KATHMANDU, Aug 27: The Gaijatra festival has started in Bhaktapur today as in other places across the country with predominantly Newar settlements.

But the Gaijatra festival in Bhaktapur is unique in that it is celebrated for a week. This cultural festival starts in Bhaktapur with the preparation of tahhamacha and taking it around the locality from the Talejusthan.

The festival is observed in commemoration of all the deceased members of the family of a locality wishing for peace to the departed soul. The family where the death of a member has occurred in the past year takes out a procession comprising a decorated cow or the animal’s replica, boys wearing clownish clothes and gesturing comical scenes. The procession is paraded around different places of the town.

Another unique feature of the Gaijatra festival in Bhaktapur is the performance of the ghintang kisi traditional dance. The ghintang kisi dance come out in troupes at the same time. It is a kind of stick dance where the dancers holding truncheons strike these truncheons with each other in a patterned way producing rhythmic clanking sound.

According to culture expert Ram Shekhar Shrestha, the Padma Purana, a Hindu religious text, states that the main gate to the Yamaloka or the world of Yamaraja, the god of death, remains closed for most of the year and is opened only after the organisation of the Gaijatra festival on Mrityuloka (Earth) and the departed souls get entry to Yamaloka where they are redeemed.

Decorated cows are taken in procession around different places on the occasion of the Gaijatra in the belief that the journey of the departed souls from the Earth to the Yamaloka would be easy as they can cross the mythological river Baitarini holding on the cow’s tail.

The local cultural experts and historians believe that the festival originated during the Lichhavi period (the early medieval historical period) in the 14th century as per the Bikram Sambat calendar.

On the day of Gaijatra, a straw figure of the Bhairab deity accompanied by the tahamacha, is taken around the town early in the morning before the crawing of the rooster, as per the tradition. There is also tradition that one has to wear nine sets of clothes, eat nine varieties of food and make a round of the town nine times on this day. RSS

KATHMANDU, August 27: The traditional festival Gaijatra (cow festival) is being celebrated today in memory of the deceased member of their family.

The festival is mainly celebrated in Kathmandu valley by the Newar community. According to the lunar Nepal Era calendar, the festival falls on the first day of the dark fortnight of Gunla in the month of Bhadra (August-September).

In the festival, people of all ages in the guise of cows and lunatics take part, wearing strange costumes to commemorate those who died during the past year. The bereaved families offer fruits, bread, beaten rice, curd and money to those participating in the procession including the cows.

The then King of the Malla dynasty, Pratap Malla started the festival to show the pain of demise of the one nearest and dearest when wife of King Pratap Malla lamented over the death of her son.

The festival is mainly celebrated in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur district organizing different drama, dance and satire related programs. Apart from Kathmandu Valley, the festival is also observed in Banepa, Dhulikhel, Trishuli, Dolakha, Khotang, Bhojpur, Chainpur, Ilam, Dharan, Biratnagar, Birgunj, Hetauda and Pokhara.

Photo: Mukunda Kalikote

KATHMANDU, Aug 8: The traditional festival Gaijatra also known as the ‘cow festival’ is being observed today in three cities of Kathmandu Valley and some other parts of the country amidst fun, gaiety, humor, satire and entertainment. The festival is mainly celebrated by the Newar and Tharu community.

The festival falls on the first day of the dark fortnight of Gunla in the month of Bhadra (August-September) according to the lunar Nepal Era calendar.

During this time-honored tradition, people of all ages in the guise of cows and lunatics go around the city, wearing odd costumes to commemorate those who died during the past year. The bereaved families offer fruits, bread, beaten rice, curd and money to those participating in the procession including the cows.

As the saying goes, the festival derives its name from the religious belief that the deceased, during their journey to heaven, crosses a legendary river by grabbing the tail of a cow.

The whole complex of Gai Jatra festival has its roots in the ancient ages when people feared and worshiped Yamaraj, the god of death. However, the ironic sessions synonymous with the GaiJatra festival entered the tradition in the medieval period of Nepal during the reign of the Malla Kings. It is believed that King Pratap Malla, who, in a bid to console his queen, much grieved at the death of her son in a smallpox epidemic, ordered his people to organize humor and satire programs in various comic postures.

The tradition has continued in the form of the Gaijatra festival during which people also give vent to pent-up feelings towards social and political anomalies, human follies and other contemporary affairs through comic skits, cartoons and the like.

Newspapers and magazines also bring out special humor and satire supplements to mark the occasion.

The day is a public holiday in Kathmandu Valley. Apart from Kathmandu Valley, the festival is also observed in Banepa, Dhulikhel, Trishuli, Dolakha, Khotang, Bhojpur, Chainpur, Ilam, Dharan, Biratnagar, Birgunj, Hetauda and Pokhara. RSS

Photos: Mukunda Kalikote