Newars celebrating Bajrayogini and Hadigau Jatra

Bajrayogini Jatra

Bajrayogini’s Jatra (festival) at Sankhu, Kathmandu Nepal celebrated for 8 days. This is one of the major Jatra that we can see inside the Kathmandu Valley. Sankhu is a small town east north of Kathmandu and the population is very less. Devotees from different parts of the Kathmandu Valley visit Sankhu to worship the deities in town and enjoy the festival.

Sankhu (also known as Sakwa or Shankharapur) is an ancient town predominated by the Newars has been believed to be settled 3,300 years or more ago Famous for its rich cultural heritage and traditional architecture and sculptures, it is home to time-honored temples such as the Bajrayogini and Mahadev temples and also Swasthani Vrata. Shaped like a conch, the oldest inscription to be found in Sankhu dates back to 538 CE. Temple, believed to be more than 300 years old, is a prominent landmark of Sankhu. Legend has it that King Mandev used to meditate in the Gun Bihar arena (now called Sankhu).

Within the legends of Manisaila Mahavadana, Vajrayogini is said to have drained the lake water from the Sankhu Valley with her curved knife. She also appeared before the temple priest Jogdev and instructed King Sankhadev to build the town of Sankhu in the shape of a conch shell. The oldest inscription at Sankhu which dates back to 538 CE attests to this.

Bajrayogini Jatra at Sankhu is celebrated every year in the month of April (Chaitra/Baishak) for eight-long days where the idols of the Gods from the Bajrayogini temple are brought down to the town and carried around the entire town. Priests accompany the idols of the two big idols Mhasukhwamaju (yellow-faced goddess) and Chibadya (the chaitya/stupa shaped idol – husband of Mhasukhwamaju) while two small idols of their children Singhini (lioness) and Byanghini(tigress) are carried in smaller chariots by the children of the community. Bajrayogini Jatra is very famous among Newar Community so from different locality people gather to observe this festival.

The Jatra in Snakhu, this year, was started on 2nd April with carrying down the holy statues of deities on chariots and will conclude on eighth day carrying back to the temple.

Hadigaun Jatra

Each year people of Haadigaun in Kathmandu celebrate a unique Jatra that happens nowhere around Nepal or anywhere in the world. This Jatra is known as Haadigaun Jatra or “kahin abhako jatra”. It is also used in a popular Nepali proverb” kahinabhako jatra Haadigaun ma.”  

This Jatra is celebrated with much reverence and delight when people, drink and dance. This jatra is only celebrated in Haadigaun and nowhere else. It has become an identity of the people of Haadigaun, especially the Newa community.

This year, the Haadigaonko Jatra was started on Friday, 3rd April.

According to the legends, a very long time ago, a woman in labor pain called her mother’s name when Lord Narayan (Vishnu) walked by her in a human guise. Hearing the woman, the Lord asked her to take Lord Narayan’s name instead. But the woman got furious at the stranger’s suggestion and asked him to leave immediately. The Lord felt insulted and furious, he went to the Himalayas. The woman was in great pain and was unable to give birth even after twelve years had passed. The villagers took pity on her and decided to find and bring Lord Narayan to Haadigaun to redeem the poor woman. They found the Lord after a long search and asked him to come with them but the deity refused. Which, one of the villagers told Narayan that if he came to town, they would show him a great Jatra that takes place nowhere else in the world, and hearing this Narayan promised to visit the town during the occasion.

It is said that the Jatra they put up was actually one of its kind that was held nowhere else and it has now become the identity of the place. It is believed that Narayan was pleased with the Jatra and forgave the woman. The woman gave birth to a baby boy who, being born so late, had a mustache on him. The Jatra, since then, is conducted each year to please the Lord.