Makar Mela is a traditional Hindu festival celebrated every 12 years in the month of Magh (mid-January to early February) in Panauti town of Nepal. The festival attracts Hindu pilgrims from all over Nepal, India and some foreign tourists.
No licensed photograph yet
Four in five rooms open without one. Add a photograph with a declared licence and your credit sits under it, permanently.
Makar Mela is a traditional Hindu festival celebrated every 12 years in the month of Magh (mid-January to early February) in Panauti town of Nepal.
01 · What it is
Living Tradition
Documented cultural tradition on record; family classification awaits an editor.
02 · Where & name
Geography awaiting source
Add a cited source naming the region or community that carries it.
03 · How it is doing
□□□□ (Not yet assessed)
Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
04 · Proof & reuse
2 cited sources
Every claim links to a public record below. Free to quote, teach, and share under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chapter Takeaways
MythologyAccording to the mythology, once Indra, the king of heaven, suffered from an incurable disease.
OthersAs a ritual, the festival was forbidden to be visited by the King of Nepal because the kings of Nepal and the main god of the festival - Vishnu were considered to be the same god.
Festival yearsThe text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Makar Mela”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence.
Common Questions Answered on Record
What is Makar Mela in plain words?
Makar Mela is a traditional Hindu festival celebrated every 12 years in the month of Magh (mid-January to early February) in Panauti town of Nepal.
Where is Makar Mela practised or documented?
No verified geographic place has been linked on record yet — editors can add a cited place from the edit page.
What is the current condition of Makar Mela today?
□□□□ (Not yet assessed): Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
How do I cite or share this Makar Mela entry?
Cite as: "Makar Mela." folkroom, https://folkroom.org/art-forms/makar-mela, text CC BY-SA, with attribution.
Makar Mela is a traditional Hindu festival celebrated every 12 years in the month of Magh (mid-January to early February) in Panauti town of Nepal. The festival attracts Hindu pilgrims from all over Nepal, India and some foreign tourists. Pilgrims believe that taking a dip in the holy river during the festival washes away their sins.
The festival is celebrated for the whole month of Magh at Tribenighat, the confluence of three rivers viz. Punyamati, Roshi (also called Lilawati) and Rudrawati. The festival starts when the sun enters Makara Rashi as per the Hindu astrology. Pilgrims bathe in the river and worship Basuki Naag which is considered to be the caretaker of Panauti. Then they proceed to worship Indreshwor Mahadev. 1
Mythology
According to the mythology, once Indra, the king of heaven, suffered from an incurable disease. To cure it, he meditated for 12 years to get rid of disease by pleasing Shiva at Tribenighat. Shiva mixed some nectar in Rudrawati river to cure the disease. When Indra dipped in the river, he got cured. It is believed that every 12 years, the nectar flows in the river which will cure all the diseases.
Another mythology describes that the festival is celebrated from the time of king Dirgharath of Panauti and king Satyawar of Patan which they started to pray goddess Phulchowki for the rivers Roshi and Godawari. 1
Others
As a ritual, the festival was forbidden to be visited by the King of Nepal because the kings of Nepal and the main god of the festival - Vishnu were considered to be the same god. However, the last King of Nepal, Gyanendra visited the festival.
Some environmental concerns have been raised because of the water pollution caused during the festival. 1
Festival years
2066 B.S.
2078 B.S. (2021)
2090 B.S. 1
The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Makar Mela”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. 1
Makar Mela is Hindu festival occuring every 12 years in Nepal, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 2