But on Sunday, the last day of the festival, Gyani pulled a chariot carrying Bhairab in Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square at Basantapur. [break]
“Whenever I used to see the chariots being pulled by men, I would fancy doing it myself. But given the social restrictions, it was almost impossible for women to be part of the chariot procession. Now, my childhood dream has finally come true,” said elated Gyani.
As she had never pulled chariots before in her life, she had mixed feeling of excitement and nervousness, admitted she. “I am really excited as our society has finally accepted the identity of women and given them space in the biggest street festival,” exclaimed she.
Along with her, almost 700 hundred women, mainly, belonging to Newar community assembled from all three districts in the Kathmandu Valley and pulled the three chariots -- two small chariots for Ganesh and Bhairab, and the big one for the living goddess, Kumari.
From last year, members of Yenya Dinhu (Indra Jatra) Steering Committee, formed to host the jatra, had decided to allow women to pull the chariots on the last day of the festival. But unlike this year, women last year had pulled the big chariot of living goddess Kumari.
Durba Devi Tamrakar, secretary of the steering committee, who is the only woman member in the steering committee, had advocated for women participation in the Jatra. After she raised voice in favor of women, the committee had decided to allow women to take part in the chariots procession.
“Previously, people believed that only men can pull the chariots. But we want to prove that even women can pull the chariots and observe Indra Jatra,” said Tamrakar, who herself was involved in pulling the chariot.
She further opined that women pulling chariot was a sign of women empowerment. Not only the women from Newar community, but all women can take inspiration from the act that they are on equal footing with men. “We have decided to give continuation to the new practice,” added he.
The women took the chariots from Basantapur to Yatarwa, Nerdevi, Killagali, Indrachowk and brought back to Basantapur.
Previously, the chariot procession was held for only two days during the eight-day long festival. But from the Rana regime, the chariot procession was extended for one more day.
“In order to see Rajmati, a beautiful lady at Killagalli, Junga Bahadur Rana is said to have urged locals to organize the Indra Jatra for one more day,” said Chanda Bajracharya, a cultural expert.
The lingo, a wooden pole erected on the first day to mark the beginning of Indra Jatra, was toppled Sunday night, which formally marks the end of Indra Jatra for the year.
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