Festivities begin in Dedeldhura’s temples

By Our Correspondent 

Dedeldhura, Nov. 8 :Following Tihar, various temples in Dedeldhura have come alive with fairs and traditional religious festivities. 

The fairs feature worship of deities, traditional music and dances like Deuda making the events a lively celebration of local cultures. 

At present religious ceremonies are taking place in various villages, honouring various deities. Each year, people who have migrated to different places return home to participate in these special annual worships, adding family reunions and joyful gatherings.

According to priest Lok Raj Bhatta, there is a tradition in Dedeldhura and throughout Sudurpashchim Province to offer promised items to deities after work is accomplished, leading many people to return home from afar to fulfil these vows.

The first major post-Tihar fair is held at the Masanbasi Shaileshwor Mahadev temple, which takes place five days after Bhai-tika on Kartik Suklapakshya. A ritualistic night gathering and worship of Shaileshwor Mahadev is held. 

The Shaileshwor Mahadev temple holds night-time worship ceremonies. The following morning, devotees proceed from the Shaileshwor temple to the Deukhale temple in Salla village, Amarghadi-7, where a special fair and worship ceremony takes place, said Ward Chairperson Khadak Bohara.

The priest of Shaileshwor Mahadev, known as the ghat priest, is from the Chhetri caste from Amarghadi Municipality-8. However, due to a lack of ancestral spiritual power in recent priestly generations, ritual worship has been offered by Brahamin priests.

Aside from the ghat priest, Brahmins from various localities have continued the ritual worship. These include Bhatta priests from Nawadurga Rural Municipality -1, Panta priests from Chhachoda in Amarghadi Municipality-6, Bhatt priests from Hatarka in Ward No. 8, and those from Paligaun in Ajaymeru Rural Municipality.

There was a religious tradition where a Sanki caste priest would go from the temple of Goddess Ugratara during Khashti in Nabaratri to reach the Shaileshwor temple after a ritual trance.

Bohara explained that it was customary for the priest to cross the nearby river, remove his clothing, and enter the temple through a small window. Hari Sanki, the son of the last Sanki priest, said that this significant religious practice has not been followed since the death of his father nearly 40 years ago.

Dehijat Fair at the renowned Ugratara Temple

Ugratara Temple, a prominent religious site in Sudurpashchim Province, hosts the annual ‘Dehijat’ fair, which begins 15 days after Bhai-tika. This year, it will be held on November 16. Every year, the event takes place on Kartik Shukla Purnima, with this year’s dates being November 15 and November 16.

The Ugratara Bhagwati Temple, which houses the granary of the villages Chachoda, Khanmada, Dumda and Jiloda, begins the Diusedi fair after the Deuro from all four villages reaches the temple at 4 am for the Rateri fair. Located on a beautiful hilltop in Amarghadi Municipality-8, about 4 kilometres from the district headquarters of Dadeldhura, the grand Shaktipeeth Ugratara Bhagwati Temple draws thousands of devotees for worship and prayer during the fair.

Ward Chairperson Saki said that the worship of Goddess Bhagwati begins at 4 am in a traditional manner, accompanied by musical instruments like damaha, ruising, Bikul, bhokar, shankha and bells. The Deuro procession, along with the palanquin of Goddess Bhagwati from all four villages, reaches the Ugratara Temple, where the ritual worship of the Goddess commences.

According to a legend, about 2,500 years ago, a local from the Saki community in present-day Latauli, Amargadhi Municipality, was ploughing the field when his plough struck a stone that began to bleed. Goddess Bhagwati then manifested, and from that day onwards, she has been revered in forms as Mahagauri, Durga, and Kali, collectively referred to as Ugratara Bhagwati.