April 15, 2019
ASIA / PACIFIC
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5
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DEMON DETERRENT. A Nepalese army soldier (top photo) bonds with a horse and cavalry soldiers
(bottom photo) rehearse for the Ghode Jatra festival at the Nepal cavalry stable in Kathmandu, Nepal. The annual
horse festival celebrated on the Nepal Cavalry grounds in Kathmandu marks the defeat of a Hindu demon. The
president of Nepal, diplomats, top officials, and civilians all gathered to watch 106 horses and more than 200
soldiers display warfare techniques which are believed to keep the demon away. Preparations for the event
started three months prior, when a dedicated team of soldiers spent days bonding with the animals, by feeding
and grooming them. (AP Photos/Niranjan Shrestha)
Horses race in Nepal capital
to keep devils away
By Niranjan Shrestha
The Associated Press
ATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal’s
president, top officials, and
diplomats gathered recently at
army grounds in central Kathmandu for
an annual horse festival marking the
slaying of the Hindu Gurumapa demon.
Soldiers raced the horses and showed off
warfare techniques believed to keep devil
spirits away through the pounding of the
horses’ hooves.
A dedicated team of soldiers spent three
months preparing the animals for the
Ghode Jatra festival.
According to a centuries-old tradition,
people raced horses before worshipping
gods with offerings of food and flowers
under a tree. It has been 169 years since a
Nepalese king designated the army to
perform the festival rituals.
At the Nepal Cavalry grounds on the
former site of the royal palace in Nepal’s
K
capital, riders spent months bonding with
the horses.
There are 106 horses at the cavalry and
more than 200 soldiers took care of them.
Every day, the soldiers bathed, groomed,
and fed the horses, which raced and were
tested to check their skills and ability.
Capt. Ram Shrestha of the Nepal
Cavalry likened horses to children: “If you
love them, they will love you back, but if
you abuse them, they will hit back like a
bad child.”
On the day of the festival, the uniformed
riders raced the horses on tracks, and
showed off skills like picking up objects
with spears while riding at high speeds.
Meanwhile, the most powerful members of
Nepal’s government and foreign diplomats
cheered for them.
Away from the cavalry grounds, the
Newar community — an indigenous group
from Kathmandu — worshipped the gods
and feasted with friends, families, and
community.
Japan’s emperor and empress celebrate 60 years of marriage
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Emperor
Akihito and Empress Michiko celebrated
their 60th wedding anniversary just a few
weeks before he abdicates his throne.
The couple met at a 1957 tennis
tournament remembered as a “love
match.” Akihito and Michiko Shoda
married in 1959, making him Japan’s first
future emperor to wed a commoner and
someone who was Catholic educated. Both
are among many changes he brought to
Japan’s 1,500-year-old monarchy.
The couple also broke with tradition in
choosing to raise their own children and in
speaking more often to the public.
The celebration was their last in
Akihito’s 30-year reign. The 85-year-old
emperor is abdicating on April 30 and
handing the Chrysanthemum throne to
his elder son, Crown Prince Naruhito, the
next day.
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