KATHMANDU: President Bidya Devi Bhandari received tika, jamara and blessings from her mother, Mithila Pandey, today on the occasion of the Bijaya Dashami festival.

President Bhandari received the tika, jamara and blessings of Shree Nawadurga Bhawani (nine goddesses) at the auspicious hour of 10.35 am and as per the Vedic rituals amidst a ceremony held at the Koshi Hall at the President House, Shital Niwas.

The Head-of-the-State also received tika, prasad, tilak, jamara and rakshya sutra from the main priest of Hanumandhoka, Devraj Aryal, and from the priest at the President’s Office, Khem Chandra Dhakal.

The ceremony started after the playing of the National Anthem. The priests chanted verses from the Vedas amidst the playing of the auspicious music on the occasion.

The President also received tika from her uncles and aunts. She offered tika and jamara to her brother-in-law Kailash Bhandari, sons-in-law and family members as well as the employees of the private secretariat and the security personnel.

[Note: tika is a blob of a mixture of red vermilion powder, curd and rice grain put on the forehead of the junior members of the family by the senior members while jamara is the newly-sprouted barley shoots, which are put behind the ears of men and pinned on the hair of women as the gift and blessings of goddess Durga. Tika and jamara are offered on Dashami, the tenth day of the 10-day long Bada Dashain festival, the biggest festival of Nepalis.

Prasad is the eatable items offered to the goddess while worshipping her, tilak is the paste of charcoal and ghee that is put on the forehead as a dot and rakshya sutra the protective amulet tied around the wrist.