Editorial photo #13057181 Social Issue
Nepal Celebrates Yomari Punhi: The Festival Of Harvest And Delicacy
A Nepali woman takes a selfie in front of the large-sized Newa: delicacy, Yo: Mari:, being paraded through the city center during the Yomari Punhi: and Jyapu Day celebration parade in Kathmandu, Nepal, on December 4, 2025. The steaming hot delicacy, shaped like a fig and filled with molasses and sesame seeds, is commonly called Yomari in the Newa community. It marks the start of the consumption of fresh-harvest rice from the full moon of Poush, the ninth month of the Nepali lunar calendar. The harvest festival, marked with fanfare by the Newa community of the Kathmandu Valley, gets its name from Yomari, the fresh-harvest rice sweetmeat. According to various beliefs, Suchandra and Krita, a married couple, first experimented with the fresh yield of rice from their field in present-day Panauti City in ancient times. The couple then distributed the new delicacy to the villagers, which was liked by all, and it was named Yomari, which in the Newa: language means ''tasty bread.'' It not only is tasty but also helps one to keep warm in winter and helps to increase blood and sperm. (Photo by Subaas Shrestha/NurPhoto)
