Biratnagar - Religious Fare

Religious Fare

Biratnagar is equally famous for its high-spirited festival celebration. In Dashain, Nepal's biggest festival, large number of people including young persons visit the Kali Mandir, a temple that lies in the heart of the town. Also famous is Tihar, festival of lights, when the residents line their homes with diyo (an earthen oil lamp), candles and decorative electrical lamps during the two days of celebration and there is decoration in main road which includes use of Banana tree and Bamboo in all shops.Crackers are band in Nepal. Krishna Astami (birthday of Krishna) is a festival that is heavily celebrated in Biratnagar. Thousands of people gather on that day to pull the Holy Cart (Rath) which goes around the city. This event is termed as the Rath Yatra (the Cart Journey). Traffic will be halted for one to two hours on that day. It is believed that the Holy Cart (Rath) was driven by Lord Krishna. So, people keep a young child in the Holy Cart as a symbol of Krishna and pull the Cart with joy to celebrate the Lord Krishna's birthday. The Rath is very big and heavy and needs hundreds of persons to move it. It has an engine to run if required to move fast. It has brakes to stop it as it has to stop at many places to allow people to worship the Lord. Some people will be in the Rath to distribute prasad (fruits) to people. The Holy Cart will be followed by many smaller carts which are pulled by oxen. People in the smaller carts play the music and sing hymns with joy and happiness. It is the most important festival for the people of Biratnagr. So, almost all the schools and offices close after 1 p.m. to let the believers and spectators attend the Rath Yatra (the Cart Journey).