Indra Jatra

Indra Jatra(Yanya Punhi or kumari Jatra)

Indra is the Lord of Rain and the king of Heaven and Jatra means procession.Thus, Indra Jatra is the festival on the celebration of God Indra’s Day in Kathmandu,Nepal. Some believes Indra Jatra is thanking day to lord Indra for the rain while others believe that it is the festival, celebrated in the honor of Bahirab, who is Shiva's manifestation and is believed to destroy evil.

When is Indra Jatra?

The eight days long festival starts from September 08. Actually, it begins every year from the day of the Bhadra Dwadasi to Ashwin Krishna Chaturdasi. 

How is it celebrated?

Indra Jatra is a very interesting festival because for the whole week people enjoy various traditional dances and witness the chariot of Goddess Kumari, Lord Ganesh and Lord Bhairav being pulled through the older parts of the Kathmandu city. A day has been added to the original seven days of celebration and on that day known as Nanicha yaa the chariots are pulled through Naradevi, Nhyokha, Ason, Indrachwok and Hanuman Dhoka. This extra day of chariot pulling was introduced by King Jaya Prakash Malla in 1765 B.S.

• The festival begins with the carnival-like erection of The Linga (Yasingh), a ceremonial pole, accompanied by the rare display of the deity Akash Bhairab, represented by a massive mask spouting Jaad and raksi (Nepali local liquors). 
• Households throughout Kathmandu (especially Newars) display images and sculptures of Indra and Bhairab at this time of year. 
   
• This thirty-six feet long wooden pole (The Linga (Yasingh)) is chosen with great care from the Nala forest in Kavre district east of Kathmandu.
• According to traditional beliefs, Indra had received this flag from Lord Vishnu for protection.
• Finally, the Kumari (living goddess), leaves the seclusion of her temple in a palanquin and leads a procession through the streets of Kathmandu to thank Indra the rain god. 
• The main attraction of the festival is the procession of chariots and masked dancers representing deities and demons. 
• Indra is called Yanya in Newari. Jaad (Nepali local liquor) flows from the Bahirab statue, which is remarkable to look at in Hanuman Dhoka. 

• In Indra Chowk, the famous Akash Bhairava bust is displayed and it is decorated with flowers. 
  This Akash Bhairava’s head is related to the Mahabharata story. Some believe it to be the head of the first Kirat King Yalamber. In Indra Chowk, every night different groups gather and sing bhajans and hymns.
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  During Indra Jatra, there are a variety of performances including the dances of Sawa Bhakku Bhairav from Halchowk, Majipa Lakhey from Majipat, Devi Nach and Yeravat hathi (Pulukisi) from Naradevi, Mahakali and Kathi Maka Nach from Bhaktapur. All the dances take place around Hanuman Dhoka area. The Dasavatar or the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu is also staged every night.
• The first day of the festival is also observed by the Newars as a day to remember the family members who died during the past year by offering small oil lamps along a traditional route covering all the parts of the old city. It is believed to have been started during the reign of Mahendra Malla.
• The Linga (Yasingh) is pulled down signalling the end of Indra Jatra festival. It is taken to the confluence of Bagmati and Bishnumati in Teku to be put to rest. The end of the Indra Jatra festival heralds the beginning of Dashain and Tihar celebrated with great enthusiasm not only in the Kathmandu Valley but throughout the country.

The festival consists of:

•    Majipa Lakhey
•    Pulukishi
•    Sawan Bhaku
•    Ganesh (Chariot)
•    Kumar (Chariot)
•    Kumari (Chariot)

Besides these, there are various dances held on the open stages of the city called dabu. There is display of Swet Bhairava as well as various deities of the city.


Story Behind Indra Jatra

Long time ago, Indra’s mother needed parijat, a type of flower, for some religious ritual.But the flower was not available in heaven because Lord Krishna and his friend called Satyabhama brought it down to earth. So, Indra disguised as a human being came to the earth to fetch them. As Indra sneaked into a garden, the gardener who happened to be a great Tantric scholar of that time, not only noticed him but even identified him, by the power of his spiritual Tantric wisdom. He immediately spread his spiritual lasso called Taraan, and encircled and bound Indra within his Taraan.  Indra could not move beyond that Taraan.

When Indra's mother found that her son did not show up with the flower he was supposed to bring; she herself comes down to earth in search of her son Indra.  She is called Dakine Devi. She goes around the town in search of her son and finds her son caught in the Tantric web. She had tough negotiations with the Tantrik and ultimately succeeded to free her son from the Tantrik’ control.

People believe that Indra left his elephant on which he rode down to earth, in this area, and then went around in search of the flower called parijat. People in this area paint a white elephant on a mat, and two men in it, form an elephant, and go around the town dancing under the music of a single bell. This is Tana-kishi that goes around in search of Indra.

A demon called “Lakhe” not finding his patron Goddess “Taleju” simply followed in the footprints of the Malla king and ended up at the Hanumandhoka where the Malla king enshrined “Taleju”. Thus, the Lahke dance simply depicts how the demon went in the search of Goddess Taleju.

The popular belief is that flying an Indra's flag once a year will stop all evil spirits entering the kingdom, and any external power from taking over the kingdom.