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.