Ghode Jatra 

  

Ghode Jatra is one of the annual festivals of Nepal which is basically celebrated in Kathmandu - Tudikhel. The word Ghoda refers to horse and Jatra means festival , so ghode Jatra is the festival of horses. Ghode Jatra is celebrated in the month of March - April. On the day of ghode Jatra Nepal Army performs various acts by riding horse, horse racing, horse parade, various performances can be seen in Kathmandu - Tudikhel ground. Public holiday is given in this day where most of the governmental office remains closed.

"It is said that Gurumapa - one of the demons used in live in Kathmandu and the kids started disappearing day by day which was believed to be because of Gurumapa so people tried various ways to scare Gurumapa but nothing could scare him and once people chased him upto Tudikhel ground where many horses ran towards Gurumapa which injured him and he finally got scared and ran away so Jhode Jatra was believed to be started since then". 

During ghode jatra Tudikhel ground is seen with many armies who would be riding the horses either for horse parade , show jumping - horse jumping the fences, horse racing, horse crossing through fired circle or fence and many other performances by riding horse. Many people stand behind the fence of Tudikhel ground to see the various performances that are shown in the festival. Similarly, many armies can be noticed roaming around in the road in ghode jatra to check the situation in tudikhel area in that day. 

Since the era of Gods and goddess, horse has been one of the sources to travel from one place to another which continued by kings and the ruler of the nations and nowadays horse can be used in horse racing, horse riding, transportation and many more. Horse is one of the animals having great importance during the ruling system of kings , war, to travel, etc. Armies of ancient times were the great horse riders as the horses were only the source of transportation and now in the present time vehicles are the means of transportation in most of the cities where roads are made but in various rural areas horse are used as a means of transportation where roads and vehicles are not available. 

In a nutshell, Jhode Jatra is the festival which is celebrated in honour of the horses and their great ability and strength through performing various acts by riding horse. Jhode Jatra is the  festival celebrated in Kathmandu valley and people visit Tudikhel on that day to observed the festival though they have to see from outside the ground. President along with many ministers attend the festival to see the performances. Many Newars from Kathmandu, bhaktapur, Patan, Lalitpur celebrate ghode Jatra by organising different puja and rituals. Happy Ghode Jatra to all.