Inda Jatra time in Nepal!

Diwakar Maskey making a puja (offering) at the Swet Bhairab temple, Durbar Square, Kathmandu, Nepal.

I'm fortunate to have a few friends in Nepal, and every year, despite the fact that I'm not in Nepal, and not officially Hindu or Buddhist, I receive prayers and well wishes from my friends there for the plethora of festivals that occur through the year. This year is a little different, because one of my friends has taught me about a new festival. I've heard of Indra Jatra before - it's the time, once a year, when the palace opens up to show the adoring public its living goddess, Kumari, to the public. But it's also the time when a particular icon is also opened to the public. This is Swet Bhairab. It's also significant because Nepal is a wonderful amalgamation of both Hindu and Buddhist cultures - so, each festival that takes place in the country has strong overtones and traditions with influences from each.

On the first day of the festival, images of two gods, Bhairab and Indra, are displayed in various stages throughout Durbar Square, in Kathmandu. Displaying the two is believed to extend thanks to the rain gods for a good harvest.

Specifically, Swet Bhairab came about in the late 1700s: (paraphrased from Festivals in Nepal)

According to the scripture placed under the image of Bhairab, the image was made during the reign of King Rana Bahadur Shah. The periphery behind the temple was a cremation ground. Whenever the King came out of his palace, he used to see the cremation of dead people, every day. He used to return thinking the scene as a bad omen. Then, to do away with cremation there, he installed Swet Bhairab just in front of the main gate. The temple is just in front of Degu Telaju temple. The entrance still remains there just behind Swet Bhairab.

The legend also has it that people used to get frightened of great facial image so it is closed throughout the year. There is also a belief that Swet Bhairab wore precious jewelry so it was kept in close wooden curtain for security. One Gurju (priest of Buddhist clan) worship Bhairab every day inside the wooden curtain. In special puja (ceremony) one goat, one ox and one duck are sacrificed. The method is given in the Shila Patra (traditional book).

On the eve of Indra Jatra, care-takers will clean up the image and sacrifice the animals from one window among the nine closed windows. They open the window amidst the beats of traditional musical instruments of dhime and jogi on the first day of Indra Jatra.

So, many thanks to Diwakar Maskey and Sushil Shresta for sharing their photo and wishes with me on their auspicious holiday occasion!