Much awaited traditional drama Kartik Naach started this year
Kartik Naach, the well-known traditional dance-drama, took place in Patan Durbar Square. The Vastraharan Leela dance was performed in the closing show, according to the KNPC. The celebrations this year started on November 6 with the Narasimha avatar dance on Thursday night, which showed the defeat of Hiranyakashipu, a demon who was opposing Lord Vishnu’s divine authority. The traditional Kartik Naach is celebrated in Lalitpur every year and lasts for ten days.
This ancient event, which was started by King Siddhi Narsingh Malla almost 380 years ago, is held at Patan Durbar Square’s Kartik Dabali. The dance uses episodic storytelling to convey moral lessons while enacting stories from the Swasthani and the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. Dedicated to the god Kartikeya, it represents Malla’s love of the arts and the victory of good over evil. Siddhi Narsingh Malla started this custom in Nepal Sambat 761, according to cultural historians. The dance, which usually lasts a month, was only done for ten days this year. These are a few of the performance images that Safal Prakash Shrestha, the post’s photojournalist, took.
