New Dhama brought for Rato Machhindranath

By Aashish Mishra

Lalitpur, Apr 22 : Construction of the chariot for Patan’s famous Rato Machhindranath Jatra is in full swing over the Jogambar shrine at Pulchowk, Lalitpur. The chariot, made entirely of wood, is built to stand 48 feet tall on four wheels representing the four Bhairavs of the city – Kundi, Harisiddhi, Lubhu, and Tika Bhairav.

The chariot of Rato Machhindranath, known also as Padmapani Lokeshwor, Karunamaya or Bunga Dyo, also features a long arching piece of wood in the front known as the Dhamma – a feature it shares with most other wheeled chariots built for festivals in New settlements inside and outside Kathmandu Valley.

Construction of the holy carriage usually begins in mid-April after the red idol of the red god of rain and good harvest is ritualistically bathed in a ceremony known as Dhawan. This year, though, it began a few weeks earlier because the religious wain needed a new Dharma.

“We needed to make a new Dharma this year before we could begin making the chariot itself,” said Dil Kumar Barahi, leader of the Barahi Da Guthi. The Guthi represents a community of carpenters who carve and assemble the wooden parts of the nine-story conical wagon.

Traditionally, a new Dharma is made only once every 12 years. But the old Dhama, carved in 2017, had to be replaced in just five years because it started to drag and droop. “We have to keep every part of the chariot in optimum condition to ensure that the Jatra goes smoothly,” Barahi, who has been involved in making the chariot for the last 55 years, said.

The Rato Machhindranath Jatra is the longest chariot festival in the country. Lasting for three to four months, the chariot is pulled along Patan’s narrow and winding streets by hundreds of devotees to various points around the core city. 

The builders have to ensure that the chariot does not break, get damaged or overturn during this period.

Barahi told Rising Nepal only the rare Saur wood can be used for the Dhamma. 

This year, the log was brought on February 16 from a privately-owned woodland in Nuwakot, he shared. However, in the past, it used to be sourced from the forests of Godawari. The long log was brought from Nuwakot to Pulchowk on a crane.

According to tourist guide Suresh Shakya, the Dhamma is the representation of Karkotak Naag, the serpent deity who helped to bring Lord Machhindranath from Assam to Patan. “It is as long as the chariot is tall,” he said. “That is to say, the length of the Dhamma is also 48 feet.”

Going by a 2020 research titled ‘Developing Mathematical Skills and Moral Behaviour Through Cultural Artefacts: A Study of Math Trial Activities at Patan Durbar Square in Nepal’ by Toyanath Sharma, Trilochan Sharma and Daniel Clark Orey published in Revemop, a journal of the Brazilian Federal University of Ouro Preto, this equality in length helps keep the chariot balanced. 

In fact, the structure will not overturn even if it tilts by up to 60 degrees, the study states.

In addition to Barahis crafting the Dhama, Chitrakars (traditional artists) paint the images and icons of various divinities on it. 

Once installed on the chariot, it acts as a raised platform for the person leading the Jatra procession – the one who yells Haste and directs the pullers – to sit on and is where the mask of Hyagriv Bhairav is attached.