3-061-166 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Bhairava Temple, Bhatgaon, 1852. Hindu temple in Nepal. Oldfield writes: "Bhairab and his consort Bhairavi are very popular forms of Mahadeo and Parvati, and are worshipped by Buddhists as well as by Hindus...The Bhairabjatra or Biskati, as it is called by the Niwars, is a festival in honour of Bhairab and Bhairavi. It is one of the three grand Niwar festivals, one of which takes place annually in each of the three principal cities of the Valley@Bhairab or Bhairava is an incarnation of Shiva as the "Destroyer", and is a most popular deity in Nipal, where he is looked on as a guardian-angel of the country...He has a great many temples dedicated to him, and in all directions are seen stone alto-reliefs of him of various sizes, and generally, if not always, representing him as trampling upon one or two demons...The festival at Bhatgaon commences on the first day of Baisakh, and lasts for two days...The [second] jatra consists in the erection of a long beam of timber called the Linga in front of the temple of Bhairab near the Darbar, and round it Puja is made, buffaloes slain, &c. This is the Lingajatra." From the Oldfield Collection.