Kathmandu Valley celebrated the Gathemuga festival on Sunday by setting fire to effigies of demons, burning mustard to ward off evil spirits and driving three-pronged iron nails into the thresholds of their homes to keep out bad ghosts.
This age-old festival actually marks the end of the paddy planting season, and the beginning of the season of festivals that includes Indra Jatra and Saparu. It probably has its antecedant in farming communities having more free time after the planting, and making merry while waiting for the monsoon to run its course.
Chasing away evil spirits is probably also related to the fact that this was also the season of epidemics like cholera and small pox that used to leave many dead every year.
