Photos by: Hemanta Shrestha

Hindu women across the country are observing the Rishipanchami festival on Friday as per the rituals. The festival, the concluding day of the Teej, is observed on the fifth day of bright half moon of the month of Bhadra.

Hindu women reaching their menstruation period observe this festival with due respect and importance by fasting and paying homage to the Saptarshis (seven powerful saints as per the Hindu mythology) with a belief that they will be blessed and forgiven for all sins they believed to have committed during the menstrual cycle.

On the day, those observing the festival wake up early in the morning, go to nearby river, stream, pond and lake and take bath with established rituals. They clean their body with 365 stems of Apamarga, a medicinal plant; take bath with cow dung and soil collected from sacred places and ash.

The fasting ritual requires the devotee to take bath in the morning and carryout prayers after which the person is required to eat grains, vegetables, wild fruits, Kandamul, guava for a single meal and fast again.

On this day, woman devotees throng the Shrisheshwar Temple in Teku of the capital city, Kathmandu, and other Rishi Temples across the nation for homage and worship.