Preparations for Indra Jatra complete

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Sept. 2: Preparations for Indra Jatra festival have been completed.At a press meet organised by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) on Monday, it was announced that the auspicious time for erecting the Yosin (a wooden pole) will be 10:31 am on Thursday. On the opening day of the festival, a sacred wooden pole called lingo, adorned with flags, will be erected at Hanuman Dhoka.

Raju Manandhar, Spokesperson for the KMC, informed that the Kumari Jatra—the chariot festival of Kumari, which coincides with Indra Jatra—will be celebrated on September 6. On the main day of Indra Jatra, the three chariots of the deities Ganesh, Bhairava, and Kumari will be pulled through the southern part of the city.

On September 7, the second day of the festival, which also marks the full moon day known as Yenya Punhi (Indra Jatra), the chariots will be taken through the northern part of the city up to Asan. On Nanichaya day, September 11, Kumari’s chariot will be pulled by an all-women’s team. On the same day, the Indradhwoj Patahan ritual will be performed, marking the conclusion of the festival by bringing down the long wooden pole and immersing it in the Bishnumati River.

To mark the eight-day festival, painting and decoration works are underway at Gaddhi Baithak in the Basantapur area of Kathmandu. The festival is observed by high-ranking dignitaries, including the Head of State and the Head of Government. The main area for VIP attendance is around Gaddhi Baithak, where cleaning and painting are currently in progress.

The festival, which falls every year on Bhadra Shukla Chaturdashi, is celebrated in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Dhulikhel, and Dolakha. 

An inventory book documenting the tangible and intangible aspects of Indra Jatra was launched on Friday.