Sohra Shraddha: Why Hindus in Nepal remember their forefathers before the festive season

As I walk along the banks of the Bagmati , I observe a lot of things. On one side of the banks, I see a family grieving and performing the last rites of its departed member, while on the other side, I see people paying homage and honouring their forefathers. As I sit there watching, a man takes a bath in the holy river and a foreigner asks me what he is doing.

I tell him he is taking a ‘purifying bath’ in the river before he starts the rituals of Sohra Shraddha.