CHAPTER VIII
FESTIVALS
The Popularity of the Festivals—The Machendranath Festival—The Procession—The Dassera Festival—The Review—The Dassera Procession blessing the Colours at the Kot—Minor Celebrations, "Kaka boli" and "Swana boli"—The Pilgrimage—The Sacred Lake of Gosainthan.
Kirkpatrick, one of the earliest European historians of Nepal, has remarked in his description of the Valley that "there are nearly as many temples as houses, and as many idols as inhabitants, there not being a fountain, a river, or a hill within its limits that is not consecrated to one or other of the Hindu or Buddhist deities." And just as almost every situation is sanctified by its altar or shrine, so almost every day in the year is marked by its religious ceremony or festival. Many of these are mere local observances, associated with
