381 year old Kartik dance from today
KATHMANDU: NOV. 10 – The Kartik dance is starting from today at Kartik Dabli in Patan of Lalitpur. Various dances of historical, cultural and tantric significance will be performed for 12 days.
This dance was started by Malla Raja Siddhinar Singh in 1697 BS. The dance is believed to have started for the sake of peace, prosperity and entertainment in the country. This dance, known as Kartik dance, has been shortened to 12 days now as it was shown for 27 days or months.
In the year 1697 BS, King Siddhinar Singh of Lalitpur decided to organize the world’s longest drama festival for the welfare of his country and people. On the same occasion, Dhurandhar education guru Hari Bansha Rajopadhyaya in the field of drama and Dhurandhar Guru Bishwanath Upadhyaya in the field of the instrument and tantric genre were invited to the Durbar.
After that, the dance was conducted for 5 days at that time. This dance which started from 5 days was extended to 15 days by Siddhi Narasimha’s son Shree Niwas Malla by adding folk drama in it. Later, Shree Narendra’s son Yog Narendra Malla added Ushakiran Lila to it and performed for 27 days. The dance is called Kartik dance as it has been going on for the whole month of Kartik.
