Narayangadh-Muglin Highway upgrade project was supposed to expand the highway and end-up last year, but the contractors demanded some additional time.
The widening of the highway had begun their tasks in 2015 and was expected to be summit by 2017. This is the highway, used to enter the capital valley from different parts of Nepal, including the eastern and western. However, following the earthquake and the Indian blockade, the deadline for the work was extended for 10 months. Now, the companies are saying that frequent landslides, election-related traffic and movement of vehicles during the festivals are impacting their work and it cannot be completed on time.
The road has been divided into three sections and the contract for constructing each section was awarded to a different company. The deadline for one of the sections of the project ended on Wednesday while that for remaining two sections is ending on February 20. According to officials, 25 percent of the work still remains to be done.
Supreme-Rautaha JV, which was awarded the contract for working on the 12.1 kilometre stretch from Simlatar to Muglin, has asked authorities to extend the deadline by 158 days. Likewise, Hill-Lama JV has sought 336 more days to complete its 10.7-kilometre road, while BLA-Shrestha JV has asked for 684 additional days to finish is 10.4 kilometres.
The project’s consultant engineer Pushkar Regmi said a proposal has been prepared to recommend an extension to the deadline. The companies’ deadlines are to be extended by around 80-90 days. The recommendation concerning the extension has been sent to the Department of Roads for approval, said Chief of the Narayangadh-Muglin road project Chandra Narayan Yadav.
An accident of Bolero Jeep reckoning 4 deaths and other 18 injured on BP Highway, near Bhadrakali.
“Four persons died on the spot, other 18 persons have been rescued and sent to Sindhuli District Hospital for treatment”, said DSP Vinod Sharma.
The deceased are yet to be ascertained, according to Sharma.
A bolero Jeep (Ba 11 Cha 2275) heading towards Hirding of Ratnachura, Golanjor Rural Municipality from district headquarters got accident near Dhungre Bhanjyang of Kamalamai Municipality-2 along the BP Highway.
Most of the victims boarded the ill-fated jeep after it crossed the police check-post along the highway, Sharma added.
Road accidents are common in Nepal due to pathetic condition of roads, poor maintenance of highways and feeble execution of traffic rules.
However, the main cause of the accident is yet not confirmed.
Nepal slumped to 7 runs defeat at the hands of UAE in the final of ICC World Cricket League Division II played at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek, Namibia, on Thursday.
After being runner-up of the tournament, Nepal are now seeded in Group B along with the hosts Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Scotland and Hong Kong for the ICC World Cup Qualifier tournament to be held in Zimbabwe on March.
UAE are pitted against the likes of West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands and Papua New Guinea in Group A.
Skipper Khadka who blazed to an unbeaten, flamboyant century (112 in 103 balls), with eight towering sixes and three crunching drives, could not take his team over the line despite hammering three consecutive sixes in the last over.
At the end 28 runs off last over was just a touch above despite Khadka being in sparkling form in the tournament.
Out of form batsmen Gyanendra Malla, Sarad Vesawkar, Dipendra Singh Airee scored 24, 30 and 35 runs respectively, failing to convert their runs into big scores.
Karan KC who single handedly defeated Canada with his powerful hitting on Wednesday failed to repeat his ‘magic’ today.
Amir Hayat was picking of the UAE bowler with 10-0-53-4.
Imran Haider took two Nepali scalps while Rohan Mustafa and Ahmed Raza chipped in with a wicket each.
After winning the toss, UAE elected to bat first and amassed a challenging total of 277/4 runs for Nepal to chase.
Ashfaq Ahmed and Rohan Mustafa gave a solid start, garnering 109 runs opening partnership for the Gulf nation. Rohan Mustafa scored 51 runs before falling prey to Basanta Regmi’s delivery, having been caught by Karan KC in 24.1 overs.
Man of the match Ashfaq Ahmed scored a match winning century, making 112 runs in 123 balls, including 10 fours and three sixes.
