Kartik Naach of Pharping begins

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Nov. 16: Kartik Naach, a traditional mask dance drama which is performed every year in Pharping of Dakshinkali, began on Friday. 

The dance began after performing Mahasnana (bath) ritual of Mahalaxmi Goddess on the day of Kartik Purnima (full moon day) on Friday, and will continue till Monday.  

Dharma Raj Balami, Chairperson of Shree Dakshinkali, Shree Mahalaxmi Kartiknath Management Committee and dance teacher, said that it was harder to continue the historic dance with the financial support of the local governments and donors alone. 

The festival is performed for four days, performing worship for two days and dance for two days. 

The weeklong dance has been limited to two days in recent years due to financial crises and a lack of attraction to the dance. 

The dance is performed two days on Saturday and Monday at Kipu Tole at Ward No. 6 of Dakshinkali Municipality, he informed. 

The dance is related to Ganesh, Dakshinkali, Mahalaxmi, Kumari, Indrayani, Barahi, Bhairav, Mahadev, Ganga, Parvati and other different religious and mythical stories. 

The artists performed the characters of kings, queens, princes, ministers and soldiers in the dance.  Devgans perform the traditional dance based on the story of Narasingha and Prahlada. 

The artists have to rehearse for a month from Kojagrat Purnima to perform the annual two-day Kartik dance. 

The age-old cultural dance has been continued with a limited budget only to preserve the traditional dances. Local government has provided Rs. 150,000 and Ward office provided over Rs. 500,000. It costs around Rs. 300,000 to Rs. 4, 00,000  to celebrate the festival. 

He further said, “We are unable to manage pay for the dancers due to financial crunch. So, we need to specially request the main characters to dance.” 

The dance has been performed every year in the ancient city of Pharping since Nepal Sambat 594.