The annual festival of Horse Racing known as Ghode Jatra, religiously named as Aswa Yatra, was celebrated today at Tundikhel in Nepal's Kathmandu. Ghode Jatra, meaning "Horse Parade", was organized by the Nepal Army at the Army Pavilion.
Rt HonPresident Bidhya Devi Bhandari observed the ‘Ghode Jatra 2072’ at the Army Pavilion, Tundikhel. pic.twitter.com/AaVCB8SGdE
— Nepalese Army (@thenepalesearmy) 7 апреля 2016 г.
The Ghode Jatra festival is known as one of the oldest festivals in the country where dozens of horses belonging to Nepal Cavalry performed different stunts during including several competitions.
#Nepal celebrates annual festival of Horse Racing, or "Ghode Jatra" https://t.co/XIiJYjrHs0 pic.twitter.com/NMzTaovYzJ
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) 7 апреля 2016 г.
As per legend, the festival is celebrated to free the spirit of a demon named Tundi, who used to live on a meadow, which is now at Tundikhel. It is believed that the parade of horses at this particular place will keep the demon's spirit away. The faster the horses run, the more Tundi's spirit is dispelled.
As per other mythology, it is said that the festival Ghode Jatra is celebrated to mark the start of Nepali New Year.
The event falls on the Nepali month of Chaitra according to Eastern Lunar calendar. This year the festival was celebrated on Chaitra 25, 2072. That is on April 7, 2016.
Nepal's President Bidhya Devi Bhandari attended the event along with Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and other high level government officials.
