Media outlets dress up for Dashain. What about other festivals?

Incorporating a festival into a masthead or visual identity means adding its symbols or imagery to the publication’s logo, header or other prominent design. These elements are among the first things readers see. They therefore do more than decorate a page. They signal that the organisation recognises the festival as part of public cultural life.

The article gives Dashain as the clearest example. Nepali news outlets often decorate their mastheads with images of tika and jamara. Because a masthead identifies the institution itself, those symbols give Dashain formal visibility. Readers encounter the celebration before engaging with the outlet’s reporting.

This practice is not automatically improper or partisan. Dashain has major social, familial and cultural significance. The key issue is consistency. When an outlet gives one festival a place in its institutional identity, readers can reasonably ask how it acknowledges other communities and their celebrations.

The article asks whether festivals beyond Dashain receive comparable visual recognition in Nepali media. It specifically names Buddha Jayanti, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Christmas, Lhosar and Chhath. It also asks about Udhauli and Ubhauli, festivals celebrated by Kirat communities.

These celebrations connect to several religious and cultural groups. Buddha Jayanti represents Buddhist communities. The two Eid festivals represent Muslims, while Christmas represents Christians. Lhosar and Chhath are also identified as celebrations that deserve consideration. Udhauli and Ubhauli make Kirat cultural presence part of the question.

The point is not that every outlet must redesign its logo for every festival. Instead, the article asks whether media organisations consciously represent the diverse society they serve. Recognition can occur through news coverage, visual content and public conversation, not only through a masthead.

Nepal’s 2021 National Population and Housing Census shows a strongly diverse population alongside a large Hindu majority. Hindus make up 81.19 percent. Buddhists account for 8.21 percent, Muslims 5.09 percent, Kirat followers 3.17 percent and Christians 1.76 percent.

The census also records nature worshippers at 0.35 percent and Bon followers at 0.23 percent. It includes citizens who follow Jainism, Sikhism and the Bahá’í faith. The article adds that Nepal has around 1.5 million Muslims, more than 500,000 Christians and over 2.3 million Buddhists.

These figures explain why Dashain is highly visible, but they do not settle questions of media space. The article stresses that population share and cultural recognition are different. Smaller communities’ festivals remain part of Nepal’s public life and should not be excluded simply because fewer people celebrate them.

Dashain’s prominence is understandable because it is an important cultural festival with broad presence in Nepali society. It carries social, familial and cultural significance. News outlets therefore commonly welcome it by placing tika and jamara on their mastheads. Such recognition is neither unusual nor inherently problematic.

The concern begins when Dashain becomes the only festival represented through a publication’s institutional design. Nepal’s 2021 census records Buddhists, Muslims, Kirat followers, Christians and other communities. Their festivals also have social and cultural meaning, even when their communities are smaller. A festival’s importance cannot be measured only by the number of adherents.

Nepal is constitutionally described as a secular and inclusive state. Media outlets serve readers and sources from varied backgrounds. Their visual practices should therefore reflect that diversity. Dashain can remain prominent while other communities receive meaningful space in coverage, imagery and public conversation.

Giving one festival a place in a news organisation’s logo grants it institutional visibility. The logo or masthead is one of the first things readers see. It appears before they read reports, so it helps shape the publication’s public representation. This can influence which cultural identities seem central in shared public life.

For example, Dashain-themed mastheads use symbols such as tika and jamara. Those images connect the news organisation with a widely recognised celebration. If the same organisation does not acknowledge Buddha Jayanti, Eid, Christmas, Lhosar, Chhath, Udhauli or Ubhauli, other communities may receive less visible institutional recognition.

The article does not claim that every outlet must use every festival’s symbols. Nor does it label Dashain decoration as partisan. The implication is broader: fair representation requires conscious attention to different communities. Balanced coverage and visual recognition can strengthen the sense that media serve the whole society.

The article defines equality as appropriate space, not identical treatment. Every festival does not need the same design, size or format. Different celebrations may call for different forms of recognition. What matters is whether media organisations make a conscious effort to represent the society they serve.

An outlet might keep its logo unchanged all year, and that choice alone is not evidence of exclusion. Another might use selected cultural imagery during important festivals. Either approach can be fair if its editorial policy is consistent and its wider coverage gives different communities meaningful visibility. Recognition can also happen through visual content and public conversation.

This approach avoids turning inclusion into a checklist of identical logos. It keeps Dashain’s prominence understandable while widening attention to Buddha Jayanti, Eid, Christmas, Lhosar, Chhath, Udhauli and Ubhauli. The forward question is whether outlets acknowledge diversity deliberately rather than treating one majority festival as the national culture’s only symbol.

News media matter because they do more than disseminate information. They help shape public discourse and influence how different communities’ cultural presence is acknowledged. Their choices affect what appears normal, central and publicly valued. Representation therefore matters even when an outlet is not reporting directly on religion.

The article connects this role to Nepal’s constitutional identity as a secular and inclusive state. A news portal’s logo or masthead is part of public representation. When it uses festival symbols, it gives that celebration institutional visibility. Readers see the message before engaging with the outlet’s journalism, making design part of the organisation’s public role.

This does not require identical treatment of every festival or force every outlet to change its logo. It does require awareness of Nepal’s religious and cultural diversity. Media organisations can provide appropriate space through reporting, visual content and public conversation, helping more communities see themselves in national life.