The Indra Jatra of Kathmandu as a royal festival: Past and present

The Indra Jatra is one of the main Newar festivals of Kathmandu, together with Paha Cahray (March-April), Janabahadyah Jatra (March-April) and Mvahni (September-October). Its Newari name, Yemnyah, derives from either the Newari name of the capital of Nepal (= Yem) or the word Endayata, a local corrupted form for Indra Jatra. The festival lasts for eight days from the twelfth of the bright half of Bhadra (August-September) until the fourth day of the dark half of Asvin (September-October) during the rainy season. According to the Newar calendar, it falls entirely within Yamla (or Nala), the sixth moth of the year. Indra Jatra involves nearly all the Newar city dwellers of Kathmandu, Buddhist and Hindu, jyupi (pure castes) and majyupi (impure castes). A great number of rituals are performed during these eight days, most on a collective urban basis, but also at a domestic and guthi associational level. The festival is not a public formality, but a lively religious celebration which concerns many areas of urban life.