Editorial photo #13057191 Social Issue

Nepal Celebrates Yomari Punhi: The Festival Of Harvest And Delicacy

Members of the Newa: community, the aboriginals of the Kathmandu Valley, take part in the Yomari Punhi: and Jyapu day celebration parade in Kathmandu, Nepal, on December 4, 2025. A steaming hot delicacy shaped like a fig, filled with molasses and sesame seeds, commonly called Yomari in the Newa community, 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 experiment with the fresh yield of rice from their field at present-day Panauti City in ancient times. The couple then distributes the new delicacy to the villagers, which is liked by all, and it is 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)