Akash Deep or Aalin Mata

On the last day of the Dasain festival, Nepalese households set up a bamboo with a lantern attached to its top to lit a victory lamp to show the world and the universe that the demonic evils that have terrorized the world have been eliminated and the peace prevails everywhere.

The lamp is called ‘Akash Deep’ in a general term, and ‘Aalin Mata’ in the Newar language. The lamp symbolizes the victory of the divine spirits over the demonic spirits, in other words the victory of enlightenment over the darkness.

The lamp keeps on lighting for a month to brighten the universe. The length of a bamboo should be of 31.5’ or 21.5’ or 10.5’. The light goes up on every evening and stays on for a night at the top of a bamboo.

Nepalis believe that keeping this light for a month from the full moon day of the Dasain festival until the next full moon day will earn merits.