Nepal's longest chariot festival begins with ascension of "Red God"

Running over a span of weeks depending vaguely on astrology the Rato Macchindranath Chariot festival started in Nepal from Saturday after the Aajus or Priests carried the Red God to the chariot and made him seatedChariot procession of Rato Macchendranath also called as Bunga Dugh in Newari meaning the God of Rain and Harvest is the longest Jatra in Nepal which runs on for months depending on astronomyA 32foot skyscrapping chariot of Rato Machhendranath is constructed annually by the Newar community using wooden beams thumped adjustments to the shrine sanctum without using a single nail It takes about a week for the community to build it and is given final touchup with decorative elements before the chairing of the lord in the chariotObserved in the ancient town of Lalitpur the skyscraping chariot goes round the city after 4 days of the ascension of the God After spending 4 days on the roadside constructed chariot it is pulled to GaBahal and rested for one day after that it is pulled onto Sundhara and Mangalbazar where it is kept for one day eachThen after it is pulled on further to Lagankhel it is kept on for one day During that time the day has been separated for womenonly to pull on the chariot and take it to E thiha and then making astronomical calculations it is pulled onto JawalakhelIt might take more days as the priests have to look onto the auspicious times sometimes it is holed up there for 1015 days or even one month or more After driving it to Jawalakhel and marking on the Bhoto Jatra attended by headofstate and then the lord is taken back to Bungmati an ancient historical town of Lalitpur and the chariot is dismantledThe chariot procession of Rato Macchendranath always starts by the end of April or early May but the world health pandemic of Coronavirus pushed back the procession multiple times in earlier years In 2020 the area where the chariot was constructed also turned out to be a battleground as revelers tried to pull the chariotAccording to the lunar calendar the longest chariot festival of Nepal begins on the 4th day of the bright fortnight of Bachhala the seventh month in the lunar Nepal Sambat calendar but this year it didnt fall as per the set out ruleOne of the popular legend states that once Guru Gorkhnath came to city of Patan and wasnt acknowledged by people living on there As the commoners didnt offer him food and ignored him Guru Gorakhnath captured all the Serpents and held them captive under his sitting For being Naags or serpents responsible for the precipitation held captive by Guru Gorakhnath Patan experienced on drought which drive on famine in the cityAdvisors of the then king of Patan Narendea Dev was asked onto bring the teacher of Gorakhnath Lord Macchendranath from Assam Hearing about the teachers presence in the town Guru Gorakhnath stood up from his seat letting the serpentines loose which brought in rain in the city ending the droughtAdoring Rato Macchendranath for his feast locals of Patan started a chariot procession in the city since 897 AD which is held annually and taken around the city reminding people about his deedsThe chariot procession of Rato Macchendranath earlier was stalled due to the earthquake of 2015 which went on for nearly halfayear and the Corona pandemic this year also had invited similar kind of situation But with the ascension of Lord Macchendranath on Chariot it is expected to go ahead amid the corona scareThere is a belief that residents of Bhaktapur can pull on the chariot to their place and keep the god for 6 months if the procession fails to take place before Dashain the major fortnight festival observed in Nepal during the month of OctoberThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever