Tour Guide, Annapurna, Nepal
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One of the most popular festivals of Nepal Gai Jatra, the festival of cows, is celebrated in Nepal, in Kathmandu valley and the places, where Newari communities are. The festival is celebrated in Bhadra (August) memorializing the death family member during the past year. During the festival, young boys are dressed up as cow and march in the streets. It falls on the 1st day of the dark fortnight of Gunla according to the lunar Nepal Era calendar. Peoples also offer food and fruits to the others. It is celebrated to avoid the sadness of death person of their family members.
The whole complex of Gai Jatra festival has its roots in the early ages when people feared and worshiped Yamaraj, the god of death. It is said that the ironical sessions synonymous with the Gai Jatra festival entered the tradition in the medieval period of Nepal during the reign of the Malla Kings. The present form of Gaijatra is a happy blending of antiquity and the medieval era.
According to the historical evidence, when King Pratap Malla lost his son, his wife, the queen, remained grief-stricken. The king was very sad to see the condition of his beloved queen. The king, in spite of several efforts, could not lessen the grief of his wife. He desperately wanted to see a little smile on the lips of his sweetheart, and so he announced that anyone who made the queen laugh would be rewarded adequately.
According to the traditions since time immemorial, every family who has lost relative during the past year must participate in a procession through the streets of Kathmandu with a cow. If a cow is unavailable, then a young boy dressed up as a cow is considered to be a fair substitute.
In Hinduism, a cow is regarded as the most venerated among all the domestic animals. It is believed that the cow, revered as a holy animal by Hindus, will help the deceased relative's journey to heaven.
During the festival of Gaijatra, the cow procession was brought before the grief-stricken queen. Then the participants began ridiculing and be-fooling the important people of the society. Finally, when the social injustices and other evils were highlighted and attacked unkindly, the queen could not help but smile. The queen cried and the king instituted a tradition of including funny jokes, satire, monkey and lagoons into the Gai Jatra celebrating day.
After the procession is over, in the afternoon, nearly everyone takes part in another age-old tradition in which the participants dress up and wear masks. The occasion is filled with songs and jokes. Mockery and humour of every mankind become the order of the day until late evening. This is how Gaijatra is a healthy festival which enables the people to accept the reality of death and to prepare themselves for life after death. According to Hinduism, "whatever a man does in his life is a preparation leading to a good life after death".