KATHMANDU: Bada Dashain, the greatest and longest festival of Nepali Hindus, has officially begun on Saturday with Ghatasthapana. Ghatasthapana is being observed by people performing puja and setting up ghata or pot, on which they sow seeds of barley, wheat, corn and rice, at homes and temples in accordance with Vedic tradition. The Nepal Panchanga Nirnayak Samiti, which publishes the lunar calendar, has said 8:35 am is the auspicious time for sowing seeds in a mixture of sand and soil in a clay pot. The sprouted seedlings are called jamara. These are offered along with tika on the 10th day, which is observed as Vijaya Dashami. On this day — the main day of the Dashain festival — elders and seniors offer tika and jamara to younger relatives and subordinates and bless them. According to popular Hindu myth, Goddess Durga had killed the demon king Mahishasur on Mahanavami and Vijaya Dashami symbolises the victory of good over evil.