Women pull Rato Machhindranath chariot

By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, may.1: On Thursday morning in Lagankhel, women took the lead in pulling the Rato Machhindranath chariot.

The chariot procession takes place once a year, so women flocked to Lagankhel this morning to witness the event and take part in the chariot procession.

As per tradition, only women are allowed to pull the chariot this morning after the annual coconut-throwing festival during the chariot procession. Accordingly, women pulled the chariot to Thati Chowk this morning.

Usually, the chariot is pulled mostly by groups of men. However, this morning, it was pulled by women from Lagankhel to Thati, covering a distance of around 100 meters.

The chariot-pulling procession by women started at 6:00 am and took around 1 hours to reach Thahiti Tole from Lagankhel, said Lachhuna Sharma Kafle, Chief of Patan Guthi Sansthan. 

Women actively participated in pulling the chariots Rato Machhindranath and Minnath. 

This morning, hundreds of people flocked to Lagankhel to observe the event.

It is believed that Machhindranath, who had gone missing while being taken around Patan, was later found with a woman and brought back. Based on this belief, a tradition has developed in which only women pull the chariot on one day of the procession.

A coconut was dropped from the top of the chariot on Wednesday, the day before women pulled the chariot.

According to tradition, in a few days, astrologers will determine an auspicious day to take Rato Machhindranath from Thathi Chowk to Jawalakhel.

Sitting at Sorakhutte Pati in Mani Mandap, Machhindranath’s astrologers determine the auspicious day for pulling the chariot to Jawalakhel.

The Bhoto Jatra is celebrated four days after the chariot reaches Jawalakhel.