Biska Jatra - A Nepali New Year Festival marking the Death of the Serpent

 Bisket Jatra Celebrated by Nepalese during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Thousands of Nepalese gathered in the town of Thimi to celebrate the Bisket Jatra festival, despite a government order that gatherings not exceed 25 participants. To welcome the arrival of spring, coloured powder is spread as part of the festivities. Bisket Jatra is a nine-day festival that started on Saturday. The Supreme Court has released an injunction preventing the New Year Bisket Jatra from taking place in Bhaktapur.

A single bench of Justice Purushottam Bhandari heard a writ petition filed by Raj Kumar Suwal, a local resident and advocate in Bhaktapur, and ordered the District Administration Office in Bhaktapur not to carry out the decision to stop the festival. Because of the coronavirus outbreak, the COVID-19 Crisis Management Operations Center, chaired by Chief District Officer Prem Prasad Bhattarai, agreed not to facilitate the procession. The Supreme Court heard a writ petition challenging the ruling and ruled that the cultural procession would proceed. The administration's decision to halt the procession infuriated locals and guthiyars in Bhaktapur. The Supreme Court has also ordered the authorities to explain why the procession was stopped.

Locals in Kathmandu are not only uncertain about whether they can proceed with their festival as scheduled or heed the official call as the new jatra season begins in the country's culturally rich capital, but they are also enraged.

The Biska Jatra in Bhaktapur was set to begin on April 10th. Locals in the city, however, are venting their disappointments and disagreements with the decision online following the April 4 order against the program. Soon after the decision was announced, an online call for a rally was put in motion. Such instructions mean that the government is ‘targeting' the local festivals and the Newa culture. That is what has left the group enraged. The authorities, like all political events, should and should work with the locals to help organize the festivals and reduce disease concerns. Locals will not be silent and will not passively obey orders. Locals have also staged the first round of protests.

Infections and diseases are a threat to all. However, various individuals in culture have opposing viewpoints. Experts advise against drinking and smoking for health reasons, but many people do. So, once the crowd gathers and begins the festival, no one will be able to stop them. The people of Bode have stated that if the government decides to cancel the festivals this year, they will fight back vehemently. They should not recognize the health risks when political party meetings are to be organized. When it comes to the Newa festivals, however, they begin to clash. Our community's festivals are important to us, and we will ensure that they are organized as planned.

Locals are preparing for the Paachahre festival, as well as the larger annual Chandeshwori Mela and Biska Jatra, which begins on April 13. Locals claim they've already brought a lingo, a symbolic pole erected to signal the start of festivals, and that they're cleaning up the area and deciding, hoping that the festivals will bring the area to life this year.

 Biska Jatra Celebrated since Antiquity in Nepal

Biska Jatra, also known as Bisket Jatra, is a Nepalese festival held in Bhaktapur, Dhapasi, Madhyapur Thimi, and Tokha, among other places, every year. On the Bikram Sambat calendar, the festival begins at the start of the new year however, the festival is unrelated to Bikram Sambat.

This festival is said to be the "festival after the death of the snake," according to legend. This festival is observed in different parts of Bhaktapur district, each with its own rituals. The most eventful locations are Taumadhi Square and Thimi Balkumari. A chariot bearing the statue of Lord Bhairava is dragged by hundreds of people to towards upper or Thaney and lower or Koney Tole as tug of war. The chariot is assembled near the Nyatapola temple, or five stair temple, about a month before the festival.

The signature event on Bhaktapur Taumadhi is a tug-of-war between the Thane (upper) and Kone (lower) parts of town, which sets off the biska jatra "dya koha bijyaigu," which means the god Bhairav is carried outside from its temple for festival. The chariot is drawn from both sides, and whoever wins that section of town gets to ride in the chariot while the other sides wait their turn. On the eve of the Nepali New Year, the chariot is finally pulled down to Gahiti, where it is held for two days before being pulled down to Lyasinkhel.

In the yosi khyo, a 25-meter Yoh si Dyo has been erected. The chariot is then driven into the lyasinkhel, where it will be held until the next day. On the eve of the New Year, the Yoh si is lowered. Then again the chariot is pulled to gahiti and on last day which is also called " dya thaha bijyaigu" which means god bhairav is again taken to temple, the chariot is again pulled on both sides and finally settled to the premises of 5 storied temple.

Biska Jatra is celebrated in Madhyapur Thimi or Thimi, Nagadesh, and Bode, among other locations. In Layeku Thimi, people from all over Madhyapur Thimi assemble, each with their own chariot. People throw simrik colour powder and play Dhimay music to cheer and exchange greetings.

Bode witnesses a tongue-piercing ceremony. One city dweller spends his days with an iron spike slicing his tongue and roams the streets with numerous flaming torches slung over his back. The most well-known tongue piercer town is Juju Bhai Shrestha.

Thrissur Pooram - A Unique Temple Festival in Kerala, India

Thrissur Pooram 2021 – Observing the Festivities with COVID-19 Restrictions

To prevent the spread of Covid-19 during Thrissur Pooram, the state government has ordered that anybody under the age of 45 who attends the festival must have a Covid negative certificate obtained via an RT-PCR examination.

Members of the pooram organising committee, journalists, percussionists, and other festival participants are all subject to the order. It should not apply to the public who will be watching the celebration. In the presence of the chief secretary, a meeting agreed to hold Thrissur Pooram without reducing the festivities.

The meeting suggested that the devaswoms vaccinate everyone interested in the festival, including temple committee members, percussion musicians, Cochin Devaswom Board officials, Thrissur Corporation sanitation staff, pooram volunteers enlisted by the devaswoms, police officers, and journalists. To participate in the festival, the others must bring their Covid negative certificate and send a copy of it, as well as a copy of their Aadhaar card and their phone number.

The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (Peso) authorised the manufacture of explosives for the Thrissur pooram and fireworks show on Thursday. The festival, which will take place from April 17 to 24, has been granted approval. On April 24, there will be a large firework show. On April 21, there will be a demonstration of fireworks. Pooram fireworks, according to the organisers, will be conducted in accordance with all regulations.

The Historic Festival of Thrissur Pooram 

Pooram is a one-of-a-kind festival celebrated in Kerala, India. Kerala is one of India's most interesting regions, having been the site of the country's first stronghold of Christianity and a region where no single kind of Hinduism reigns supreme. Both Saivite (centered on the deity Shiva) and Vaishnava (centered on the deity Vishnu) religions are strong, but worship of the Mother Goddess as a manifestation of shakti energy is widespread, and there are various temples dedicated to the nagas, or snake gods. 

Near their houses, many people have holy snake groves. Pooram is an annual temple festival in Kerala that takes place after the summer harvest.

The elephants have become a symbol of the festivals, but on a metaphysical basis, they represent an assembly of the various gods of the thousands of temples in a major display of Hindu ecumenicity. Thrissur hosts the biggest and most popular of all Pooram festivals, though this was not always the case. The largest such meeting in the past was at Arattupuzha, some 14 kilometres away. However, owing to heavy rains that disrupted their journey in the late 18th century, the members of the Arattupuzha Pooram were late for the festival.

They were turned away from the festival. Thrissur's tribal governor, offended, arranged a separate festival. His Highness Ramavarma Raja, also known as Sakthan Thampuran (1751–1805), became Maharaja of Kochi in 1790, and he went on to support the Thrissur Pooram and turn it into a mass festival. He arranged the festival in its current form in front of Vadakkumnathan, the area's oldest temple, with the citizens of the ten main temples as the primary participants.

With professional artists and the use of a cadre of elephants, the festival has developed and secularized over the years, particularly after Indian independence. The Vadakkumnathan Temple, situated in the heart of Thrissur, is the focal point of the Thrissur Pooram, which takes place in the month of Medom on the local calendar (April–May on the Common Era calendar). Each of the ten temples that officially participate sends some elaborately painted elephants on procession from their temple to the Vadakkumnathan temple, accompanied by drummers and musicians.

The 36-hour festival features parasol shows, theatrical productions, concerts, and a multi-hour firework show. The friendly competition between the temples, which are split geographically into two opposing divisions, builds interest in the festival by competing to create the most dazzling fireworks and the most colorful elephant decorations.

The temples try to procure the best animals available in southern India for the festival, which allows each party to show up to 15 elephants. The elephants are lavishly adorned to carry the deities that will be gathered for the festival. The festival hits its pinnacle at 2:30 a.m., when the final fireworks show and the presentation of the 30 elephants take place. In Kerala, there are a host of Pooram celebrations, but none compare to the one in Thrissur.

