In
this festival teen-aged boys dressed 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 an ascetic or a fool for achieving the same
objective for their dead family members. Groups
of mimics improvise short satirical enactment
on the current social scenes of the town for
the entertainment of the public. The week beginning
from Janai Purnima actually unfolds a season
of many good religious and cultural activities.
All the Buddhist monasteries open their gates
to the visitors to view their bronze sculptures
and collection of painting 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. The spirit of the old festival is being
increasingly adapted by cultural centers, newspaper
and magazines to fling humor and satire on the
Nepalese Social and Political life.