Banshagopal chariot festival
BHAKTAPUR: The world’s smallest chariot festival of Banshagopal of Changunarayan temple in Bhaktapur was started at 9:00 pm on Friday March 21.
The chariot festival is celebrated on each Fagu Purnima night to the next day with religious fervor.
The chariot festival of the eight feet high artistic Banshagopal Chariot begins with religious ritual and worship as per tantrik rituals in the Changunarayan Temple, said main priest of the temple Chakradharananda Rajopadhya.
The Banshagopal (Krishna), Radha and Rukmini idols are taken to the locality in chariot from the temple and concludes in the same place after going through Balambu, Takhachhe and Dhokatol from Changunarayan along with playing of traditional instruments.
A large number of people participated in the chariot festival.
Although there is no proven evidence as to who built the Changunarayan temple which is regarded as the oldest of the four Narayanas in the Kathmandu valley, there are inscriptions of King Mandev having renovated the temple.
There are Kileswor, Astamatrika, Devi Rakteswori temples in the Changunarayan temple premises. The Banshagopal Chariot Festival which got the royal seal during the time of King Rana Bahadur Shah in 1950 BS was given eight ropanis of land, said Rajopadhaya. But the land is now disappeared and the chariot festival is very difficult to conduct, he complained.
