Bhaktapur kicks off Biska Jatra festivities to welcome Nepali New Year with traditional music

Apr 10, 2026

Bhaktapur (Nepal), April 10 (ANI): Celebrations for Nepali New Year 'Bikram Samvat' kicked off with a nine-day long festival 'Biska Jatra' with cultural performances in the city of Bhaktapur. On the eve of the formal start of Biska Jatra, the nine-day-long festivity of the ancient city of Bhaktapur, dozens of denarians and vicenarians performed a synchronised musical performance. Every beat of the Dhime, the traditional double-headed cylindrical drum, tells a different story, and the dance narrates a story which carries its own significance."The performance was made by the Newa community. Visitors stood captivated as artists from the local Newa community, clad in traditional attire, performed coordinated dance on drum beats at the sacred Nyatapola temple. The three-storey chariot, made of wood in the pagoda style, is pushed and pulled around the settlements with the statues of Bhairavnath and Betal as a part of this festival. This festival of cultural and historical importance is celebrated for nine days and eight nights. Biska Jatra is the only festival that does not follow the lunar-based Nepali calendar. It commences after a special Tantric ritual is performed in the Bhairab Temple in Taumadhi Tole in Bhaktapur.