While it might not be immediately obvious, Kathmandu is currently in the midst of one of the most important festivals of its calendar year. Each year as the winter months recede, giving way to warmer days, all of the Valley’s three ancient towns observe three uniquely different ‘spring festivals’—Bhaktapur hosts the Biskaa Jatra (Bisket Jatra); Patan rolls out the Bunga Dyah Jatra (Rato Matsyendranath Jatra); while Kathmandu celebrates Pahan Charhe.

Pahan Charhe—which roughly translates into Pahan (Guest) and Charhe (Festival)—is a three-day festival that places a particular emphasis on community strengthening; which as its name suggests, the festival is a time when guests are welcomed into homes and honoured with feasts. During the festival, it is also customary to invite sisters and daughters (known as Mhyaa Macha in Nepal Bhasa) back to their homes.

The three days of celebration kick off with the worship of the Luku Mahadyah (Hidden Mahadev), which remain hidden in unsuspecting niches of buildings or under manholes in the streets during other days of the year. Because Luku Mahadyah is often hidden in corners of Bahals assigned to the disposal of waste, the first day of Pahan Chare usually also includes a thorough cleanup of a neighbourhood. The first day concludes with the performance of the Nyatamaru Ajima dance (also known as the Swetkali dance) at the Nardevi district of Old Kathmandu.

On the second day of the festival, the Ghode Jatra, is held with pomp and fanfare at the Tundikhel parade grounds. Over the years, this day has come to overshadow the

other celebrations held during the festival, when in truth the military parade is  only a very recent addition to the festival.

The final day of Pahan Charhe will culminate with a vibrant jatra at Ason on Tuesday, March 28. Known as the Dyah Lwakegu (‘Meeting of the Gods’ in Nepal Bhasa), the historic market square will see the coming together of representatives of three neighbourhoods of the city, all adorned in colour-coded hats-red, blue and yellow-representing their respective locales.  The three goddesses, namely the Tebaha Ajima, Kanga Ajima and Lumadi Ajima, are carried by devotees to Ason in khats (palanquins). Once at the square, the palanquins are brought head to head while handlers exchange burning torches to signify the exchange of greetings among the deities, who, as legends go, are sisters.

Colourful, crowded and slightly chaotic, Dyah Lwakegu is a significant festival for Kathmandu not just because it is a time for different communities to come together, but also because it is one of those festivals that predates the spread of Hinduism in the Valley and commemorates the matriarchal Ajima deities of Kathmandu.