Kartik Naach, the traditional dance drama that is performed every year in Lalitpur, was shown only for two days this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, the dance was performed for 12 days.

It is staged in the Kartik Dabali (a traditional stage) in Patan Durbar Square.

King Siddhi Narsingh Malla is credited to have started the dance drama during his reign about 379 years ago. It is believed that the dance drama was performed to give moral lessons to his subjects through entertainment.

The dance honours the god Kartikeya and was born out of Malla's love for the arts. Told day after day in an episodic format, the dance acts out the tales of the Shreemad Bhagavad Geeta and the Swasthani, two principal Hindu texts. The dance is a moral tale, a classic story of good triumphing over evil.

The duration of the play has changed often—first being lengthened to a full lunar month, then shortened to a week due to budget concerns more recently, it was down to two days.

The Varah avatar and Narasimha avatar of God Vishnu were depicted in the dance drama on Friday and Saturday.

Post Photographer Hemanta Shrestha captured some photos of Friday night’s performance.