Machendranath Chariot Wheel

The god Machendranath is revered as a god of rain in the Kathmandu Valley. The strange childlike figure of Machendra is made of roughly carved wood that has been painted bright red. The statue is kept in the Rato (red) Machendranath Temple for only half the year in the nearby village of Bungamati. Each year in either April or May, during the festival of Machendranath Jatra, the image is taken out of its temple and paraded through the streets of Patan in a huge chariot pulled by devoted worshipers. Once every 12 years, the chariot is pulled all the way from Bungamati, about 12 Kms away. The most recent festival was in 2003.

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