Kathmandu, March 24 -- Aarti Devi Ray, a 65-year-old resident of Jogyara, Bideha Municipality in Dhanusha, was eager to join the Mithila Madhyamik Parikrama festival this year. However, due to health concerns, she had to stay home and bid farewell to her neighbours who were attending.

Last year, her circumstances were different. She had made a vow to Kishori ji (Goddess Sita) that if her daughter was blessed with a child, she would participate in the fifteen-day Parikrama (circumambulation). Miraculously, just six days before the Parikrama, her daughter gave birth to a healthy baby.

On Falgun 8 last year (February 20, 2023)-right after the chatiyar (name-keeping ceremony on the sixth day after a child's birth)-Ray and her husband, accom...