Seto Machindranath Chariot Festival in Nepal
Seto Machindranath or Janabaha dya Chariot Festival in Nepal is celebrated during the Nepali month of Chaitra annually. In Nepali this festival is commonly called as seto machhindranath jatra. This glorious festival is celebrated for three days with whole lots of blessing in offer from lord in the form of happiness and long life.
The long attractive handmade wooden chariot is assembled and decorated each year which is pulled by local “guthi” members around central Kathmandu. There will be group of soldiers or locally known as “gurju ko paltan” who will march pass ahead the chariot and fires at sky each day at the end of each festive day. Even the living goddess Kumari attends this festival and follows ancient rituals accordingly. During recent years, we can see various young teenage girls and boys actively taking part in the festival by playing authentic heritage musical instruments followed by some dance steps in the crowd. It indicates that regardless their age, locals worship the god with great respect and the chariot festival is surely to be organized with even more energy, passion and devotion in coming years.
