Gai Jatra ( the cow festival) (August)

is a nine- day Hindu festival starting from the full moon the 8th of dark Bhadra. The facial point is Kathmandu valley, especially Bhaktapur. It consists of jatras, masked dances, street skits and khat yatras. In this festival teen-aged boys addressed up as cows, parade the streets of the town. This costume springs from the belief that cows help the members of the family who died within that year to travel to heaven smoothly. Some are also dressed up as ascetic or a fool for achieving the same objective for their dead family members. The week beginning from the Janai Purnima actually unfolds a seasons of many good religious and cultural activities. All the Buddhist monasteries open their gates to the visitors to view their bronze sculpture and collection of paintings for a week. At Patan, one observes the festival of Mataya at this time. The festivity of Gai Jatra itself lasts for a week enlivened by the performance of dance and drama in the different localities of the town. Cultural centers, newspaper and magazines to fling humors and satire on the Nepalese Social and Political life are increasingly adapting the sprit of the old festival.