It was Friday afternoon when Randy and I headed to witness the Bisket Jatra celebration in Bhaktapur. We were in the square for about an hour or so before the start of the festival, so we made our way to a guest house that had a roof terrance restaurant to get a better (and safer!) view of the festivities. From this vantage point, it was interesting to people watch and see the square and all available space in and around it fill up with people. Everyone was vying for a view of the festival yet to come.
Similar to the White Machhenranath festival, the Bisket Jatra also involves a chariot but that is where the similarities stop. In the Bisket Jatra festival, a wooden chariot is dragged through the city in a tug of war battle. A good friend of ours, Rabindra Puri, explained that the tug of war is between the people of lower Bhaktapur (the part of the city near the river) and the people of upper Bhaktapur (away from the river on higher ground). The Bisket Jatra is celebrated in the memory of the slaying of serpents in the valley by the prince at the time.
The chariot is richly decorated in traditional Newar style (similar to the red and black saris worn by Newar women during temple offerings) and holds a deity of Bhairav in it. Men of all ages, many intoxicated with homemade rice beer partake in this festival by pulling the chariot in opposing directions, each doing their part to ensure a positive outcome for their side. The chariot is pulled from the middle of the square, down some uneven paved narrow streets and some tricky and tight corners, all of which aimed at winning the tug of war and pulling the chariot to the relevant temple present on either sides of town.
As we watched this, all I could say was WOW. I have downloaded some pics and a video on my facebook profile, have a look. There were times as they pulled this chariot in the little street below us, the chariot had begun to sway back and forth, Randy and I could easily and yes patiently awaited that moment when the chariot crashed to the ground. But it never did. It withstood all the pulling from one direction to the other and finally when it seemed like all was lost to the upper-town folks, as their opponents were doing so well and had made their way up a narrow street and steadily heading for the temple. However, the upper-town folks got an influx of men and tried to turn the fate around and could have succeeded, which would have made for an interesting tug of war in this 3rd world setting, but it was not their day, as one of their 3 ropes snapped. As the snapped occurred the lower-town folks took hold of that window of opportunity and made good ground moving the chariot and the deity it carried steadily towards the temple that awaited it in the lower town.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
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