Janabaha Dyo Karunamaya chariot festival concluding today in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, March 30: The chariot procession of Padmapani Lokeshwor Karunamaya (Janabaha Dyo) is concluding today with the chariot ceremonially returned yesterday on the fourth day to Janabahal amid a grand procession.

The idol of the Bodhisattva will be taken down from the chariot and reinstalled in the temple today, marking the final day of the five-day festival, according to the chariot management committee.

Priest and former ward chairperson of Kathmandu Metropolitan City–25, Nilkaji Shakya, said the festival will formally conclude after the idol is placed back in the temple at Janabahal.

The procession begins every year from Tridhara Pathshala in Durbar Marg on Chaitra Shukla Ashtami. The chariot is pulled through areas including Asan, Hanumandhoka and Lagan before returning to Janabahal.

On the fourth day, the chariot is traditionally circled three times around the temple of the deity’s mother in Lagan.

The deity, also revered as Avalokiteśvara and Seto Macchindranath , will be reinstalled in the temple on the fifth day, officially concluding the annual festival.