Gaijatra – The festival of fun

August 23, 2021 is Gaijatra in Nepal. The festival of fun and happiness has originated from the sorrow and unhappiness. The festival is celebrated to forget the sorrow and enjoy the life.

(Gaijatra story is coming soon)

According to Hindu tradition, the gates to the heaven opens only to those who celebrate gaijatra and hold the tail of a Gai (cow). That is how you can reach the heaven after death. The tradition is to bring out a procession with a cow or kids with cow-like make up go around the city. In Kathmandu the procession goes through Hanuman Dhoka palace area. This tradition goes back 100s of years a the time of King Pratap Malla.

According to legends, Pratap Malla’s son had died in a young age. After the death of the prince, the queen was very sad. The king decided to show her that she is not only the person who has lost their dear ones. To show that, thousands of people lose their family members every year the king ordered everybody who had lost their family members to bring a fun filled procession through the royal palace. The people used that day to forget their sorrow and tried to bring smile in the queen’s face by preforming funny and fun filled acts.

To this day, the festival is done like that. Comedy shows and satire events are held in various parts of the country on that day. The political leaders, the social problems are the topics of satires in those program.