Festival-goers cover themselves with red powder to welcome spring and the New Year in spectacular Nepal ceremony
- The festival takes place over nine days in the Bhaktapur District of central Nepal
- The event kicked off on Monday and will end on April 18
Bisket Jatra in Nepal is underway, with crowds pictured covered in red powder and as they celebrate on the streets.
The annual festival takes place over nine days in the Bhaktapur District of central Nepal.
The event kicked off on Monday and will end on April 18.
The festival, which is held in mid-April, welcomes the Nepali New Year and marks the arrival of the spring season.
Thousands of people from different parts of the country gather in the city of Bhaktapur to take part in the colourful celebrations.
The chariot of the deity Bhairavnath was pulled to Thimi in Bhaktapur District on the fifth day of Biska Jatra on Friday.
Local youths towed the cart early in the morning, lighting traditional lamps and playing musical instruments.
During the festival, the residents of Thane (upper) and Kwane (lower) quarters of the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, a palace complex, tug the three–storey pagoda style chariot, where statues of Bhairavnath and Betaal have been installed.
A tug of war decides which half of the city the chariot will go to first.
The side that pulls the chariot to their quarter are viewed as the winners.
On the fourth day of the festival, lyo sin dyo, a tall pole, is erected to mark the end of the year.
Revellers covered in red powder celebrate the Bisket Jatra Festival in Thimi in the Bhaktapur District on the outskirts of Kathmandu on April 15, 2023
Crowds gather at the Bisket Jatra Festival in Thimi in the Bhaktapur District on the outskirts of Kathmandu on April 15, 2023
People make their may through the streets at the Bisket Jatra Festival in Thimi in the Bhaktapur District on the outskirts of Kathmandu on April 15, 2023
An aerial shot of the Bisket Jatra Festival in Thimi in the Bhaktapur District on the outskirts of Kathmandu on April 15, 2023
Drums are played at the Bisket Jatra Festival in Thimi in the Bhaktapur District on the outskirts of Kathmandu on April 15, 2023
A procession to mark the Bisket Jatra festival on the outskirts of Kathmandu on April 15, 2023
Devotees carry an idol of the Hindu god Bhairav during the Bisket Jatra festival held to mark the Nepalese New Year in Bhaktapur on April 10, 2023
Hindu devotees pull a long ceremonial pole called a Lingo during the Bisket Jatra festival held to mark the Nepalese New Year in Bhaktapur on April 13, 2023
Devotees pull a wooden chariot carrying an idol of the Hindu god Bhairav during the Bisket Jatra festival held to mark the Nepalese New Year in Bhaktapur on April 13, 2023
Hindu devotees carrying burning torches take part in a procession marking Bisket Jatra, a festival held in celebration of the Nepalese New Year, in Thimi on April 14, 2023
A Hindu devotee with a metal needle tongue piercing takes part in a procession which celebrates the Bisket Jatra festival to mark Nepali New Year, on the outskirts of Kathmandu on April 15, 2023. Each year, on the second day of the Nepalese New Year, Bode witnesses a tongue-piercing ceremony
Thousands celebrate the Bisket Jatra Festival in Thimi in the Bhaktapur District on the outskirts of Kathmandu on April 15, 2023
Devotees pull a wooden chariot carrying an idol of the Hindu god Bhairav during the Bisket Jatra festival held to mark the Nepalese New Year in Bhaktapur on April 10, 2023
Hindu devotees carry burning torches as they take part in a procession marking Bisket Jatra, a festival held in celebration of the Nepalese New Year, in Thimi, minuts after the midnight on April 15, 2023
