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| Palanquin of goddess Bhadrakali being prepared for the Pahachare festival | Indrachwok, Kathmandu | March 20, 2015 |
I was taking the shortcut from Ason, Mahaboudha to visit my aunt at Indrachwok. It had been a long day and I was eager to get back home. But there was one more thing left to do. I was running an errand for mom to collect Tulsi plants Ocimum tenuiflorum from her sister.
While walking through Watu Marg I felt something land on my hair and jacket...and with a sickening realisation saw it was pigeon poop. Oh snap! To avoid the mush from spreading, I immediately started to carefully remove it with some tissue papers.....Alright, alright! it was more of a frantic scrubbing....scrub...scrub.......walk..walk.......ignore stares....scrub.. scrub.............when I was finally sure that no visible traces were left I looked ahead. In front of me was a pelt of a common leopard Panthera pardus in the middle of the street.
It seemed surreal at first. There was a ceremonial umbrella, chatra next to the pelt and people were praying nearby. Some were taking turns spinning the chatra over the pelt. My first thought was - "they are worshipping the leopard pelt!"....and I was witnessing a religious ceremony I had never seen or heard of before in all these years of living in Kathmandu! Upon closer inspection I realised that what I saw was the rear side of the palanquin of goddess Bhadrakali.
Palanquins are a frequent feature of newari festivals. I observed the preparations for a while. Soon they were bringing bamboo poles to carry the palanquin. People started playing flutes and other traditional musical instruments. It was getting crowded. The procession started moving. Someone was spinning the chatra over the palanquin with great gusto as they moved through the narrow streets carefully avoiding the stray wires overhead... They took a left turn, entered an even smaller street and the crowd followed, slowly seeping inside. I watched for a while and went on my way. It was only later that I learnt that I had witnessed Pahachare.
Links with information on the Pahachare festival:
- http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2011/04/03/metro/pahachare-festival-celebrations-underway/220172.html
- http://www.demotix.com/photo/1120786/pahachare-festival-underway-newar-community-kathmandu
- http://www.pagenepal.com/posts/ghode-jatra
- http://www.reocities.com/rajumaha/dabu/vol3no1/pahachar.htm
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