Bhoto Jatra festival marked with much fanfare

This year’s Bhoto Jatra festival associated with Rato Machchhindranath, the deity of rain and good harvest, concluded on Saturday with much fanfare.

The festival was not marked in the past two years owing to the risk of the coronavirus pandemic.

The month-long chariot pulling festival of Rato Machindranath was started on May 4 and concluded today by displaying the Bhoto or the jewel-studded vest at Jawlakhel.

Lalitpur District Chief of Guthi Sansthan Hari Prasad Subedi displayed the Bhoto at the presence of President Bidya Devi Bhandari as per the tradition to display the Bhoto on the fourth day of pulling the chariot from Lagankhel to Jawalakhel.

As part of the Bhoto Jatra festival, the Bhoto believed to be that of the Rato Machchhindranath deity is displayed for viewing by the public from atop the tall tower of the chariot.

After observing the Bhoto, the President received Prasad from the Kumari, the Living Goddess. The longest festival of the Kathmandu Valley is marked by the participation of people from all three districts of the valley.

According to astrologer Daibagya Kirtimadan Joshi, this festival is also known as the ‘festival of seven villages’.

Historical records show that a king named Bardev had commissioned the construction of the chariot of the deity in 800 BS (1,277 years ago). The chariot's construction had begun 85 years after the Machchhindranath's arrival in Nepal.