Editorial photo #13552067 Human Interest

Nepal's Ancient City Of Bhaktapur Welcomes Nepali New Year With Beat

Nepali artists from the Newa: community perform with the Dhime, a traditional double-headed cylindrical drum, on the eve of the formal start of Biska Jatra in Bhaktapur, Nepal, on April 9, 2026. Biska Jatra, a nine-day celebratory procession welcoming the Nepali New Year, begins with the ascension of Lord Bhairab onto a chariot built in front of the Nyatapola temple, the tallest temple in Nepal. Two groups of locals engage in a tug-of-war to pull the chariot to their side, a tradition that has been followed for generations. The three-storey chariot, made of wood in the pagoda style, is pushed and pulled around the settlements with statues of Bhairavnath and Betal as part of the festival. This event of cultural and historical significance is celebrated for nine days and eight nights. Believed to have originated during the Malla Dynasty, Biska Jatra formally starts four days before the Nepali New Year. According to a local myth, anyone who marries the local princess dies on the first night of marriage. A brave young man who married the princess killed two snakes that attacked him that night. Biska Jatra is unique as it does not follow the lunar-based Nepali Calendar and commences after a special Tantric ritual is performed in the Bhairab Temple in Taumadhi Tole in Bhaktapur. (Photo by Subaas Shrestha/NurPhoto)