Goddess of the Hunt: Are Korravai & Diana the same?

In Perumalpatti village, bordering Virudhunagar, a sculpture of Kotravai, called the goddess of war and triumph in Tamil culture, was unveiled standing beside a stag. The sculpture, believed to date back to early Pandiyan era, was found while ploughing the garden of one Karuppaiah.

Assistant Professor of History in Rajapalayam Raju’s College, B Kandasamy, said that carved stones were also unearthed. The stones might have been carved for the construction of a temple here. At a nearby location, two rivers called Devi and Vadamalai converged.

The locals could have started worshipping the goddess and then started building a temple on the spot afterwards. The river may have crossed the banks at some point, allowing the sculpture and the stones to go down into the ground. A Kotravai sculpture is a rarity in the southern regions of Tamil Nadu, and this discovery is the second to be found in the state and the first in the south.

"The first one is kept in a Chennai museum," Kandhasamy said. Its softness and the animal - stag - standing beside the goddess is another fascinating thing about the sculpture. There are four hands in the sculpture of the goddess, of which three are absent. The statue's pedestal has also been located. The monument was kept under a nearby tree and people began to worship it.

They have begun to worship it.

There are four hands in the sculpture of the goddess, of which three are absent. The statue's pedestal has also been located. 

The statue that was found is about two feet below the surface and was held under a nearby tree where it began to be worshipped by people.

In the Tamil tradition of Hinduism, Korravai (Korrawai), also spelled Kotravai or Korravai, is the goddess of battle and victory. She is Murugan's mother- god of war in Hindu pantheon, and Shiva's wife. 

She is both the goddess of the mother and the goddess of fertility, planting and hunters. She is often referred to in the latter form by other names and epithets in South India and Sri Lanka's Tamil tradition, such as Aiyai, Amari, Suli, and Kavuri.

She is among the earliest known goddesses in the Tamil Sangam literature, and she was also discovered in later Tamil literature, especially those related to Shaivism. 

In the many poems in Paripāṭal, she is mentioned, although the devoted poem to her is among those lost to history.

She is mentioned in the anthology of Pattuppattu-the long Tamil poems from 300 BCE to 300 CE, including the Neṭunalvāṭai, Maturaikkanci, Poruṇarāṟṟuppaṭai, and Paṭṭiṉappālai. In the Tamil epic Silappadikaram c 2nd century, she is known as the consort of Lord Shiva and the sister of Vishnu.

She is associated with the Durga-Mahisasuramardini and Kali goddess avatars of Parvati elsewhere in India, depending on the background and her fierceness. This may be the result, over the centuries, of a convergence of regional goddesses in the form of a pan-Hindu deity during the ancient proto-literate period into a single goddess version.

Korravai at the 7th century mandapa, Mahabalipuram.

In the ancient Tamil grammar Tolkappiyam, which is known to be the very first works of the Sangam literature, references are made to Kotravai. The name is derived from the root word korram in the Tamil language, which translates as "victory, success, bravery"

She is also seen as a mother goddess, a symbol of fertility and agricultural success. Traditional rural cultures give her the first harvest. She is identified as a war goddess who is bloodthirsty in some scriptures, such as the Silappadikaram and Ahamnanuru, and they also say that warrior devotees of the Goddess would even give the goddess their own head in a frenzy as an act of worship, love and devotion.

Across Tamil Nadu, the blackbuck (Kalaimaan) is considered to be the vehicle of the Hindu goddess Korravai. In the Mahishasuramardini mandapa Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, which was constructed approximately in the 7th century, she is also seen riding a lion. 

At the Varaha mandapam of Mahabalipuram, with a standing Korravai on a rock-relief panel, both the lion and the blackbuck are shown.

Going by the above findings and the attributes and practices associated with Korravai the semblances are noteworthy to anyone familiar with Diana, the Goddess of the hunt. 

The possibility of cultural exchanges between the early Sumerians and southern India via the trade routes reaching Malabar exists. With a similar origin story is the Samudhric Shastra (or Oceanic Scriptures) which include the planetary deities and some elements of astrology that have assimilated into the native Vedic culture and practices originally brought to India from Eurasia, the Mediterranean and the Romans of Europe over the last few millennia. This possibility of a relationship and a common source of origin or inception of belief system surrounding this specific Goddess needs to be further explored, examined and analyzed.

~Kiran Atma

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