Kunse Aunshi/ Buba ko Mukh Herni Din

Kushe Aunsi, written in Nepali as कुशे औंसी, is Nepal's Father's Day. Its everyday name says exactly what the day is for: Buba ko Mukh Herne Din, बुबाको मुख हेर्ने दिन, the day to look at your father's face.

That phrase is worth sitting with, because it is not a translation of anything foreign. It does not say buy your father a gift or send him a card. It says go and look at him. Sons and daughters travel home, present sweets and food he likes, touch his feet, and be in front of him. The day is built around presence rather than purchase.

The festival falls on the new moon of Bhadra, the darkest night of the month, and it carries a second layer that most Father's Days lack. For anyone whose father has died, this is a day of remembrance, when families go to Gokarneshwar, on the Bagmati northeast of Kathmandu, to offer tarpan and shraddha in his name. So on one single day, one queue of people is feeding a living father, and another is making offerings for a dead one. That is why the day is also called Pitri Aunsi, the ancestors' new moon.

The name itself comes from a third thing entirely: kush, the sacred grass that is gathered on this one day and used in household rituals for the rest of the year. This page covers the date, all the names, the kush tradition, what families actually do, the Gokarneshwar pilgrimage, and why the day has nothing to do with the international Father's Day in June.

Quick Facts

When Is Kushe Aunsi Celebrated?

Kushe Aunsi falls on Aunsi, the new moon day, in the month of Bhadra. In 2026, which is 2083 in the Bikram Sambat calendar, it falls on Friday, 11 September 2026, which is Bhadra 26, 2083 BS.

Why does the date move so much

Look at the spread in that table. Bhadra 4 in one year, Bhadra 26 in another. The English date swings from 20 August to 11 September. Nothing about it looks fixed, and there is a clear reason.

Kushe Aunsi is tied to the moon, specifically to Aunsi, the new moon, while the Bikram Sambat calendar you check every day is a solar calendar with fixed month lengths. A lunar event cannot sit still on a solar grid. On top of that, the Hindu calendar inserts an extra lunar month called adhik maas roughly every three years to keep the lunar and solar years from drifting apart, and in those years the whole festival season slides back by around three weeks. That is what pushed 2083 all the way out to Bhadra 26.

So there is no date to memorise. Find the Bhadra Aunsi on the calendar, and that is Father's Day.

Is Kushe Aunsi a public holiday?

No. Kushe Aunsi is not a gazetted public holiday in Nepal. Offices, banks, and schools stay open. In practice, many people take leave or travel the day before, because the whole point of the day is to be physically present with a parent, and a large share of Nepali families now live far apart.

What the Different Names Mean

This day carries an unusual number of names, and each one points to a different part of it.

Kushe Aunsi (कुशे औंसी) comes from kush, the sacred grass gathered on this day, plus aunsi, the new moon. It names the ritual material and the lunar date.

Buba ko Mukh Herne Din (बुबाको मुख हेर्ने दिन) is what almost everyone actually says. It means the day for looking at your father's face. You will also hear Babu ko Mukh Herne Din with the same meaning.

Gokarna Aunsi names the place. Gokarna means cow-eared, and refers to Gokarneshwar Mahadev, the cow-eared form of Shiva whose temple stands on the Bagmati northeast of Kathmandu and which is the destination for the day's ancestor rites.

Pitri Aunsi names the dead. Pitri means the departed ancestors, and on this day offerings are made to them. This is the name that makes clear the day is not only for the living.

Why "Kushe"? The Grass That Gives the Day Its Name

The part of this festival that outsiders miss entirely is that Kushe Aunsi is, in its oldest layer, a grass-gathering day.

Kush is a sacred grass known in Sanskrit as kusha or darbha, and botanically as Desmostachya bipinnata. It has been used in Vedic ritual for as long as there has been Vedic ritual. It is used to make the seat a priest sits on, to line the altar, to sprinkle water during purification, and above all, it is twisted into a ring called a pavitri and worn on the ring finger of the right hand while performing rites. In shraddha and tarpan for the ancestors, kush is essential.

The reason it is collected on this specific day comes from a rule found in the traditional texts and repeated across Nepal every Bhadra: kush pulled on this new moon can be used for the whole year, while kush pulled on any other day is only good for that same day. One morning of gathering therefore supplies a household's rituals for twelve months. In Sanskrit sources, this new moon is called Kushotpatini Amavasya, the new moon of the arising of kush.