Courtesy: espncricinfo
Rameez Shahzad remained not out on 41 off 46 balls with one four and one six. Shiman Anwar hit brisk 40 off 24 balls with two fours and three sixes.
Sandeep Lamichanne, Basanta Regmi and Sompal Kami chipped in a wicket each.
Earlier, Nepal had defeated UAE by four wickets.
With the conclusion of the tournament, Nepal is also promoted to ICC World Cricket League Division I.
Nepal’s Paras Khadka: “Things have just worked for out for us, we have been working so hard for all these years and eventually it has happened for us, I am speechless.”
UAE’s Rohan Mustafa: “We have fought back after losing to Nepal, and worked really hard so I feel we deserve to be going to Zimbabwe.”
Nepal and the UAE have qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 in Zimbabwe after a thrilling finish in today’s matches at the ICC World Cricket League Division II.
Nepal beat Canada in the last ball by one wicket in the closest of matches at Wanderers, as UAE narrowly beat Namibia by 19 runs to send both teams through to the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe. It was jubilation for Nepal and UAE and heartbreak for Canada and Namibia. In the other day’s match Oman beat Kenya by two wickets at the United ground.
With the candidate nomination from CPN-UML, KP Sharma Oli leading politician has sworn in as the 41st Prime Minister of Nepal today. Newly swore PM is in his second term as Prime Leader of Nepal.
He took an oath as newly-elected Prime Minister amid a function organized at President’s Office, Shital Niwas, in Maharajgunj, under the administration of President Bidya Devi Bhandari.
Oli was appointed to the top executive post in accordance with Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal. Oli is the 38th politician to head the government in modern Nepal.
Similarly, the newly-elected Prime Minister has formed a three-member Cabinet incorporating ministers Lal Babu Pandit and Tham Maya Thapa, both of CPN-UML. Thapa has been appointed as Minister for Women and Children whereas Pandit has been appointed as Minister for Population and Environment.
President Bhandari has also administered the oath of office and secrecy to both Pandit and Thapa.
To pave the way for Oli to lead the nation as Prime Minister, a meeting of the UML held in Singhadarbar this afternoon had unanimously appointed him as the Parliamentary Party (PP) leader.
Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun, ministers including Sher Bahadur Deuba, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal, Subhash Nembang, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Onsari Gharti Magar, Kamal Thapa, ambassadors and other high level officials were present in the swearing-in ceremony.
President Bhandari appointed KP Sharma Oli to the post this afternoon. CPN-UML Standing Committee, with support from the CPN Maoist Centre, had put forth his name for the top executive position of the country on Wednesday. He is CPN-UML’s fourth leader to take the high office of Prime Minister since 1995.
All rounder Karan KC inspired Nepal to qualify for the 2019 World Cup qualifier with his fearless hitting to thrash Canada by one wicket in thrilling last over of the ongoing ICC World Cricket League Division II match played at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek, Namibia, on Wednesday.
KC walked to the middle, at a stage when Nepal were reeling at 144/8, still needing 51 runs off 48 balls for victory with just two wickets intact.
Unsung all rounder KC smashed flamboyant 42 runs off just 31 balls which included four humongous sixes and three cracking fours to snatch a match from clutches of Canada.
Man of the match KC opened his account with a straight drive four past the bowler to the long-of region before lofting a six to long-on region off Keyliner delivery in the same over.
In the penultimate over of the innings, KC, who hit two consecutive four and six before stealing a single off last ball of the over to keep strike with himself, brought down the equation to eight off six balls in the last over.
Cecil Pervez was given a responsibility by his captain to defend eight runs off the last over, bowled four dot balls, Keeping Canada in the hunt; however, KC had other ideas as he hit six of the penultimate delivery to long-on boundary.
Nepal still required two runs off the last delivery, Pervez under pressure bowled a wayward wide delivery to tie the score before KC hit a winning run of the last ball to take his team over the line.
