NEPAL may have elected a Maoist Government and become an officially secular republic but it still gets off on old-time religion.

Nepalis are celebrating the 15-day season of Dashain - the country's most important Hindu festival - with traditional gusto.

During the festival's high point on Thursday - called Dashami - it was difficult to find a person in Kathmandu without a red "Tika" on their forehead. It is customary for Nepali Hindus to mark Dashami by having this coloured mixture of rice, yoghurt and vermillion smeared on the forehead by an elder. The Dashain festival, known as Desshera in north India, celebrates the victory of the deity Ram over the demon king Ravana in Hindu scriptures.

The mass outpouring of religious observance over the past few days clashes with the secular ideology of the Maoist Government, which came to power after a strong showing in April elections.

The Maoist Party chairman and Prime Minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, popularly known as Prachanda, recently said political transformation could not be sustainable without cultural transformation. His remarks hinted at a long-term Maoist agenda to challenge Nepal's deeply religious culture.

If that's the plan, the party is not yet having much success.

A decision to reduce state-funding for religious activities in the party's much vaunted "secular" budget this year was a political disaster. After a huge outcry and demonstrations by conservative Hindus, the decision was reversed.

This festival season the party renowned for its hardline communist ideology has had no choice but to join in. On Monday Prachanda attended Fulpati - a traditional a military ceremony to mark the seventh day of the Dashain festival.

Some in the party are unhappy with the Government's compromises and there are reports of a schism between the leadership and a hardline faction pushing for a more revolutionary agenda.