Gai Jatra is a fairs festival from the Hindu tradition mostly practised in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal. Familiar by the name ‘saaparu’ in the context of Nepal Bhasa, this event remains significant as a method by which people can ‘pay’ respect to the souls of their dead kin in the past one year.
The use of the term “Gai” is derived from cow and Jatra is a festival or carnival in English. In Gai Jatra, children of Kathmandu costume male members in joking aspects of makeup and attire, and the boys proceed on streets with cows procession.
While it is principally a Newar affair, the significance of the festival is Nepali in the broadest sense. It is, however, noteworthy that people who are not so involved in the celebrations have a general understanding of the festival, and it is highly regarded throughout the country.
The Gai Jatra Festival is to be held in the year 2024 on the 20th of August according to the English calendar and it will also fall on the 4th day of the Bhadra of the Nepali Calendar.
Gai Jatra is culturally rooted and popular among Nepal and especially in the Newar inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley. Religiously, culturally, and socially it has vital importance and that is why it is one of kind festival in Nepalese context.
Significance of Gai Jatra in Nepalese Ethnicity
- Spiritual Significance: According to people, Gai Jatarai is a way of paying respect to ancestors, particularly to those who are no more. In Hinduism, cows are therefore considered sacred as they lead the spirits of the departed to the other side. There are also processions by parents and other relatives of those who died during the previous year; people walking these processions help the soles of their dead relatives to rest and find the good path which will get them to the heavenly kingdom.
- Cultural Preservation: The festival is particularly cultural because the conduct is true to the Newar culture inherited from the past generations. This program displays the traditional and classical music and dance, which are part of the Newar ethnic’s group cultural heritage.
- Social Commentary and Satire: One of the aspects which distinguished Gai Jatra is that at this festival people use humor and satire. The carnival is characterized by the symbolism where the community makes fun of the established norms, political leaders, and other matters affecting the society. This practice is, on the one hand, a method of social critique and, at the same time, an attempt to find a way to grieve, using laughter as a shared experience among people.
- Community Bonding: A key benefit arising from the festival is the ability it has to assemble people, and thus create a feeling of fraternity towards one another. Since people celebrate the dead in a group, they engage in activities that help in the creation of togetherness, within the family unit within the community.
- Emotional Healing: Celebrated in some Nepali communities Gai Jatra is more than just the death of cow; it also becomes a way of commemorating the deceased and thus assisting the grieving families. It is therefore easy to see how comedy and people group contribution to the event help in healing and teaching people how to celebrate the lives of their beloved as opposed to gracing their deaths.
- National Significance: But irrespective of this fact, Gai Jatra is of wider relevance in Nepal as the Newar people have been a part and parcel of the Nepalese society. It has an immense prestige in the country, and its value is seen as an expression of togetherness and similar traditions of the Nepalese nation.
All in all, Gai Jatra is not only a religious festival but it has many other facets to it regarding different spheres of life in the context of Nepal; therefore it is very significant to Nepal.
The True Background of Gai Jatra in Nepal
It has its origin in the history of Gai Jatra of the Newar kings of Kathmandu, specifically a king named Pratap Malla who lost his son. Killer of his friends and relatives, the king was grief stricken and desired to find consolation. There was a holy man who advised them to take out the cow in the compound and parade it round so that the boy’s soul can find its way to the other world. It was in order to follow this advice that the king arranged a grand procession which then became known as Gai Jatra. Today, families honor deceased loved ones by dressing up boys in costumes and parading cows, while the festival also incorporates satire and humor to celebrate life and provide emotional healing.
How do people celebrate Gai Jatra in Nepal?
Celebrations of Gai Jatra in Nepal are vibrant and multifaceted, involving several unique traditions:
- Processions: People who have lost their dear ones in the last year are involved in carrying of biers on roads and streets. They always take a cow, or an equivalent animal, and decorate it with flowers; and in some communities boys are costumed and painted to mimic the dead.
- Costumed Performances: There is hardly an encounter with boys and young men in jest, always dressed in colourful costumes, playing different characters or satire. These performances help to make remarks and launch jokes referring to the society and present events.
- Public Festivities: Dances, songs, and theater plays also features on the streets. Newari music and dance: Khasa, Panche Baja, etc are often played and danced.
- Satirical Displays: With regard to artistic expressions, the festival involves skits, parades and street plays containing segments of satire and comedy on social and political themes.
- Religious Observances: Families may do special gatherings or feasting, prayers and some kinds of presents to the spirits of their dead ancestors. This can include going for worships, offering some offerings and offering lamps among other activities.
- Community Gatherings: Gai Jatra: Community building. Community members are social beings who engage in functions as a way of maintaining and renewing social relations that are essential in society.
In a nutshell, Gai Jatra is a blend of sorrow, jubilation, and togetherness, which is a depiction of the Nepali ethos and beliefs.
Thus, Gai Jatra is the festival very important, joy with sorrow in the society of Nepal. Developed from the royal art of leading the spirits to the other world, they have turned into colorful events the main attributes of which are processions and masquerades, songs and mockery. There are occasions of mourning and respect for the dead and also jokes and satire both of which are essential in the festival. Apart from acting as a tool of cultural sustainability, Gai Jatra has the function of catharsis and unity among the people of Nepal.
