaya Dashami after putting Tika.