After a demon began slaughtering the children of the Pashupati area, with the help of a tantric, the demon's own child was captured, tied to a trident, and paraded around the city; since then, the Machati festival has been celebrated annually.
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A different scene was witnessed in Devpatan, Pashupati on Wednesday. Three children were laid face-up on three palanquins, symbolically pierced with tridents, and paraded around Bhuvaneshwari, Jayabageshwari, Golanwari Tole, and Sifal before being brought back to Devpatan. This unique scene is part of the Machhati Jatra, celebrated annually by the Newar community on the Ashtami of the waning moon in the month of Asar. The tradition involves placing three boys and girls, symbolizing Kumar and Kumari, on palanquins after symbolically piercing them with tridents, and then parading them around the city.
In ancient times, demons used to trouble the locals in the Pashupati Devpatan area. As the abduction and killing of local children by demons increased, with the help of the tantric Bandhudatta Achaju, a demon child was captured, pierced with a trident, and paraded around the city. According to legend, after the locals attacked their own children and paraded them around the city, the frightened demons stopped abducting human children. It is believed that this festival has been celebrated ever since in memory of that event. This festival is also known as the Trishul Jatra.
The boys who have not undergone the Bratabandha ceremony and girls who have not reached menarche are worshipped as Kumar and Kumari on the palanquins during the Machhati Jatra celebrated by the Newar community. Proper security arrangements are made for the children on the palanquins. After that, young men carry the palanquins on their shoulders, parading them around the city via Pashupati Devpatan as part of the festival. Similarly, in separate palanquins made at the Vatsalyashwari Temple and Bajraghar in the Pashupati area, boys are also symbolically pierced with tridents and placed as images of Kumar, and taken to Jayabageshwari.
Only children from the Dangol, Vaidya, Vishede, and Napit communities are eligible to ride on the palanquins. This festival, which starts from Devpatan in Pashupati, passes through Bhuvaneshwari, Jayabageshwari, Golanwari Tole, and Sifal before concluding back at Devpatan. Although the festival has continued to preserve tradition, locals say it is not easy for the children who sit on the palanquins. Believed to have started during the Licchavi period, this festival has a unique identity. The festival, in which children are laid face-up on three palanquins, is considered to be rare.
Because the festival reflects a unique identity, locals from various parts of the valley come to observe it. Celebrated every year, this festival has helped preserve traditions and culture that were on the verge of disappearing. However, while nine palanquins were used during the Licchavi period, it is now limited to only three.