Dilip Nath, who was left out for clash against Kenya, was drafted in for today’s crucial encounter as he justified his selection with his measured 41 runs off 68 balls with five hit to the fence.
Nepal’s pathetic form with the bat continued as they again lost early wickets, Gyanendra Malla perished after scoring painstaking 9 runs off 25 balls before hitting a six.
Skipper Paras Khadka, who has been a backbone of Nepal’s batting order fell for a rare golden duck after miscuing a pull to mid wicket region off short ball.
Sarad Vesawkar one of the senior pro of the team, who is yet to make a substantial contribution with the bat fell again cheaply for 1 run. He followed Nath back to pavilion in the 22.1 overs leaving the team hovering at 73/4.
Lower order batsmen Aarif Sheikh and RK Paudel again contributed valuable 26 and 27 runs respectively before KC and Lamichanne shared a match winning tenth wicket 51 runs partnership to take the team home.
Pervez took three Nepali wickets, Dutta and Saad Bin Zafar bagged two wickets each, Dhindsa, Heyliger chipped in with a wicket each for Canada.
Nepal were given a target of 195 runs by Canada in a last and crucial encounter of the tournament.
After winning the toss, Nepali skipper Khadka had opted to field first.
Canada rode on Srimantha Wijeratne’s unbeaten century to post a challenging total for Nepal in a do-or-die encounter today. Wijeratne smashed 103 runs in 152 balls, studded with eight boundaries.
Hamza Tariq and Saad Bin Zafar contributed 24 and 10 runs respectively.
Other Canadian batsmen failed to register double digit score as they wilted to after being put on tremendous pressure by Nepali bowlers, who bowled in tandem to tandem.
Spinner Basanta Regmi was picking of the bowler with 10-0-34-3.
Sandeep Lamichanne took two Canadian scalps where as Karan KC and Sarad Vesawkar chipped in with a wicket each.
The match was halted for while due to sporadic rainfall, had it been decided by Duck worth Lewis method Nepal would have lost to Canada by 10 runs. At that stage the par score was 125 but Nepal were 10 runs short to the total.
However, the black cloud hovering over Windhoek triggered light drizzle which brought luck in Nepal favour.
Earlier, Nepal beat the hosts Namibia by one-wicket before facing a six-wicket lost at the hands of Oman. Nepal bounced back to thrash the United Arab Emirates by four wickets and registered a three wickets triumph over Kenya in the last ball thriller.
Nepal are pitted in Group A along with West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea where as the other qualifier UAE sit in Group B along with Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Scotland and Hong Kong.
The top three teams in each group will qualify for Super Sixes; others move into play-offs. Top two teams in Super Six make the final–both qualify for 2019 World Cup to be held in England and Wales.
Courtesy: CricinfoCourtesy: CricinfoCourtesy: CricinfoCourtesy: Cricinfo
What is next Nepal has to face?
Nepal along with UAE has secured their berth at the 2019 World Cup qualifier to be held next month in Zimbabwe. Bottom two teams have been relegated to Division III.
Nepal and the UAE have booked their tickets for the 2019 ICC World Cup Cricket Qualifiers to be played in Zimbabwe from March 4-25.
Other teams that have already qualified for the tournament are: the West Indies, Ireland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Scotland and Hong Kong.
Nepal and the UAE now play the final of the Division II tournament final on Wednesday. The result of the match will determine the group Nepal will be pitted in during the qualifiers. If Nepal wins the final against UAE, they will be placed in Group A of the tournament alongside the West Indies, Ireland, the Netherlands and PNG.
If Nepal loses the final, they will be placed in Group B alongside Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Hong Kong and Scotland. Top three teams from each group qualify for the super sixes stage in which each team play five matches. Two teams that finish the super sixes on top play the final, as well as qualify for the 2019 world cup. In addition to this, the top three associate countries earn ODI status for four years.
These countries will be playing ICC Qualifier matches for WC.
