Mandev-era Kantibhairav Jatra begins at midnight

##Kathmandu. The Kantibhairav Jatra, led by King Mandev, has begun in Gokarneshwor from midnight on Saturday. It is a tradition to start this jatra at midnight on the day of Krishna Chaturdashi of Vaishakh, after the locals clean their house courtyards.

## The jatra continues until Akshaya Tritiya. It is a popular belief that on the day of Baishakh Krishna Amavasya, mothers, daughters and in-laws should participate in the local Dabli and watch the Sindoor Jatra. This is also called the Sindoor Jatra of Kantibhairav, said Radhakrishna Shrestha, former vice-president of the former Gokarneshwor VDC.

“Since this day is a day for everyone to show respect and devotion to their mother and feed her with sweet delicacies, we also consider Kantibhairav Jatra as a way of respecting their mother,” he said, who is also the guarantor of Kantibhairav Jatra. ##Jatra from history In the Jatra, the idols of Bhairav, Kumari and Ganesh are worshipped in a ritual manner by placing them on an attractively decorated three-story khat.

##After that, a procession is taken around the village with music, songs and dance. On the morning of Chaturdashi, the Guthiyar Thakali carries a small copper Ganesh idol on a blanket to the Guptipganesh temple. The locals worship Guptipganesh temple throughout the day.

##In the evening, the idol of Ganesha is placed on a chariot with traditional music and taken to the middle of the old settlement ‘Gokarna Deshe’ in the Gokarna Deshe area. According to the Guthiyar, after this, the idol of Bhairav is taken out from the Bhairav temple in Gokarna Deshe. The extracted idol is worshipped by offering sacrifices from the Guthiyar’s thakali.

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##The throne with a golden flag and a gajur is taken around the temple three times. The idol of Bhairav is carried around the villages of Gokarneshwor area on a decorated three-story chariot. The god of rice, Bhate Dyuta, is considered a gift from Kanti Bhairav.

Three guthiyars, observing fast at three places, make a god of rice. There is a religious ritual in which the guthiyar Thakali takes the rice from the pakta pakta and makes a statue of rice. There is a tradition of carrying a tall idol of rice to the temple of Tulja Bhavani by two people.

The procession goes with a chariot to take the rice deity to the temple. After the chariot is taken around Tulja Bhavani, the procession carries the rice deity and heads towards the Bhairavi temple in Uttarbahini. Local Sangita Shrestha, who has been watching the procession for a long time, said that there are musicians, chariot pullers, lamp bearers, sukunda bearers and rice deity bearers in the procession.

##The religious belief that the chariot of Kantibhairav is taken to the temple of Bhairavi on the day of Bhairavi to see the face of Bhairavi has existed among the people of this region since the Lichchhavi period, says Baturam Bhandari, who has conducted research on the Kantibhairav Jatra from Tribhuvan University.

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##After the chariot is lowered, the Karmacharya priests perform the sindoor jatra and lift the chariot only after performing puja with sacrifices. The chariot is lifted and worshipped with sacrifices at places such as Mahatol, Kisigal, Bhairavchaur, Talinchowk, Chautara and Nayapati.

##The chariot is placed in the historical Gokarna region established by King Mandev during the Sindoor Jatra. On the evening of Aunsi, the chariot of Ganesh and Kumari are placed on the right and left sides of the double and in the middle, and the Jatra of the day of seeing the mother’s face ends. The chariot is lifted only after performing Kepuja on the day of the bright moon of Vaishakh.

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##On the day of Pratipada, from Ward No. 4 of Gokarneshwor Municipality, five cloth flags are tied to five bamboo poles at noon and a Tantric worship of Bhairav is performed along with musical instruments. After this, the bamboo tip with the flag is attached to the chariot’s handle and the chariot is lifted and taken to Dathulachi.

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## People from 10 villages of Gokarneshwor Municipality worship on this day. On the second and third days of the Baisakh Shukla, the chariot is also paraded through various areas of Gokarneshwor Municipality. On the evening of Akshaya Tritiya, the historic five-day procession concludes after Bhairav is brought into the temple.

##Since the time of King Mandev, a large Guthi has been arranged for the operation of the Jatra, but now, after the Guthi has been abolished, the Pashupati Nath Amalkot Court and Gokarneshwor Municipality under the Pashupati Area Development Fund have been bearing the expenses of the Jatra.

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## The Jatra named after Kantipur It is believed that the city of Kantipur was named after this Jatra. Bhandari, who has done his postgraduate research on the Jatra, informed that Tribhuvan University Culture Professor Milan Ratna Shakya has mentioned the Bhairav tradition in his book. The book mentions that Kantipur was named after Kanti Bhairav.