Additional lunar month begins Purushottam Mela in Matsya Narayan Temple, Machhegaun

By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, July 18: Malamas, an additional month in the lunar calendar, begins on Tuesday and ends on August 16. During this month, a great fair named ‘Purushottam Mela’ is held at the Matsya Narayan Temple of Machhegaun.

Located eight kilometres southwest of the capital Kathmandu in Chandragiri Municipality-9, devotees from all over come to the temple during the Malamas period to worship Lord Vishnu and take a dip in the holy pond there. The special Matsya Narayan fair is also held in this extra month that occurs every three years. One can reach the temple from Kritipur, Tinthana of Kalanki and from Thankot as well.

The Matsya Narayan Temple stands at the centre of the aforementioned holy pond. There is a record that the temple was constructed 1700 years ago and the pond was built 4,000 years ago, Sailesh Acharya, priest of the temple, said at a press meet organised by the Fair Management Committee on Monday.

The Malamas, also called Adhik Mas or Purushottam month, is dedicated to Narayan, another name for Lord Vishnu. Matsya Narayan is the fish incarnation of Vishnu. Priest Acharya claimed the statue of the Narayan is very unique in Matsya Narayan which is in the form of half fish and half human.

Of the 10 incarnations the deity took, fish, or Matsya is worshipped as the first one. When the Vedas were stolen from Brahma, the god took this avatar to retrieve them. Stories also say that He adopted a piscine form to save the man Manu from a great deluge.

Regardless, because of the divinity’s association with the creature, Hindus do not eat fish during the Malamas.

Furthermore, it is believed that worshipping Narayan this month destroys sins, so devotees take a bath in the pond.

Acchyut Adhikari, coordinator of the fair management committee and ward chairman of Chandragiri Municipality-9 appealed to all devotees to worship the god during the fair and take the benefits of the trekking route which is developed near the Chandragiri forest.

Adhikari said they had completed all preparations to conduct the fair in a peaceful manner and it is expected that about two million devotees will visit the temple during the month. According to Adhikari,  they have formed five different committees to make the fair successful.

As Malamas is an additional month to bring the lunar calendar in line with the solar one, astrologers do not consider this month appropriate for auspicious occasions like marriage, coming-of-age ceremonies, and home construction and entry.

Additionally, it is not considered good to conceive a baby this month. So, newlyweds are asked to stay separate, with the wife usually going to her paternal home.

A solar calendar year has 365 days and a lunar calendar year is 354 days. This means that there is a difference of 11 days between the two, which, over three years, become 33 days. These 33 days are grouped into an additional 13th month in the lunar year and that month is called Malamas.