Indra Jatra is one of the revered festivals of the Newar community of Kathmandu valley. It is believed that Indra is the vedict goddess of Hinduism. He is the king of heaven. He is thanked for the rain. So, he is taken as the god of rain and harvest. He is also worshipped in Buddhist society as they perceive him as a guardian deity.
Indra Jatra 2019
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The legend behind the celebration of Indra Jatra is that once upon a time, the mother of lord Indra wanted a scented beautiful flower and asked Indra for searching it. Indra looked for such type of flower and finally found the Parajati flower in the garden of Kathmandu valley and stole it. But unfortunately, he was caught by the inhabitants of Kathmandu and imprisoned him. After a long waiting, Indra’s mother came out from heaven in search of his son and found him imprisoned. She got angry and told the residents about Indra and who he is.
After knowing the truth, the Kathmandu inhabitants planned and decided to celebrate the Indra Jatra for making lord Indra happy and get rid of his anger. So, every year, this festival is celebrated for assuring that inhabitants of Kathmandu valley respect him.
Indra Jatra falls in the month of September and has been celebrating for 8 days. It begins with the erection of a thirty-six feet long pine wooden pole in front of the old Kathmandu Durbar Square of Basantapur. While it ends with the lowering of the pole bearing Indra’s flag and heralds the beginning of the festivals like Dashain and Tihar.
During this festival, the chariot of the living goddess Kumari, the incarnation of goddess Taleju is taken out in the procession followed by the representatives of Ganesh’s and Bhairav’s chariots in the main street of Kathmandu.
It is celebrated by singing and dancing. The mask dancing such as lakhe, mahankali, etc gives a sense of fear. The mass of the audience is uncountable.
