Ghode Jatra being observed today, public holiday in Valley
KATHMANDU: APRIL. 1 – Today is the Ghode Jatra festival, which is held every year on the day of Chaitra Krishna Aunsi. A public holiday has been given in Kathmandu Valley today on the occasion of the Ghode Jatra.
Today, horse art, motorcycle sports, physical exercises, and martial arts are being performed in Tundikhel on behalf of the Nepal Army. Even today, a blind horse race is held to commemorate Ghode Jatra in Lalitpur.
According to popular belief, in the inner city of Kathmandu, whenever children disappeared, it was assumed that demons or cannibals did it. In order to scare off the bad spirits, campers in Tudikhel who had horses with them were asked to run those horses around Tudikhel to scare off the demons.
People gathered and fed the demons near the tree that is still located in the middle of Tudikhel. After doing this, the people of the capital are confident that the children will not be endangered by demons throughout the year. The ritual later took the form of a festival. The tradition later changed into a national festival.
