Story Behind Indra Jatra: Why is Indra Jatra Celebrated in Nepal?

An overview to Indra Jatra

In September, the eight-day festival IndraJatra falls and is one of the most exciting and celebrated festivals in the Kathmandu Valley city of Newar. This marks the start of a month-long autumn festival. The building starts with the building of an old Hanuman Dhoka Palace wooden pine pole on Basantapur Square. Hundreds of people converge on the Palace Square and the nearby temples for the poles raising ceremony. In a procession through the main streets of Kathmandu, the Kumari cart, the Living Goddess, is taken. Masked dancers known as Lakhay go on the streets with loud drums nearly every evening. The festival commemorates the time when Indra humanly descended from the heavens to find a plant.

The shrines and antique palettes around the Durbar square of Kathmandu are aglow every night of IndraJatra with petroleum wicks. There’s a sculpture depicting the Ten Earthly Incarnations of Lord Vishnu each night on a platform in front of the temple of the Living Goddess. In open-air at IndraChowk, his temple shows the big picture from AkashBhairab’s head. On the afternoon before full Moon, ecstasy girls gain a glimpse of the revered little Newargirl who is devout as Kumari, representing Goddess Taleju, in front of Hanuman Dhoka Palace for the long-averaged cart procession of the Living Goddess.

The chariot of the Kumari is taken to different parts of old Kathmandu through the narrow streets where people gather to watch and pay an homage, accompanied by two other smaller chariots carrying representatives of Ganesh and Bhairav. IndraJatra’s festival ends amid religious rituals with the (lingam) pole with the Indra flag.

What is Indra Jatra?

Indra is Rain’s lord and Heaven’s king. The procession is Jatra. Jatra. Indra Jatra is God Indra’s Day celebration. Indra Jatra is the Kathmandu festival, Nepal’s capital. Some think that IndraJatra thanks Lord Indra for the rain on the day. According to some, the Bahirab Film Festival is held in honor of Shiva and is thought to kill evil.

How we celebrate Indra Jatra?

The festival began with the carnival installation of the ceremonial polar of The Linga (Yasingh) and the unusual exhibition of the deity AkashBhairab, depicted by a huge mask sputtering Jaad and Raksi (Nepali local liquors). Households all over Kathmandu (especially from Newars) are displaying Indra and Bhairab images and sculptures this season. The wooden poles, 36 meters long (Yasingh, the Linga), have been selected from the Kavre district east of Kathmandu, with great care from the Nala forest.

Indra has earned this Lord Vishnu flag for protection, according to traditional beliefs. The Kumari finally leaves her temple in palanquin isolation and leads a procession through the streets of Kathmandu to thank the rain god Indra. A parade of wagons and masked dancers portraying deities and demons is the main attraction of the festival. In Newari, Indra’s name is Yanya. From the statue of Bahirab, which in Hanuman Dhoka is exceptional, flows Jaad (Nepali local liquor).

Story of why we celebrate Indra Jatra

The mother of Indra required parijat, a kind of flower, for some religious ritual, so that Indra came to the earth to fetch him, dressed as a human being. But when the people found him and bound him with chains, he was known to steal the flowers. The statue of which MaruTole in Kathmandu still worships. This image is also seen during the Indra Jatra Festival with others in various parts of the region. The Indra Jatra festival is very interesting since people enjoy many traditional dances all through the week and watch the carts of Goddess Kumari, Lord Ganesh, and Lord Bhairav pulled into the old parts of the city of Kathmandu. One day was added to the initial seven days, and the carts were taken by Naradevi, Nhyokha, Ason, Indrachwok, and Hanuman Dhoka on the same day known as NanichaYaa. King Jaya Prakash Malla launched this additional day of chariot pulling in 1765 B.S.

The popular AkashBhairava bustle in IndraChowk is seen and flowers are decorated. The head of this AkashBhairava is connected with the tale of the Mahabharata. Some think it was Kirat King Yalamber’s first head. In IndraChowk, bhajans and hymns meet and sing every night. The dance of SawaBhakkuBhairav from Halchowk, MajipaLakhey from Majipat, Devi Nach and Yeravathathi (Pulukisi) from Naradeví, Mahakali, and KathiMakaNach from Bhaktapur were all present during the IndraJatra period. All dances are performed in the Hanuman Dhoka area. The Dasavatar is also staged every night, or the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

The Newars are also the first day of the Festival as a day to remember the members of the family who died in the last year by offering small oil lamps on a typical route covering all parts of the old town. It is supposed to have begun during MahendraMalla’s reign. The Linga (Yasingh) is drawn down, which marks the end of the festival. The confluence of Bagmati and Bishnumati is brought to rest in Teku. The end of Indra Jatra is the start of Dashain and Tihar, not only in the Kathmandu Valley but throughout the world, with great enthusiasm.