There is a belief attached to the plant that explains the care taken with it. Brahma is said to reside at the root of the kush, Vishnu in its middle, and Shiva at its tip. A single blade holds all three. That is why it is pulled with a mantra rather than simply cut, and why it is treated as an object rather than as vegetation.

Once brought home, kush is placed where the household needs protection and purity: near the water source, in the storeroom, and in the kitchen. It is understood to keep the space clean in a sense wider than physical cleanliness.

So the day has a quiet practical shape underneath the emotional one. Fathers are honoured, ancestors are remembered, and the year's supply of ritual grass comes into the house.

Buba ko Mukh Herne Din: What Families Actually Do

For families with a living father, the day is warm, simple, and almost entirely domestic.

Going home. The core act is presence. Sons and daughters who live away travel back, and this is why the roads out of Kathmandu are busy the evening before. Daughters who have married out traditionally return to their parents' home for the day, which for many families is one of the few occasions in the year that everyone is in one place.

Feeding him. Children bring or cook the sweets and food their father likes. Sweets, fruit, curd, and a proper meal are the standard. The gesture is specifically about feeding him something he enjoys rather than something formal.

Touching the feet. Children bow and touch their father's feet to receive his blessing, and receive tika in many households.

Gifts. Clothes, a topi, a shawl, a watch, or something practical he has been putting off buying for himself. Gift giving has grown considerably in recent decades, especially in the cities, but it sits on top of the older practice rather than replacing it.

Photographs and calls. For the very large number of Nepali families with a member working abroad, the day is observed by video call, and Kushe Aunsi is one of the heaviest days of the year for international calls home.

Looking at his face. The literal act the day is named for. In many households, the child simply stands before the father, looks at him, and receives his blessing. It sounds slight written down. It is not slight when the father is old, and the child lives in Qatar.

For Those Whose Father Has Died: Gokarneshwar and Uttargaya

The other half of this day belongs to people whose fathers are no longer alive, and it is observed with as much seriousness as the celebration.

The destination is Gokarneshwar Mahadev, the temple at Gokarna on the northeastern edge of the Kathmandu Valley. It stands beside the Bagmati, at the confluence where the Bagmati meets the Chandramati and the Suryamati, a meeting of three rivers known as a Triveni. A confluence of three rivers is among the most auspicious places in the tradition for rites concerning the dead.

The site is also known as Uttargaya, the northern Gaya. Gaya in Bihar is the most important place in the Hindu world for ancestor rites, and calling Gokarna the northern Gaya places it in the same category. For Nepali families, this is the equivalent site without crossing a border.

On Kushe Aunsi, people whose fathers have died come here to bathe in the river, perform tarpan, the offering of water to the ancestors, arrange shraddha in their father's name, and give sida daan, a donation of uncooked provisions to a Brahmin. Thousands come, and the queues start before dawn.

The Gokarneshwar temple

The temple is one of the oldest sacred sites in the Kathmandu Valley. The area carries Licchavi period archaeological evidence, and the temple in its present form is generally connected to a reconstruction in the late fourteenth century under King Jayasthiti Malla, with later work in the following centuries. The site is mentioned in older texts including the Varaha Purana.

The building is a three-storey pagoda with copper and gold-plated roofing, and the grounds hold an unusually rich collection of stone sculptures and reliefs of gods and goddesses, some of them more than a thousand years old. Even outside the festival, it is one of the better places in the valley to see early Nepali stone carving in its original setting rather than in a museum.

The presiding form of Shiva here is Gokarneshwar, the cow-eared Mahadev, and it is that name that gives the festival its alternative title of Gokarna Aunsi.

Motiram Jayanti Falls on the Same Day

Kushe Aunsi carries a second observance that matters for anyone interested in Nepali literature.

Motiram Bhatta, the poet known as Yuvakavi, the young poet, was born on 25 Bhadra 1923 BS, which is 8 September 1866, and he was born on Kushe Aunsi itself. His birth anniversary, Motiram Jayanti, is therefore observed on the Bhadra new moon every year rather than on a fixed date, which means it always lands on Father's Day. In 2083 BS, Nepal marks his 160th birth anniversary.

Motiram matters far more than his short life suggests. He found the scattered manuscripts of Bhanubhakta Acharya after Bhanubhakta had died in obscurity, took them to Benaras to be printed, wrote the first biography of him, and gave him the title Adikavi, the first poet, which Nepal still uses. He also did foundational work in Nepali journalism and poetry in his own right, and died at only thirty-five.

So on the same day that Nepal honours its fathers, it also honours the man who rescued the father of Nepali literature from being forgotten. That is a coincidence of the calendar, but it is a good one.

Kushe Aunsi Is Not the Same as International Father's Day

This confuses people every year, so it is worth stating plainly.

Kushe Aunsi is Nepal's own Father's Day. It follows the lunar calendar, falls on the Bhadra new moon in August or September, is centuries old, and carries religious observances for both living and departed fathers.

International Father's Day falls on the third Sunday of June, is a modern observance of American origin, and has no ritual content.

Both are marked in Nepal now. Urban families, schools, and brands often observe the June date as well, and there is nothing wrong with that. But Kushe Aunsi is the one with the traditions, the pilgrimage, and the name that tells you what to do.

The counterpart: Matatirtha Aunsi

Nepal's Mother's Day works the same way and is structured as a mirror image. Matatirtha Aunsi, Aama ko Mukh Herne Din, the day to see your mother's face, falls on the new moon of Baisakh, in April or May. Children honour living mothers with sweets, gifts, and blessings, and those whose mothers have died go to Matatirtha, a sacred pond on the western edge of the Kathmandu Valley, to make offerings.

The pattern is identical: a new moon, a face to look at, and a pilgrimage site for the bereaved. One in Baisakh for mothers, one in Bhadra for fathers.

Kushe Aunsi Wishes and Messages

• बुबाको मुख हेर्ने दिनको हार्दिक शुभकामना
• कुशे औंसीको अवसरमा सम्पूर्ण बुबाहरूलाई हार्दिक शुभकामना
• संसारकै उत्तम बुबा पाएकोमा गर्व लाग्छ, बुबाको मुख हेर्ने दिनको शुभकामना
• बुबा, तपाईंको छहारीमा हुर्किन पाउनु नै मेरो सौभाग्य हो
• Happy Father's Day. The day is called looking at your father's face, so go and look at it.
• On Kushe Aunsi, remembering my father with love and gratitude.
• दिवंगत बुबाप्रति हार्दिक श्रद्धाञ्जली, कुशे औंसीको अवसरमा

Father's Day cards, shop offers and school programme posters can be made quickly with the Digital Patro post maker, which has Nepali templates for national observances. Kushe Aunsi is one of the strongest days of the year for local business greeting posts.

Interesting Facts About Kushe Aunsi

• The Nepali name is an instruction, not a label. Buba ko Mukh Herne Din means the day to look at your father's face.
• The day is named after a grass, not after fathers. Kush gives Kushe Aunsi its name.
• Kush gathered on this new moon can be used in rituals for a full year, while kush gathered on any other day is good only for that day.
• Brahma is believed to reside at the root of a kush blade, Vishnu in the middle, and Shiva at the tip.
• Gokarneshwar is called Uttargaya, the northern Gaya, putting it in the same class as the great ancestor-rite site in Bihar.
• The temple stands at a Triveni, the confluence of the Bagmati, Chandramati and Suryamati.
• Gokarna means cow-eared, after the form of Shiva worshipped there, and gives the festival its alternative name Gokarna Aunsi.
• The same day is Pitri Aunsi, so it honours living and departed fathers at once.
• Motiram Bhatta was born on Kushe Aunsi, so Motiram Jayanti always falls on Father's Day.
• Nepal's Mother's Day, Matatirtha Aunsi, is built on the same pattern, on the Baisakh new moon.
• Kushe Aunsi is not a public holiday, unlike many smaller festivals in the same month.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Kushe Aunsi?

→ Kushe Aunsi is Nepal's traditional Father's Day, observed on the new moon of Bhadra. Its common name is Buba ko Mukh Herne Din, the day to look at your father's face. Children honour living fathers with sweets, favourite food, gifts, and blessings, while those whose fathers have died perform tarpan and shraddha, usually at Gokarneshwar. The day is named after kush, the sacred grass gathered on it for the year's rituals.

When is Kushe Aunsi in 2083 BS?

→ It falls on Friday, 11 September 2026, which is Bhadra 26, 2083 BS. Because it follows the new moon rather than a fixed date, the date changes considerably from year to year, from Bhadra 4 in 2085 BS to Bhadra 26 in 2083 BS.

Why does the date of Father's Day in Nepal change every year?

