INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
Traditional Newar guards locally known as “Gurju Paltan”, lead the procession. Photo: Sudeep Singh.
chariot on this one day. But, perhaps this
is another aspect of Nepal’s urban-rural
divide on display.
All of these details are very challenging
for a non-Newar, non-Nepali to
find out. As I live in Patan, I saw the
chariot being built, but I didn’t know
when it was going to move. I stopped
to watch in fascination every time I
passed. Because festivals in Nepal
generally follow the Nepali calendar
and the cycles of the moon, the
dates aren’t fixed. In 2015, the Rato
Machchhindranath festival was held
in April (it actually started a couple of
days before the earthquake), whereas
Chariot under construction. Photo: Guido Weers.
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www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
Women worship the god inside the chariot. Photo: Elen Turner.
in 2016 it was in May. My attempts to
look up information online didn’t come
up with anything. It’s only because
my Nepali teacher is part of the Patan
Newari community that I was kept
informed. We discussed my fascination
with this unique cultural phenomenon
in my broken Nepali, and he rewarded
my interest by feeding me information
when it filtered down to him.
There is something very moving about
seeing so many people gathered
to celebrate an aspect of traditional
culture. In a world in which ‘tradition’
is increasingly packaged for the
consumption of travellers, the Rato
Statue of Macchindranath being taken inside the chariot.
Photo: Sudeep Singh.
Machchhindranath festival could be
nothing further from that.
Other similar chariot-based festivals
are held in other Newari centres
of the Kathmandu Valley. Patan’s
Machchhindranath festival is ‘red’,
whereas Kathmandu’s is white—Seto
Machchhindranath. The three day
festival is held in March/April, and
resembles the Rato Machchhindranath
festival is some important ways: the
enormous chariot, the placement
of the idol inside the chariot, and
the involvement of the Kumari of
Kathmandu.
A final touch. Photo: Sudeep Singh.
www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
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