Kartik Naach (Photo Feature)

Lalitpur: 376-year-old historical Kartik Naach has begun in Patan.

The historical dance started on Saturday. The tradition of Kartik Naach began in 761 Bikram Sambat (B.S.).

Patan’s Malla King Siddhi Narsingh Malla started the tradition. The dance is connected with 17 stories of the Hindu God Vishnu.

King Siddhi Narsingh Malla had started the tradition of performing Kartik Naach for 2 days at Nasal Chowk. On the occasion of marking the completion of the construction of Krishna Mandir in the Durbar area, King Malla started the tradition as per the suggestion of his Gurus Haribansha Rajopadhyay and Vishwanath Upadhyay.

Later his son Shree Niwas Malla extended the performance to 7 days, during his reign. Likewise, his son Yog Narendra Malla established the tradition of dancing for 15 days.

Kartik Naach is a musical act, which is performed in the month of Kartik every year. The dance is performed in Kartik Dabali; located inside the Patan Durbar Square area.

The dance begins with ‘Batha: Pyakha.’ It is performed for 3 days. Then, performance relating to stories of God Vishnu will be performed. The dance is concluded with the performance of ‘Dadhi Leela’. The tradition seems to have started to establish peace, prosperity, and entertainment in the nation.

This year Kartik Naach will be performed for 10 days from November 18-27 (Mangsir 2-11).

(Glimpses of Kartik Naach) 

(Photo Courtesy: Saroj Basnet)