BHAKTAPUR: Gaijatra festival is being celebrated in Kathmandu valley today.
Gaijatra, also known as the cow festival, is marked with much fanfare, gaiety, humour, satire, and entertainment.
The festival is observed for seven days. In Bhaktapur, the festival is observed for nine days and eight nights.
Gai Jatra festival was limited to mere formalities in the last two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Newar community marks this festival in memory of their deceased relatives wishing for their eternal peace.
From early morning today, people have taken out rallies dressed in the attire of cows visiting the nook and corner in the city.
The festival begins on the first day of the waning moon in the month of Bhadra (Bhadra Pratiprada) as per the lunar calendar and lasts for a week.
During this time-honoured tradition, people of all ages in the guise of cows and lunatics go around the city, wearing odd costumes to commemorate those who died last year. The bereaved families offer fruits, bread, beaten rice, curd, and money to those participating in the procession including the cows.
As per the Hindu religious anthologies, performance of Gaijatra ensures eternal peace to the dead souls, Culture expert Rameshwor Shrestha said.
This festival is believed to have started during the time of King Pratap Malla, who, in a bid to console his queen, grieved at the death of their son Chakravatendra Malla in a smallpox epidemic and ordered his people to organise humour and satire programmes in various comic postures. This tradition was continued as Gaijatra festival during which people also vent out their feelings towards social and political anomalies, human follies and other contemporary affairs through comic skits, cartoons, and the like.
However, the culture experts in Bhaktapur believe that the festival started during the last stage of Lichchhavi regime before the 14th century.
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Published Date: August 12, 2022, 12:00 am
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