BHAKTAPUR, Feb 8: The 55-foot-tall lingo (pole) that is used for Bhaktapur's popular Bisket Jatra has been taken to Bhelukhel-based Yongsikhel in Bhaktapur from Sallaghari forest of Suryabinayak municipality-10, Chittapole by using dozer and crane.
In the Bisket Jatra that is celebrated for nine days and eight nights in Bhaktapur as per the tantrum method, the 55-foot long pole is erected on the last day of the Nepali year and celebrations are made with the demolition of the erected pole next day on Baisakh 1 (mid-April).
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As per the tradition, chariot (yosingdho) which is considered a symbol of Kashi Bhairabnath is worshiped in accordance with the tantrum method and is erected with the help of eight ropes.
The pole which is erected on the farewell of the old year and in the advent of the New Year has 'halingpat', considered the sign of serpentine at the top.
Bhaktapur-based Sanskrit activist Sampoorna Joshi said it was wrong to use cranes and dozers in the name of modernity in the traditional jatra of historical, cultural and religious importance. "Will the dozer now pull the chariot of Bhairavnath, which thousands of people have been pulling?" he asked.
Former president of Toumadhi Youth Club and social worker Bijaya Prasad Dhowadel said that it is ironic that the tradition of pulling the lingo with a rope has now started with the use of dozer and crane.
Khima Oli, chief of Guthi Sansthan Branch Office Suryabinayak, said the government's budget was saved this year as donor Shivaram Suwal had borne all the expenses on his own. "We did not have to go for a bid to bring poles this year, the state exchequer has been saved," he said, adding that Suwal has borne the cost of bringing two lingos. We have spent only Rs 8,000 for two goats, a duck and for worship.
