Yomari punhi

Yomari Punhi (Nepal Bhasa:योमरी पुन्हि), literally meaning full moon of yomari, is one of the popular Newar festivals and is observed every year during the full moon of December. On this full moon day, people of the Kathmandu Valley offer worship to Annapurna, the goddess of grains, for the rice harvest. Groups of kids go around the neighborhood to beg yomari cakes from housewives. Sacred masked dances are performed in the villages of Hari Siddhi and Thecho at the southern end of the Valley to mark the festival [ [http://www.schoolnet.or.jp/summer2006/web/45/h-f.html Healthy foood in nepal ] ] .

Mythology

According to popular belief, the Newars, upon munching a mouthful of yomari, await the end of their four days of devotion of god, following which they will be blessed with wealth. The people prepare yomaris, in the form of gods and goddesses such as Kumar, Ganesh, Laxmi and Kuber. In keeping with the culture, parents bless children from two to twelve years who are then offered yomaris. The children on the other hand perform the customary song and dance and ask for food and other gifts from the elders during the festival. The festival is said to have started from panchal nagar(present day Panauti). Myth has it that Suchandra and Krita, a married couple, first experimented with fresh yield of rice from their field. And what took shape turned out came to be known as yomari.

The yomari is a confection of made of newly harvested rice-flour dough shaped like fig and filled with brown cane sugar, ghee and sesame seeds, which is then steamed. This delicacy is the chief item on the menu during the post-harvest celebration of Yomari Punhi.

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