Biruda () is a mixture of five seeds of crops used for worshipping and blessing during the

Gaura festival Gaura Parva (; Saton–Athon ( Kumaoni: ) or Gamara) is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated by the people residing in Sudurpashchim province and parts of Karnali province of Nepal as well as in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand state of India. The f ...

. The mixture is composed up of five different types of grains and pulses (

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

, horse gram,

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

, rhododendron and

black gram ''Vigna mungo'', also known as black gram, urad bean, urid bean, mash kalai, uzhunnu parippu, ulundu paruppu, minapa pappu, uddu, or black matpe, is a bean grown in South Asia. Like its relative, the mung bean, it has been reclassified from the ...

). This festival is mainly celebrated in Sudurpashchim Province of

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

and the Biruda mixture is mainly eaten in this region. In Gaura festival it is believed that god Mahesh (Shiv) got married with goddess Gaura (Parwati). In the day of Panchami, Biruda is kept with water in a copper pot to make them wet. The next day the mixture is washed and water is replaced with full customs and worship of Goddess Gaura. Next day this process recontinues. Finally, fourth day from Panchami called Ashtami, all women who wore a sacred thread ''dubi dhaga'' (thread made from grass) fast for good fortune of them and their family members. Whole day women worship goddess Gaura chanting different mantras and folk songs. At last near to end every one gets up, Biruda and fruits are kept into cloths and the cloth is pushed towards sky every one start to catch any thing they can, it is believed that it is good for fortune to catch these things.

References

Objects used in Hindu worship Hindu festivals {{hindu-stub