The Newar community across the Kathmandu Valley celebrated the annual Sithi Nakha festival on Saturday by cleaning traditional water sources, including wells, ponds and centuries-old stone spouts.

Observed every year on the sixth day of the waxing moon in the lunar month of Jestha (May/June), the festival marks the onset of the monsoon and holds deep cultural and environmental significance for the Newar community.

Sithi Nakha is observed as a community effort to clean and maintain traditional water sources before the monsoon, when rainwater, debris and runoff can contaminate them. In Lalitpur, local residents gathered to clean centuries-old stone spouts, continuing a tradition passed down through generations.

The festival is also marked by the preparation and sharing of traditional foods, with families and neighbourhoods coming together for communal feasts.

Widely regarded as a celebration of both environmental stewardship and cultural heritage, the festival reinforces community ties while helping preserve the Newar community’s traditions and identity.