Bisket Jatra - a destructive New Year

Boys urging the crowd to pull the Bhairav Chariot faster

The Bisket Jatra is considered one of the liveliest cultural festivals in the world. The celebration in Bhaktapur (14km, 1 hour drive, from Kathmandu) is a nine day celebration at the time of Nepalese New Year.

The festival is centered on creation and the mating between the God Bhairav and Goddess Bhadrakali which produced the world and everything in it. The God Bhairav is the fierce form of Lord Shiva, who cut off Brahma’s head. Bhadrakali is the wrathful form of the Mother Goddess.

On the first day of the street festival a large 25 ft Yoshin-Pole is placed into a h*** and raised vertically in the air.  Then the Gods are removed from their temples and placed in large wooden chariots. The chariots are pulled through the crowded streets by the people of Bhaktapur.

The Bhairav Chariot inching towards Gahi Tole.

On the last day of the festival the Bhairav Chariot is parked in Gahi Tole. At midnight the smaller Bhadrakali Chariot is repeatedly rammed against the Bhairav Chariot in a not very subtle display of their explosive copulation.  It is destructive and a little bit dangerous for those standing close.

A giant game of tug-of-war is performed between the east and west side of the city. It is said the side of town which wins the tug-of-war will be the most prosperous for the following year.