A team of Nepal Army bomb disposal team has successfully defused a pressure cooker bomb planted at Ncell tower, on the roof of a garment factory, Sallaghari.
The NA bomb disposal team defused the bomb with the effort in 2 hours. The pressure cooker bomb was kept in a sack.
Deputy Superintendent of Police at the Bhaktapur Metropolitan Police Range, Krishna Prasain, said that investigation into the case was underway.
Vehicular movement via Araniko highway was stopped for two hours following the incident.
Similarly, an unidentified group exploded an improvised explosive device (IED) at Ncell tower in Sudal of Changunarayan Municipality on Tuesday night.
Prasain said that some materials including Ncell tower battery were damaged in the incident.
The CPN-UML meetings to candids the party Chair KP Sharma Oli to stand as their party candidates for the next PM, as the new government is yet to be formed.
Similarly, the meeting also decided to officially claim formation of the new government with support from CPN Maoist Centre.
The process of appointment of Prime Minister would begin after the Election Commission would submit the final results of House of Representatives election under the Proportional Representation to the President.
CPN-UML, with the support of CPN Maoist Center, has emerged as the largest party after garnering majority in the three-tier elections.
Nepal has been chasing the target of 195 runs against Canada on ongoing ICC World Cricket League Division II match played at Windhoek, Namibia.
The tossed was won by the Nepalese team and Khadka chose to field first.
Canada rode on Srimantha Wijeratne’s unbeaten century to post a challenging total for Nepal in a do-or-die encounter today. Wijeratne smashed 103 runs in 152 balls, studded with eight boundaries.
Nepalese cricket team captain Paras Khadka and Canadian captain Nitish Kumar doing toss.
Hamza Tariq and Saad Bin Zafar contributed 24 and 10 runs respectively.
After a failed attempt by the other Canadian batsmen they pricked the target, as Nepali bowlers were on high pressure.
Spinner Basanta Regmi was pick of the bowler with 10-0-34-3.
Sandeep Lamichanne took two Canadian scalps where as Karan KC and Sarad Vesawkar chipped in with a wicket each.
Team’s happiness
The crown prince of Denmark, the husband of Queen Margrethe, has died at the age of 83; he has been one of the unhappiness as he died without being the king.
The controversial French-born prince had returned to Fredensborg Castle, north of Copenhagen, after being in hospital with a lung infection.
His flamboyant style was both loved and criticized by Danes.
The queen, 77, is said to have accepted her husband’s decision, which broke a 459-year-old tradition of burying royal spouses together.
Frustrated with his royal title, he announced in 2017 that he did not want to be buried next to his wife.
She already has a specially-built sarcophagus in a cathedral west of Copenhagen where the remains of Danish royals are buried.
The prince, who was diagnosed with dementia last year, died “peacefully in his sleep” at the castle, the Royal House announced. Queen Margrethe and their two sons were at his side
Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederick Henrik and queen Margrethe II
No plans for his funeral have been announced.
Prince Henrik was born Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat in 1934, and married the then-crown princess Margrethe in 1967.
She became queen in 1972 and over the years Prince Henrik made no secret that he was unhappy at being denied the title of king.
Many Danes disliked him for that, seeing it as a sign of an arrogant man hungry for recognition.
In Denmark, a princess traditionally becomes queen when her husband takes the throne, but a man does not become king if his wife becomes queen.
But in recent years, many youngsters thought his manner represented a break from the norms of cultural uniformity in Danish society.
In 2016, he retired from official duties, renouncing the title of Prince Consort. In the time since, he was often in France at his private vineyard.
He spoke with a thick French accent and was known for his love of food, wine and poetry.
Prince Henrik and Queen Margrethe have two sons – Crown Prince Frederick and Prince Joachim.
Crown Prince Frederick returned from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea last week to be with his ailing father.
It’s renowned for being the ‘most romantic day of the year’.
And many of us use it as an opportunity to show affection for our loved ones with cards, flowers or chocolates.
