KATHMANDU: Gaura festival is being celebrated with fanfare in the Sudurpaschim and Karnali provinces of Nepal.

The festival is also celebrated in Kathmandu.

Lord Shiva and Goddess Gauri are worshipped by devotees and women who observe fasting.

People reach the Guaraghar and offer akchheta (a mixture of rice grain and vermillion powder) and prasad to biruda.

Deuda song and dance are performed in local language and gait; and dhamari and dhusko games played during the festival are quite entertaining activities.

It is believed that worshipping Lord Shiva and Goddess Gauri in the Gaura festival appease the family deities.

This folk culture bears the stories of plights, history and tradition.