Festival Bhadrakali, Kankeshwari
Ghode Jatra
The horse parade on the Tundikhel in Kathmandu, held on the new moon that closes Phalgun.
Ghode Jatra 2027 falls on Tuesday, 6 April, computed for Chennai.
- Calendar Nepal
- Dates to 2036
Latitude, longitude and time zone 13.08, 80.27
Asia/Kolkata · UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place.
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A tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Nepal calendar, computed for Chennai
- Tuesday, 6 April 2027
- Sunday, 26 March 2028
- Thursday, 15 March 2029
Where Ghode Jatra falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 6 Apr
- 2028: 26 Mar, 10 days earlier
- 2029: 15 Mar, 12 days earlier
The dates, year by year
Nepal calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The horse parade on the Tundikhel in Kathmandu, held on the new moon that closes Phalgun. A demon called Tundi is said to lie buried under that ground, and the hooves of horses galloping over it are held to keep him pressed down; the army runs the parade now, with tent pegging, trick riding and a gun salute. In the old city the Newars carry the palanquins of Bhadrakali, Kankeshwari and the other mother goddesses the same night and let them meet each other in the dark.
- Deity
- Bhadrakali, Kankeshwari
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
Ghode Jatra is the valley's way of keeping the demon Tundi under the ground: the thunder of hooves over the Tundikhel is held to press him down for another year. The mother goddesses are carried through the old city the same night so that the power of the earth is honoured as well as held down. For Newar families it is a feast day and a day of visiting, and it marks the end of the winter and the approach of the new year. The army's parade is a later addition, but it keeps the old purpose of the horses alive.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Ghode Jatra: how it is kept
Keep ready
- a place at the Tundikhel taken early
- the khats for carrying the goddesses
- torches for the night procession
- samay baji for the household
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
Samay baji is the meal of the night in the Newar houses: beaten rice, a strip of dried buffalo, soybeans, ginger, boiled egg and a measure of aila, set out on one plate and eaten together before the goddesses are carried past.
The hour
Clock times for Tuesday, 6 April 2027 at Chennai
The Chaitra Amavasya at sunrise, the new moon that closes the amanta Phalgun and opens the purnimanta Chaitra the patro names the month by; the parade is in the afternoon and the god carrying runs through the night.
The main rite. The Chaitra Amavasya at sunrise, the new moon that closes Phalgun. The parade on the Tundikhel is in the afternoon and the carrying of the goddesses runs through the night.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:02 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
| Aparahna | 13:25 | the afternoon, three fifths of the daylight after sunrise |
Sunrise 06:02, sunset 18:21, UTC+5.5. These are the instants the rule is read at, not the temple's own puja times, which every temple prints for itself.
The day itself
| What | When | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tithi | Krishna Amavasai from 05:41 until next day 05:21 | then Shukla Prathamai until 2 days later, 04:29 |
| Nakshatra | Uttara Bhadrapada until 18:23 | then Revati until next day 18:26 |
| Rahu kaal | 15:16 to 16:49 (1 h 32 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 09:07 to 10:39 (1 h 32 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 12:12 to 13:44 (1 h 32 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:47 to 12:36 (0 h 49 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 05:17 | moonset 17:50 |
For Tuesday, 6 April 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
No fast is kept. The Newar houses keep a feast, and the day is a public holiday in the valley.
What is avoided
The palanquins of the goddesses are not blocked or touched by those who do not carry them, and the Tundikhel is not crossed during the parade.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
A Kathmandu valley day; the hills and the Terai do not keep it, and nothing outside Nepal answers to it.
In other regions
- Nepal (the dates above)
- A Kathmandu valley festival and a public holiday there; the hills and the Terai do not keep it.
The dates above are the Nepal reckoning, because that is the calendar this key belongs to. Switch the tradition on the calendar page to see how another one dates the same day.
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
Temples of Bhadrakali near you
Not recorded for this day in particular: the nearest temples of the day's own gods, for a reader whose own temple is not listed above.
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Adi Kamakshi and Kamakshi, standing on the pancha agni penance
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Devi Karumariamman in her three forms
- Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu · Kamakshi Devi seated in padmasana with the Sri Chakra
- Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu · Adhiparasakthi as the swayambhu in the anthill
Your family's own temple comes first, and its calendar is the one that decides.
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A temple is listed here only where the gazetteer's own line names this day, or where this day's own entry names the town, or where the day belongs to the ancestors or the nagas and the temple is recorded for that rite. Where neither table says anything, nothing is listed as kept for the day; where fewer than three are, the nearest temples of the day's own gods are added under a heading of their own.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it.
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A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.