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Maha Ashtami observances continue on Monday, October 19, following the same festival day’s observance on Sunday. An RSS report carried by Hariyali Nepal explains that the Calendar Determination Development Committee’s approved calendars list Ashtami on both Kartik 1 and Kartik 2 because of an extended lunar date.
Former committee member and scholar Devmani Bhattarai said the household observances, including Mahagauri worship, should therefore be repeated on Monday. The report also distinguishes Hanuman Dhoka’s institutional tradition: office chief Jayanti Shrestha Pradhan said its principal Ashtami worship and Kalaratri ceremony would take place on Monday night, following consultation with the committee and Taleju priests.
The account does not give an exact public starting hour. Published at 4:55 am Nepal time on October 19, the clarification adds to Sunday’s account rather than cancelling the October 18 observance. It concerns the sequence of religious observances, not a new government order changing the scope of public holidays.
The wider calendar remains important when interpreting this unusual sequence. Radio Nepal’s October 7 report of the committee’s programme places Ghatasthapana on October 11 and Phulpati on October 17. It identifies October 18 as Maha Ashtami, October 20 as Mahanavami and October 21 as Bijaya Dashami. The fresh explanation fills in the intervening October 19 observance rather than moving Tika Day.
The earlier announcement gives 10:26 am Nepal time as the auspicious tika hour on October 21. Committee chair Purushottam Bhattarai also explained that people may receive tika throughout that day. The auspicious hour should therefore not be presented as a single compulsory appointment for every family, or confused with Monday’s worship.
Nepal Tourism Board’s cultural overview describes Dashain as a harvest festival that combines prayer, family reunions, gifts and blessings. It lists Ghatasthapana, Phulpati, Ashtami, Nawami and Vijaya Dashami as separate occasions, each with distinct practices. That undated overview provides cultural context, while the committee based reports supply this year’s dates and the current clarification.
Family participation extends beyond a single ceremony. The tourism board describes visits to elders for tika and blessings, new clothes, shared meals, kite flying and village swings among Dashain’s familiar activities. Such descriptions recognise a range of traditions; they do not establish that every household follows an identical programme or that a particular shrine is open at a particular hour.
Practical holiday arrangements also remain institution specific. In an October 17 report, The Kathmandu Post said banks planned to open selected branches for essential transactions during Dashain, generally for limited daily periods. Cash deposits, withdrawals and remittance services were among the facilities described, but the service would not reproduce an ordinary working day at every branch.
Banks were to identify operating branches and hours through their own notices, with withdrawal and remittance limits varying between institutions. Digital banking and ATM access are separate from counter opening hours. Those earlier service preparations are useful context for people arranging family visits and essential transactions; they are not a new October 19 banking announcement.
As cultural analysis, the extra Ashtami day shows why a simple numbered list of festival days can miss the distinction between a calendar day, a lunar observance and an institution’s established ritual sequence. The immediate update is Monday’s continuation of Ashtami practices, with Mahanavami and Bijaya Dashami still separate upcoming observances.
Source publication date: 2026-10-18. Event or reporting period: 2026-10-18 and 2026-10-19; Mahanavami October 20 and Bijaya Dashami October 21.
Sources:RSS, carried by Hariyali Nepal, October 19 at 04:55 NPT; committee based explanation and original featured image · Radio Nepal, October 7 committee festival programme, historical calendar context · Nepal Tourism Board, undated Dashain cultural overview; not a source for 2026 dates · The Kathmandu Post, October 17 limited holiday banking arrangements, practical background
Source: GPT News Feed
