Aakash Bhairav Naach: Indra Jatra’s key element that often gets overshadowed

Anil Shrestha is counting days for Indra Jatra , a major festival in Kathmandu. The 20-year-old is all excited to see the festival. After a gap of a year, Shrestha is getting his camera ready to click the festival this year. But, going through his photos from yesteryears he realises he has never taken a photo of Aakash Bhairav Naach. And with that, he has also realised he does not know where the three deities involved in this traditional dance event come from or what their story is.

Indra Jatra is one of the most celebrated festivals in the valley. It has so many elements that one has many options to choose their favourites from; Lakhey, Pulukishi, Shwet Bhairav, Dasavatar or the chariot procession itself. But like Shrestha, one easily misses one key and foremost element of the procession; a dance of three masked deities popularly known as ‘jhin tali shin taa’.