But why exactly do we celebrate Valentine’s Day and why does it fall on February 14?
Well we’ve trawled through the history books to find out the real reasons so you don’t have to – and the background casts a very different light on the holiday.
How did Valentine’s Day begin?
Valentine’s Day is an old tradition thought to have originated from a Roman Festival known as Lupercalia, according to History.com.
It was held on February 15 as a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture.
During the celebrations boys would draw names of girls from a box and the pair would be partners during the festival.
These matches often led to marriage.
The festival survived the initial rise of Christianity but was outlawed at the end of the 5th century when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St Valentine’s Day.
Chaucer may have actually made it all up
haucer, as in The Canterbury Tales writer, may have actually been behind Valentine’s Day. The medieval English poet took quite a few liberties with history.
He’d drop his poetic characters into real-life historical events leaving readers wondering if that’s what really happened.
There is no actual record of Valentine’s Day before Chaucer’s poem in 1375.
It’s in Parliament of Foules that he links the tradition of courtly love to the St Valentine’s feast day – the tradition didn’t exist until after his poem.
The poem refers to February 14 as the day of birds coming together to find a mate. “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate,” he wrote and maybe invented Valentine’s Day as we now know it.
Who was St. Valentine?
The St Valentine that inspired the holiday may have been more than one man.
The saint officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church was a real person who died around AD 270.
An account from 1400s describes Valentine as a priest who was beheaded by Emperor Claudius II for helping Christian couples wed.
The emperor had banned marriage as he thought single men made better soldiers.
Valentine felt this was unfair so he celebrated marriages in secret.
When the emperor found out he was thrown in jail and sentenced to death.
He may also have been Bishop of Terni, also martyred by Claudius II on the outskirts of Rome.
There are similarities between the priest’s and bishop’s stories, which leads people to believe they are the same man.
There’s so much confusion around St Valentine that the Church stopped veneration of him in 1969 – though he is still listed as an official saint.
“Valentinus” is from the Latin word for worthy, strong or powerful, and was a popular name between the second and eighth centuries AD meaning there are several martyrs with the same name.
There are actually a dozen Valentines listed and there’s even a Pope Valentine.
The actual day we celebrate is known as St Valentine of Rome to set him apart.
What does he really have to do with love?
Valentine did help marry couples in secret, which is arguably very romantic.
He is the patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy among other things…Like the plague, fainting and travelling.
That doesn’t stop people calling on his help for those romantically involved. He’s now also patron of engaged couples and happy marriages.
Why is his skull kept in Rome?
Yes, that’s right. St Valentine’s skull is housed and adorned in flowers in Rome. It’s actually on display in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin.
It was found when people were excavating a catacomb near Rome in the early 1800s. The skeletal remains and other relics now associated with St Valentine were dug up. It’s the norm for these to be split and distributed to reliquaries – places that keep relics – around the world. If you wanted to see other parts of the saint, he’s on display in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Scotland, England and France.
Why do we give Valentine’s cards?
Another idea is that when he was sent to prison, he sent a letter to a young girl he had fallen in love with and signed it “From your Valentine”.
Why is always celebrated on February 14?
Some believe that Valentine’s Day’s is celebrated mid-February to mark the anniversary of St Valentine’s death.
It’s thought to have happened in the middle of the month around 270 AD.
Others maintain that the Christian church decided to place St Valentine’s feast day at this time of the year in an effort to ‘Christianise’ the pagan festival of Lupercalia.
Why are roses associated with Valentine’s Day?
Roses have been the symbol of love since the early 1700s when Charles II of Sweden brought the Persian poetical art known as the “language of flowers” to Europe.
Throughout the 18th century, ladies loved their floral dictionaries, which listed the symbolic meanings of different flowers, according to YourTango.com.
The red rose was believed to be the flower favored by Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love, and has therefore come to represent that.
Why cupid?
