Nepali New Year celebrated

Kathmandu: Bisket Jatra in Nepal was marked this week, with crowds pictured covered in red powder and as they celebrate on the streets.

The annual festival took place over nine days in the Bhaktapur District of central Nepal. The event kicked ended on April 18.

The festival, which is held in mid-April, welcomes the Nepali New Year and marks the arrival of the spring season.

Thousands of people from different parts of the country gather in the city of Bhaktapur to take part in the colourful celebrations.

The chariot of the deity Bhairavnath was pulled to Thimi on the fifth day of Biska Jatra.

Local youths towed the cart early in the morning, lighting traditional lamps and playing musical instruments.

During the festival, the residents of the Thane (upper) and Kwane (lower) quarters of the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, a palace complex, tug the three-storey pagoda-style chariot, which carries statues of Bhairavnath and Betaal. A tug of war decides which half of the city the chariot will go to first.

On the fourth day of the festival, a tall pole called lyo sin dyo is erected to mark the end of the year.