National
Indra Jatra called off over Covid-19 concerns
In keeping with the government and health expert guidelines, organisers of the festival have come to accept that there is no certainty of safety in just minimising the celebrations amid Covid-19 pandemic.Srizu Bajracharya
Last year Ritesh Ranjit was surrounded with throngs of people at Majipat, Lakhenani Chowk as he danced ferociously as the Majipa Lakhey, barefoot in the heat of the afternoon during Indra Jatra. He felt invigorated as the crowd cheered him on, their gasps as he closed him on them had him mirthfully laughing under the heavy red mask of the Bhairav, who is believed to be the protector of the Valley people.
“I felt out of this world performing in front of the crowd,” said Ranjit. But this year Ranjit is feeling down with the news of Indra Jatra festival being called off by the authorities conceding to the rising Covid-19 cases in the Valley. Ranjit has been performing as Majipa Lakhey for about a decade, and this will be his first time not performing in the festival.
“There’s no way of curbing a crowd when you are performing as the Majipa Lakhey, there will be hordes of onlookers and although it’s sad that we won’t be celebrating the festival this year, it’s an important step the organisers have taken,” he says.
Indra Jatra, Yenya Punhi, is one of the most vibrant times of the year for the Newars in the Kathmandu Valley. The eight-day long festival heralds the arrival of Dashain and Tihar. This year the festival was supposed to begin on August 30.
On Wednesday, the festival organisers were supposed to have sent people to Nala, a forest near Bhaktapur to bring ya sin, a wooden log to erect it outside Hanuman Dhoka Palace to mark the beginning of the festival. But they did not.
And with the onset of festival, many Newar communities would accordingly plan for the procession and rituals of the jatra.
“I think it is the first time we are not celebrating the festival. Although in the past the festival has seen obstructions, we had always continued with the celebrations,” Gautam Ratna Shakya, chair of Indra Jatra Byawasthapan Samittee.
The festival, one of the most colourful in the Valley, was started in the 10th century by king Gunakamadeva. Kumari Jatra, celebrated on the third day, was an addition made during Malla times in the 18th century.
But many who believe in the rituals and the various traditions of the Indra Jatra will still try to take part in the festival in some way, said Rajiv Ranjit, who is the main lead of Indra Jatra Shri Lakhe Aaju Guthi.
“And it’s understandable as they are very deeply tied to the values of the celebration. Bereaved families still might decide to walk for their deceased family members in the Upaku procession,” said Rajiv Ranjit.
During Upaku, marked on the first day of the festival, bereaved families walk along the periphery of core Kathmandu city.
Over the years, the festival has also gained international recognition with its large scale participation, chariot pulling of three living deities of the Valley, Ganesh, Kumari and Bhairav, and various mask dances. Many Newar communities also display giant mounds of samay baji as feasts for the deities.
The festival reiterates a tale of a time when Lord Indra disguised himself as a farmer and visited the Valley in search of parijat, the night flowering jasmine, for his mother but was held by the people who took him to be a thief.
On Monday, Indra Jatra Byawasthapan Samittee had also released a regretful notice to the public informing that the festival will only fulfil necessary rituals. The decision was made after their meeting with the officials of Kathmandu District Administration Office on Sunday. The notice further conveyed that this year’s Indra Jatra will see no chariot procession or mask dance.
Previously, before the community-outbreak of Covid-19, the organisers of the festival had been planning to celebrate the festival as minimally as possible on a small scale. “We had been discussing making sanitisers and masks available to everyone and having only limited people on the ground while pulling the chariot. And we were thinking of having the police oversee the participation,” said Shakya.
“But a fact we cannot deny is that even if we minimise the festival in terms of participation, there still will be a lot of people involved in the chariot pulling and various other works of the jatra. And we don’t want to risk people’s lives and escalate the risks,” said Shakya to the Post.
Over the past month, Covid-19 cases in the Valley have spiked by hundreds; 200 new cases were reported on Thursday alone.
Many of these cases in the Valley so far have been reported from inside the core Newar settlements, said Shakya. “Festivals attract people, and a festival like Indra Jatra has a huge following, so we thought this was the best decision we could make looking at the hour we are living in,” says Shakya.
“It’s a difficult time for everyone but people have been considerate about our decision,” said Shakya. “And I think it’s okay for us not to hold the celebration for this one time.”