Cupid is the god of desire, erotic love, affection and attraction. He is the son of Venus, goddess of love, and war god Mars. Cupid in Latin is ‘amor’, which means love.
When did Valentine’s Day become commercial?
It wasn’t until the 18th century that Valentine’s Day took off in England. Lovers began to send trinkets, cards and flowers to their loved ones.
A huge amount of printed cards would get sold, then in 1913 Hallmark Cards in Kansas City began mass producing specific Valentine’s Day cards.
Now about a billion cards are sold every year and it’s the second biggest card sending time of the whole year.
Why do we sign cards anonymously?
Apart from the embarrassment, there was an actual tradition started by the Victorians.
They thought it was bad luck to sign the cards with their actual names.
It was also the Victorians that sent roses as they were Venus’ favourite flower.
Valentine’s Day inspiration
Valentine’s Day has developed a reputation for consumers splashing out on fancy candy, lavish gifts and expensive holidays – but it’s not always the cash that counts.
To pave the way for Oli to lead the nation as Prime Minister, a meeting of the UML held in Singhadarbar this afternoon had unanimously appointed him as the Parliamentary Party (PP) leader.
Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun, ministers including Sher Bahadur Deuba, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal, Subhash Nembang, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Onsari Gharti Magar, Kamal Thapa, ambassadors and other high level officials were present in the swearing-in ceremony.
President Bhandari appointed KP Sharma Oli to the post this afternoon. CPN-UML Standing Committee, with support from the CPN Maoist Centre, had put forth his name for the top executive position of the country on Wednesday. He is CPN-UML’s fourth leader to take the high office of Prime Minister since 1995. 
Nepal still required two runs off the last delivery, Pervez under pressure bowled a wayward wide delivery to tie the score before KC hit a winning run of the last ball to take his team over the line.
Dilip Nath, who was left out for clash against Kenya, was drafted in for today’s crucial encounter as he justified his selection with his measured 41 runs off 68 balls with five hit to the fence.
Nepal’s pathetic form with the bat continued as they again lost early wickets, Gyanendra Malla perished after scoring painstaking 9 runs off 25 balls before hitting a six.
Skipper Paras Khadka, who has been a backbone of Nepal’s batting order fell for a rare golden duck after miscuing a pull to mid wicket region off short ball.
Sarad Vesawkar one of the senior pro of the team, who is yet to make a substantial contribution with the bat fell again cheaply for 1 run. He followed Nath back to pavilion in the 22.1 overs leaving the team hovering at 73/4.
Lower order batsmen Aarif Sheikh and RK Paudel again contributed valuable 26 and 27 runs respectively before KC and Lamichanne shared a match winning tenth wicket 51 runs partnership to take the team home.
Pervez took three Nepali wickets, Dutta and Saad Bin Zafar bagged two wickets each, Dhindsa, Heyliger chipped in with a wicket each for Canada.
Nepal were given a target of 195 runs by Canada in a last and crucial encounter of the tournament.
After winning the toss, Nepali skipper Khadka had opted to field first.
Canada rode on Srimantha Wijeratne’s unbeaten century to post a challenging total for Nepal in a do-or-die encounter today. Wijeratne smashed 103 runs in 152 balls, studded with eight boundaries.
Hamza Tariq and Saad Bin Zafar contributed 24 and 10 runs respectively.
Other Canadian batsmen failed to register double digit score as they wilted to after being put on tremendous pressure by Nepali bowlers, who bowled in tandem to tandem.
Spinner Basanta Regmi was picking of the bowler with 10-0-34-3.
Sandeep Lamichanne took two Canadian scalps where as Karan KC and Sarad Vesawkar chipped in with a wicket each.
The match was halted for while due to sporadic rainfall, had it been decided by Duck worth Lewis method Nepal would have lost to Canada by 10 runs. At that stage the par score was 125 but Nepal were 10 runs short to the total.
However, the black cloud hovering over Windhoek triggered light drizzle which brought luck in Nepal favour.
