Bisket Jatra

Bisket Jatra
बिस्काः जात्रा
Bisket Jatra Chariot Bhaktapur.jpg
Bisket Jatra Chariot in Bhaktapur
GenreFestival
FrequencyEvery years
VenueBhaktapur
Location(s)Bhaktapur District
Previous event2021
Attendance5 million people
Area3–5 km radius around the Nyatapola temple
ActivityReligious
Biska Jatra

Bisket jatra, is an annual event in Bhaktapur, Dhapasi, Madhyapur Thimi and Tokha and other places in Nepal. The festival is celebrated at the start of the new year on the Bikram Sambat calendar, however, the festival itself is not related to Bikram Sambat.

Legend has it that this celebration is the "festival after the death of the serpent". Various areas of Bhaktapur city celebrate this festival according to their own rituals. The most eventful places are Taumadhi Square and Thimi Balkumari. A chariot carrying the statue of Lord Bhairava is pulled by hundreds of people to towards upper (Thaney) and lower (Koney) Tole as tug of war. Approximately a month earlier, the chariot is assembled near the Nyatapola temple (five storied temple).

The signature event on Bhaktapur Taumadhi kicks off the biska jatra "dya koha bijyaigu" which means the god bhairava is brought outside from its temple for the festival, It is a tug-of-war between the Thane (upper) and Kone (lower) part of town. The chariot is pulled from both sides and whoever wins that part of town gets to take the chance of the chariot to their place while the other sides wait for their turn. The chariot is at last pulled down to gahiti where the chariot is kept for two days and again pulled down to Lyasinkhel on the eve of Nepali new year. An approximately 25 meter Yoh si Dyo is erected in the yosi khyo. The chariot is then pulled on the Lyasinkhel and kept till the next day. The Yoh si is pulled down on the eve of New Year. Then again the chariot is pulled to gahiti and on the last day which is also called " dya thaha bijyaigu" which means god bhairava is again brought to temple, the chariot is again pulled on both sides and finally settled to the premises of 5 storied temple.

Several places in Madhyapur Thimi (Thimi, Nagadesh and Bode) also celebrate Biska Jatra. Folks from various parts of Madhyapur Thimi gather, carrying their own chariots in Layeku Thimi. People celebrate and share greetings, throwing simrik color powder and playing Dhimay music.

Bode witnesses a tongue-piercing ceremony. One resident spends the whole day with an iron spike piercing his tongue and roams the city by carrying multiple fiery torches on his shoulder. Juju Bhai Shrestha is the most renowned tongue piercer town.


This page was last updated at 2022-04-21 08:50 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari