Gai Jatra: “The Festival To Commemorate The Dead”

Gai Jatra also referred to as Festival of Cows/The Festival Of Commemoration Of The Dead, is one among the foremost important festivals in Nepal. Mostly this festival falls in Nepali Bhadra month (August to September in Solar Calendar) and continues for eight days. This year Gai Jatra is on August 4th, 2020. Gai Puja is especially held by the Newar community in Kathmandu valley to commemorate the dead within the last year. However, different from the other memorial ceremony within the world, Nepali Gai Jatra is widely known as a cheerful carnival. During this interesting festival, you will have the prospect to experience Nepali traditional singing, stick dancing, unique comedy, etc.

History Of The Festival 

Pratap Malla lost his extremely youthful child. His significant other, the sovereign was in incredible wretchedness. The ruler was extremely disillusioned to see the state of his sovereign. Rulers after millions attempt couldn’t make a sovereign grin. Pratap Malla declared that any individual who could make the sovereign chuckle would be remunerated sufficiently. 

Pratap Malla requested to bring the dairy animals parade before the pitiful sovereign. At that point, individuals attempted their best with various outfits and funny acts. The move and parade at long last gave the sovereign grin all over. The grin right now was brief however the parade gave the sovereign a major help. She realized that there are a few passing in the city during the period and she isn’t the only one. Demise is the characteristic marvel and nobody has control over it. 

Subsequently, from the day King Pratap Malla began the custom of dairy animals parade with young men with various amusing makeups in clever outfits. The young men even put tails and makeup like monkeys and Hanuman walk however the city street to show individuals that the passing is a reality in life and each one needs to confront it one day. The Gai Jatra custom gradually formed into doing funny acts including jokes, parodies, jokes, and parody in the Gai Jatra days. 

After the dairy animals parade is finished, toward the evening, everybody participates in another convention wherein the members spruce up and wear veils. There additionally individuals appreciate the minutes with tunes, jokes, jokes, and humor until late at night. 

Gai Jatra is a celebration which empowers individuals to acknowledge the truth of death and to set oneself up for the post-existence. It mends the despondency and distress, in any event, a bit, when individuals see the cow ownership and acknowledge individuals bite the dust, and we are not the only one in the nation who lost our friends and family.

How is it celebrated?

As indicated by the old legend of Hinduism, Yama, the God of Death, would send the dark crows to monitor the passageway to the paradise on this day. Simply outside the entryway, a huge number of spirits are holding back to acknowledge Yama’s appointed authority and their rebirth is completely controlled by the benefits they have earned. In folklore, the way to paradise is incredibly hard to follow and the perished still needs to go over the consuming waterway. Most Nepalese accept that if their family members could get the cowstail, the excursion to paradise would turn out to be a lot simpler. Furthermore, the entryway of paradise is just open to the dead for just a single day in the year. Thus, every family who has lost friends and family during the most recent year must partake in this terrific dairy animal parade in Kathmandu. 

In the early morning, nearby Newars give a shower to the dairy animals, particularly cleaning their tails. At that point, the cows are designed with red Tika and wonderful festoons. After those ceremonies, the dairy animal parades start to march around the entire Kathmandu valley. On the off chance that the dairy animals aren’t accessible, little youngsters will take on the appearance of bovines to petition God for the dead. During the rowdy walks, they will intentionally stroll through the sanctuaries, the sculptures of the divine beings, and other consecrated spots. At the point when the processions cruise by, numerous individuals will offer the food, blessing, and negligible money to the dairy animal proprietors and the cow-like young men. It’s accepted that this sort of giving will acquire them good karma the next day. 

Behind the bovine parades and little fellows is the upbeat ensemble. You’ll see more seasoned men enjoy their own universes and serenade strict psalms overwhelmingly. And afterward here comes the love group. As a matter of fact, it’s extremely hard for you to tell the walkers from the motorcades. Around then, the tight boulevards are stuffed with individuals, and all the countenances are loaded up with bliss and truthfulness. 

Obviously, the music band is an imperative part of the celebration of bovines. What’s more, the musical instruments differ from Nepalese conventional drum to western trumpet and present-day gadgets. It’s said that happy music can pacify the God of Anger, yet in addition frighten the shades of malice off. With drums thumping and cymbals conflicting, Gai Jatra arrives at its peak.

Lastly, Gai Jatra is a customary celebration for Newari and wins in the three antiquated urban areas in Nepal, to be specific, Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur. The subtleties of the festival might be unique, however, the center of the celebration of dairy animals is actually the equivalent. On the off chance that you are arranging a visit to Nepal from August to September, Gai Jatra is something you shouldn’t miss. Partaking in the cow parade will let you draw nearer contact with nearby Nepalese and find out about the Nepal celebration culture. If it’s not too much trouble don’t hesitate to reach us for additional information about Nepal.