Parshuram Jayanti – Shiva and Parvati wedding anniversary
A few days after the Nepalese New Year, the Hindu festival Parshuram Jayanti was on…
celebrated by the Bikram Sambat traditions as Parshurama’s birthday. This year – 2018 – the holiday fell on April 18 according to the Gregorian calendar.
According to the ancient book of Ramayana, Parashurama arrives at the engagement ceremony of Sita and Rama on that day. According to the beliefs of our friendly Brahmin family, the day of Parshuram Jayanti is celebrated rather as the anniversary of the marriage of Shiva and Parvati. The institution of birth is not honored in this country as high as the anniversary of entering into a holy marriage.
On this day, neighbors and friends are traditionally given a treat called jou satu. It’s a sweet powder made of roasted and ground barley, sugar and black pepper. The taste unexpectedly reminds of slightly spicy wafers. It is obligatory to eat it with sarva pani, i.e. sweet fruit juice.
Our friendly Dulal Cold Store was on the day of Parshuram Jayanti a tasting center of delicious jou satu, which our family also tasted. The hostess would treat everyone who visited the shop by pouring the juice into the plastic cups from the kettle and giving a teaspoon of sweet powder on the hand. Everything was enough, everyone who came was gifted that day.
We made a mistake in the film – in the case of jou satu it’s about barley, not millet. And rakshi is made of millet, as was said.
