Pancha Dan

Pancha Dan is known to be the festival of five summer gifts and is an exclusively Buddhist festival falling on triodashi, two days prior to the Father’s day according to the Lunar calendar. It is observed by Buddhists of Kathmandu and Lalitpur only; in which gifts are made4 by the laity to the monks. Since the monastic Buddhism has long extinct in Nepal, the receiver of the gift today are the Buddhist priests, the Shayas and the Vajracharyas, who go begging alms to the house of their clients. On this occasion, varieties of food grains are offered to the begging priests. Traditional Buddhist antiques are displayed and gigantic effigies of Dipankar are paraded around the town. As the name suggests the main highlight of the festival is the giving away of five elements (wheat grains, rice grains, salt, money and fruit.

Glance of Nepal