Earlier, Nepal beat the hosts Namibia by one-wicket before facing a six-wicket lost at the hands of Oman. Nepal bounced back to thrash the United Arab Emirates by four wickets and registered a three wickets triumph over Kenya in the last ball thriller.
Nepal are pitted in Group A along with West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea where as the other qualifier UAE sit in Group B along with Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Scotland and Hong Kong.
The top three teams in each group will qualify for Super Sixes; others move into play-offs. Top two teams in Super Six make the final–both qualify for 2019 World Cup to be held in England and Wales.
Valentine’s Day is an old tradition thought to have originated from a Roman Festival known as Lupercalia, according to History.com.
It was held on February 15 as a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture.
During the celebrations boys would draw names of girls from a box and the pair would be partners during the festival.
These matches often led to marriage.
The festival survived the initial rise of Christianity but was outlawed at the end of the 5th century when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St Valentine’s Day.
Chaucer may have actually made it all up
haucer, as in The Canterbury Tales writer, may have actually been behind Valentine’s Day. The medieval English poet took quite a few liberties with history.
He’d drop his poetic characters into real-life historical events leaving readers wondering if that’s what really happened.
There is no actual record of Valentine’s Day before Chaucer’s poem in 1375.
It’s in Parliament of Foules that he links the tradition of courtly love to the St Valentine’s feast day – the tradition didn’t exist until after his poem.
The poem refers to February 14 as the day of birds coming together to find a mate. “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate,” he wrote and maybe invented Valentine’s Day as we now know it.
The St Valentine that inspired the holiday may have been more than one man.
The saint officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church was a real person who died around AD 270.
An account from 1400s describes Valentine as a priest who was beheaded by Emperor Claudius II for helping Christian couples wed.
The emperor had banned marriage as he thought single men made better soldiers.
Valentine felt this was unfair so he celebrated marriages in secret.
When the emperor found out he was thrown in jail and sentenced to death.
He may also have been Bishop of Terni, also martyred by Claudius II on the outskirts of Rome.
There are similarities between the priest’s and bishop’s stories, which leads people to believe they are the same man.
There’s so much confusion around St Valentine that the Church stopped veneration of him in 1969 – though he is still listed as an official saint.
“Valentinus” is from the Latin word for worthy, strong or powerful, and was a popular name between the second and eighth centuries AD meaning there are several martyrs with the same name.
There are actually a dozen Valentines listed and there’s even a Pope Valentine.
The actual day we celebrate is known as St Valentine of Rome to set him apart.
Valentine did help marry couples in secret, which is arguably very romantic.
He is the patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy among other things…Like the plague, fainting and travelling.
That doesn’t stop people calling on his help for those romantically involved. He’s now also patron of engaged couples and happy marriages.
Another idea is that when he was sent to prison, he sent a letter to a young girl he had fallen in love with and signed it “From your Valentine”.
Some believe that Valentine’s Day’s is celebrated mid-February to mark the anniversary of St Valentine’s death.
It’s thought to have happened in the middle of the month around 270 AD.
Others maintain that the Christian church decided to place St Valentine’s feast day at this time of the year in an effort to ‘Christianise’ the pagan festival of Lupercalia.
Cupid is the god of desire, erotic love, affection and attraction. He is the son of Venus, goddess of love, and war god Mars. Cupid in Latin is ‘amor’, which means love.
It wasn’t until the 18th century that Valentine’s Day took off in England. Lovers began to send trinkets, cards and flowers to their loved ones.
A huge amount of printed cards would get sold, then in 1913 Hallmark Cards in Kansas City began mass producing specific Valentine’s Day cards.
Now about a billion cards are sold every year and it’s the second biggest card sending time of the whole year.
Apart from the embarrassment, there was an actual tradition started by the Victorians.
They thought it was bad luck to sign the cards with their actual names.
It was also the Victorians that sent roses as they were Venus’ favourite flower.
