Seven billion rupees in fresh banknotes have already left Nepal Rastra Bank’s vaults this festive season — and, for the first time in memory, not a single person has had to shove their way to the counter to get them. In a country where festival money has historically meant long queues, pushing, and hours of waiting, the calm at the central bank this year is itself the story.
In Nepal, festivals run on new money. Elders bless the young with crisp notes during Dashain’s Tika ceremony, and families use them in rituals throughout Tihar and Chhath. For years, obtaining that fresh currency from Nepal Rastra Bank’s counters meant a physical scramble — sometimes a chaotic one.
A Calmer Scene This Year
The scene at the central bank’s currency counters looks different this time around. More people are turning up than before, yet the premises remain orderly, with seating available for those waiting and QR-code payments meaning no one needs to carry cash just to get cash. Each person can currently exchange up to two sets of notes in the small denominations — five to one hundred rupees — most commonly used for dakshina and ritual offerings.
Notably, Nepal Rastra Bank has also changed how it runs the whole exercise this year. Rather than declaring a fixed, publicized exchange window the way it has for years, the bank has folded new-note distribution into its regular daily operations at its Thapathali office and through partner commercial banks — available on all working days, without the special one-week rush that has defined Dashain note exchanges in the past. Anuj Dahal, head of the central bank’s Currency Management Department, has said demand itself has softened compared to previous years, a shift officials link to the continued rise of digital payments.
Officials add that the public appears to be handling banknotes with more care than in years past — a small but telling sign, they say, that old habits around festival cash are slowly changing alongside the system itself.
A Quieter Reason Behind Some of the Visits
Not every visit to the counter this year is purely festive. Following the devastating Bhote Koshi floods that struck communities in Nepal’s north in August — damaging thousands of homes and displacing tens of thousands of people — the bank did not issue its usual public call announcing the note exchange. Even so, flood-affected families have been among those arriving at the counters, seeking fresh notes for rituals they consider essential regardless of what they’ve lost.
A New, More Inclusive 1,000-Rupee Note
Timed just ahead of the festivities, Nepal Rastra Bank has also put a redesigned 1,000-rupee note into circulation — the country’s highest denomination, and one that carries forward a feature Nepal pioneered regionally: currency that visually impaired people can identify by touch.
The new “Series 2025” note keeps its familiar size but introduces a light green color scheme within a purple border, an image of Mount Everest, and a rhododendron watermark bearing the number 1000. For accessibility, it carries a raised tactile Roman numeral “M” along with raised horizontal lines, allowing the denomination to be identified by feel alone — building on tactile currency Nepal first introduced in 2020, now carried into this redesigned series with added security upgrades. Those upgrades include a security thread that shifts from red to green depending on the viewing angle, and an image of the goddess Bhagwati that shifts from gold to green when tilted. The reverse features Chitwan’s rare twin elephants, Ram and Laxman, alongside seven rhododendron flowers representing Nepal’s seven provinces and the historic pillar at Hanuman Dhoka. It carries the signature of Governor Prof. Dr. Bishwanath Poudel, and remains legal tender alongside all previously issued 1,000-rupee notes.
More Than Just Money
At festival time in Nepal, a banknote is rarely just currency — it’s blessing, ritual, and continuity between generations. This year, that tradition arrives a little more orderly, and — with a note designed to be read by touch as well as sight — a little more inclusive too.