→ Kushe Aunsi is tied to Aunsi, the new moon, which is a lunar event, while the Bikram Sambat calendar is solar with fixed month lengths. The two do not line up, so the festival moves. The Hindu calendar also adds an extra lunar month called adhik maas roughly every three years, and in those years the entire festival season shifts later by about three weeks.

What does Buba ko Mukh Herne Din mean?

→ It translates literally as the day for looking at your father's face. The name describes the central act of the festival, which is being physically present in front of your father, rather than sending anything or buying anything. Children go home, present food he likes, touch his feet, and receive his blessing.

Why is it called Kushe Aunsi?

→ Because of kush, a sacred grass known in Sanskrit as kusha or darbha, which is gathered on this day. Aunsi means new moon. Traditional practice holds that kush pulled on this particular new moon remains usable in rituals for a whole year, while kush pulled on any other day is only good that day, so households collect their annual supply now.

What is kush grass used for?

→ Kush is used across Hindu rituals. It is twisted into a ring called a pavitri and worn on the ring finger while performing rites, used to make ritual seats and to line altars, used for sprinkling water in purification; and it is essential in shraddha and tarpan offerings for ancestors. In the home, it is placed near the water source, in the storeroom, and in the kitchen. Brahma is believed to reside at its root, Vishnu in its middle, and Shiva at its tip.

Is Kushe Aunsi a public holiday in Nepal?

→ No. It is not a gazetted public holiday, so offices, banks, and schools remain open. Many people take personal leave or travel the previous evening because the day is about being physically present with a parent, and many families live far apart.

What do people do if their father has died?

→ They observe the day as Pitri Aunsi, the ancestors' new moon. The usual practice is to travel to Gokarneshwar Mahadev on the Bagmati northeast of Kathmandu, bathe at the confluence, perform tarpan, arrange shraddha in the father's name, and give sida daan, a donation of uncooked provisions. Other tirthas are used by families outside the valley.

What is Gokarneshwar and why do people go there?

→ Gokarneshwar Mahadev is a temple at Gokarna on the north-eastern edge of the Kathmandu Valley, standing where the Bagmati meets the Chandramati and Suryamati rivers. It is dedicated to the cow-eared form of Shiva, which is what Gokarna means, and it gives the festival its alternative name, Gokarna Aunsi. The site is also called Uttargaya, the northern Gaya, marking it as a major place for rites for the dead. It carries Licchavi period archaeological evidence and was substantially rebuilt in the late fourteenth century.

What is Uttargaya?

→ Uttargaya means the northern Gaya. Gaya in Bihar is the most important site in the Hindu world for ancestor rites, and Gokarna is given the same standing for Nepal. Families performing shraddha for a father can do at Gokarna what would otherwise require a journey to Gaya.

How is Kushe Aunsi different from international Father's Day?

→ Kushe Aunsi is Nepal's own Father's Day, follows the lunar calendar, falls on the Bhadra new moon in August or September, and carries religious observances for both living and departed fathers. International Father's Day falls on the third Sunday of June, is a modern observance of American origin, and has no ritual content. Many urban Nepali families now mark both.

What is the Mother's Day equivalent in Nepal?

→ Matatirtha Aunsi, also called Aama ko Mukh Herne Din, the day to see your mother's face. It falls on the new moon of Baisakh, in April or May, and follows the same pattern: honouring living mothers with food, gifts, and blessings, and visiting Matatirtha, a sacred pond west of Kathmandu, for those whose mothers have died.

Why is Motiram Jayanti on the same day?

→ Because the poet Motiram Bhatta was born on Kushe Aunsi itself, on 25 Bhadra 1923 BS, which is 8 September 1866. His birth anniversary is observed on the Bhadra new moon rather than on a fixed date, so it always coincides with Father's Day. Motiram is remembered for finding and publishing the lost manuscripts of Bhanubhakta Acharya, writing the first biography of him, and giving him the title Adikavi.

What should you give your father on Kushe Aunsi?

→ The traditional core is food rather than objects: sweets, fruit, curd, and a meal he particularly likes. Gifts such as clothes, a topi, a shawl, or something practical have become common, especially in the cities. What the day is actually named for costs nothing, which is going to him, looking at him, and touching his feet for his blessing.

What are the other names for Kushe Aunsi?

→ The day is also called Gokarna Aunsi or Gokarne Aunsi, after the Gokarneshwar temple; Pitri Aunsi, after the ancestors honoured on it, and Babu ko Mukh Herne Din, a variant of the common Nepali name. All of them refer to the same Bhadra new moon.