Legend tells us that a huge empire called Bishalnagari once extended around the Valley. The queen of the empire and her best friend were pregnant together, and while discussing various issues, the queen’s friend said that the lord Narayan himself had to lay a path for the queen’s baby to be born. The queen shrugged off the idea; after all, why would a God be required for such a minor event? As days passed, the friend gave birth, but the queen didn’t. Everybody waited for the heir to the throne, but the queen couldn’t deliver the baby even after 12 long years. The king then consulted an astrologer who said that Lord Narayan had gone to the Himalayas for meditation and until he came back to assist in the birth, the queen would not be able to deliver the child. The king then set off to the mountain to request the lord to help. In return, he promised the God festivities that no one had ever seen before.
True to what the king had said, the Narayan Jatra of Handi Gaun is unique. In fact, it is so unique that it has even lent its name to a Nepali proverb—Kahin Nabhayeko Jatra, Handi Gaun Ma—
implying the jatra here is one of a kind.
One can easily make out at first sight why this festival is called so. The first things that stand out are the strangely-built chariots, which appear to be inverted. Usually, chariots for the gods inside the Valley are built in traditional Newari pagoda style, tapering towards the top with a gajur—the most common one being Rato Machhendranath’s chariot. Here in Handi Gaun, the three chariots resemble inverted tops, with three circular bamboo structures stacked on top of each other and a single wooden pole that acts a truss for the three discs. An idol of lord Narayan is placed above the three bamboo discs, which are then rotated by two people standing beneath the structure, with a priest to accompany them. The chariot is carried around the locality by others.
The three toles of Handi Gaun each bring out a different, albeit similarly constructed, chariot. A white disc at the top of each chariot represents the Himalayas from which the lord had to be coaxed to come to the palace, while the first bamboo disc represents the lower foothills of the Himalayas—the Mahabharat range. This disc is decorated with pine leaves and marigold flowers. The entire chariot is decorated by wax flowers (called siswann in Nepal Bhasa).
Though the legend has been passed down from
generations, there are no historical records as to when this festival began. Although a date encrypted on one of the idol cryptically reads 838, no one really knows whether this corresponds to the Bikram Sambat or the Nepal Sambat. But that doesn’t really matter. The three-day festival is celebrated every year beginning from Kojagrat Purnima, the first full moon after Dashain. The chariots are taken across the locality and dismantled on the third day, with the idol returning to its residence in the priest’s home.
“Celebrations have changed a lot,” shares Buddha Kumar Shrestha, a longtime-resident of Handi Gaun, “Earlier, the chariots would be taken around early in the morning and everyone would wake up while it was dark. Now, the chariots are taken around in the day.” Shrestha also points out people no longer wait for the chariot to be pulled now to do their puja.
During the three days, Handi Gaun becomes a town cut off from modern civilization. Till a few years back, electric lines had be to be removed beforehand for the chariots to pass through the narrow lanes. This year, the lines weren’t removed, but telephone lines and all other cables had to be removed.
One family, the Manandhars, is responsible for building the chariots every year. Ganesh Bahadur Manandhar is the current patriarch, and rues recent developments that have left this unique festival bereft of any support. “We appealed to the Ministry of Culture for funding, and the secretary had promised us some money,” he says, “but before we received anything, he was replaced.”
But more than the funding, what worries Manandhar is the migration of families from Handi Gaun to Kathmandu. “Most people from this area have migrated and there are only three families now who know the details about this festival. Since the festival is limited to Handi Gaun, it is not as popular as Indra Jatra or the other Jatras and is therefore not given much importance.”
What Manandhar says is true. Walking around Handi Gaun on the day of the Jatra, different versions of the origins of the festival can be found. Most did not know the whole legend. Instead, what emerged were fragments. This disconnection also left its imprint on the festival this year. Manandhar had to request some local boys to take time out to build the chariot. While earlier pictures show all three discs being decorated by siswann, this year only the top two discs were decorated by the wax-flower.
The legend of Bishalnagari also goes on to say that the entire capital burnt down to embers once, thus giving the area its current name—Handi Gaun—as the ruins had turned as black as a pot. If Narayan Jatra continues to suffer from what Manandhar has described, Handi Gaun’s Kahin Nabhayeko Jatra will become extinct, and in turn be called Ek Taka Ko Jatra (a festival that was held once upon a time).
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