Nepal Sambat (Mha Puja) 2026 Australia — Events, Dates & Celebrations

Nepal Sambat 1147 — the Newar New Year — begins Tuesday 10 November 2026, marked by the Mha Puja self-worship ceremony during Tihar.

Nepal Sambat 1147 begins on Tuesday, 10 November 2026 — the fourth day of Tihar, shared with Govardhan Puja. For the Newar community it is the most important day of the year: Mha Puja (म्हपूजा), the ceremony of worshipping one's own existence, where family members sit before mandalas drawn on the floor and receive blessings for the year ahead.

Nepal Sambat 1147 — quick answer

• What: the New Year of the Nepal Sambat era — year 1147 begins
• When: Tuesday, 10 November 2026 (Kartik 25, 2083 BS / Govardhan Puja day of Tihar)
• How it is marked: the Mha Puja self-worship ceremony in the evening — mandalas, sagun offerings of egg, bara, fish, aila and sweets, and the family aarti

Mha Puja and Tihar

Mha Puja sits inside the Tihar sequence but is its own observance: while the rest of Nepal marks Govardhan Puja and the ox on day four, Newar families purify the home, draw the mandala rows for each member, and perform the rite that renews body and spirit for the new era year. The following day is Bhai Tika — see the Bhai Tika guide and the worldwide sahit times.

The Newar community in Australia

Australia's Newar community keeps Mha Puja in the evening of 10 November, typically gathering by city associations — the ceremony travels well because everything it needs is a clean floor, the mandala and the sagun tray. Traditional Newar foods for the day include sel roti, bara and the sagun set; community celebrations follow through the Newar associations' own channels.

A note on the name

Nepal Sambat (नेपाल सम्बत) is the lunar-era calendar indigenous to the Kathmandu Valley — it was restored as Nepal's official national era in 2008 and runs alongside the Vikram Sambat calendar used for the wider festival year. Its New Year always falls on Govardhan Puja day of Tihar.

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