The traditional festival Gaijatra is being observed today, Monday, in the three cities of the Kathmandu Valley and other places. The festival is celebrated by the Newar community in Kathmandu, Patan, Kritipur, Bhaktapur and other areas.
It begins on the first day of the waxing moon in the month of Saun and Bhadra as per the lunar calendar and lasts for a week.
The festival is believed to have started during the reign of King Pratap Malla, who started it in a bid to console his queen much grieved at the death of her son in a smallpox epidemic. He ordered his people to organise humour and satire programmes in various comic postures as part of the festival.
Source : TRN,Photo : TRN,(Sujan Gurung)
