President Witnesses Ritualistic Kalash Yatra from Changunarayan to Hanumandhoka

Bhaktapur, Jan 3: The traditional Kalash Yatra from Changunarayan to Hanumandhoka was observed today on Poush Shukla Purnima, continuing an age-old cultural ritual.

As per tradition, priests carried silver idols of the Changunarayan deity, Goddess Lakshmi, and Goddess Saraswati, along with a ritualistic urn (Kalash) filled with holy water, from Changunarayan Temple in Bhaktapur to Hanumandhoka in Kathmandu. The procession traveled entirely on foot, passing through Sankhu, Danchhi, Gokarna, Jorpati, Chabahil, Gyaneshwar, and Naxal, before halting at a platform near Ranipokhari.

Chakradhara Nanda Rajopadhyay, chief priest of Changunarayan Temple, said the procession, including the Badagurujyu, then continued on foot from Ranipokhari to Hanumandhoka via Asan and Indrachok. The Kalash was worshipped at Trishul Chowk inside Taleju in the presence of the living goddess Kumari.

President Ramchandra Paudel received darshan of the Kalash at Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Sheetal Niwas before it was returned to Changunarayan Temple along the same route, completing the ritual.