Valentine’s Day and Matina Paru, Love festivals

Matina Paru is a Newah festival celebrated in Nepal, specially in Kathmandu Valley. The name of the festival means Matina = Love and Paru = Pratipada (the first day of lunar waning cycle). The festival is celebrated by youths on the day after Yomari Purnima. The Western version of Matina Paru is the Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day, celebrated on February 14 all over the world, is widely popular and is replacing the unique Matina Paru in Nepal too. According to traditional beliefs, if a guy and a girl propose on Matina Paru day, they would be together for life and 7 births afterwards. I haven’t heard of any stories about how Matina Paru started. But, there are various old sayings about how Valentine Day had started.

Valentines Day Story

Here are a couple of stories of the Valentine Day.

In one story, St. Valentine was a Christian preacher of Roman Empire. He went against the royal order about youths marrying. He was sentenced to death on February 14. There are various stories of St. Valentine falling in love with the daughter of the jailer and his love letter. It is believed that his letter ended with the phrase, “From Your Valentine.” That phrase became popular in the love letters youths send and that was how Valentine became a celebration rather than a saint’s name.

These days, Valentine Day is all about gift giving and having fun. It is more like a commercial opportunity for the business people and it is and opportunity to have fun for the busy young people of the current time. Taking some time off and enjoy the time with the loved ones is something everybody is looking forward to.

We wish you a very Happy Valentine Day and wish you a long lasting and fun filled relationship.

There are some love stories for you:

and a very funny one: