Festival Of Gai Jatra
The world is filled with amazing wonders, beautiful places, wonderful people, unique and extraordinary cultures, and traditions that a lifetime isn’t enough to explore. And even though we have limited time to see all the beauty the world has to offer, there are awesome, informative, and fascinating documentaries that can take us to these extraordinary places. Many of them also let us experience what it is like even just on the screen to be in these wonderful locations, meet their people, and get a glimpse of its history. And today, we highlight a very special documentary that took me to one of the world’s breathtaking destinations. Documentary filmmaker Jaswant Dev Shrestha showcases his amazing view of Nepal in the short documentary Festival Of Gai Jatra.
The first episode of Festival Of Gai Jatra is a twenty-six-minute-long documentary that focuses on the cities of Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, Kirtipur, and Patan in Nepal where the Festival Of Gai Jatra is celebrated. This festivity is a religious celebration that has been around for centuries and is observed by the Hindus. Its history trails back to Kathmandu’s ancient kings and queens. Where it started as an activity organized by the king to please and make his sad queen happy. Which, later on, gave the queen the realization that apart from the festival making her happy; It also brought the people together with happiness and celebration. The fun part about this festival is how it was celebrated in different ways in these cities. In Kathmandu where the feast is honoring the celebration by the kings and queens, Bhaktapur, Kirtipur, and Patan are more on the involvement of the people. Whereas, they celebrate the soul of the deceased loved one, where farmers give thanks for a successful year, and where feast and celebration from houses are initiated by the people. They also have costume parties and processions which are held on the streets where people are dressed like gods and goddesses. They also have lovely props to commemorate their activities which are all hand made by the villagers. The Festival Of Gai Jatra is like an incredible festivity of life. It can remind anyone of the beauty and happiness of being alive in this world.
I enjoyed watching Jaswant Dev Shrestha’s Festival Of Gai Jatra. Aside from its pristine cinematography that enhanced the beauty of the documentary more; I also love how the story was narrated, and how the festivity was viewed. It showed me a significant overview of Nepal’s people, culture, and tradition. Now, I not only know Nepal for the eight amazing high peaks that surround it, but also more about its people and culture. Nepal also strengthens its claim of being close to the heavens because of this incredibly wondrous celebration that gave a feast of life’s happiness, gratefulness, and everything in between. Watching this documentary excites me to explore Nepal and be able to experience this authentic festivity. And I bet anyone who gets to watch this will also feel the same and will undoubtedly have their next travel adventure booked in this destination. Amazing work by Jaswant Dev Shrestha, congratulations for creating a masterpiece worthy of recognition!
