Shikali Jatra
शिखाली जात्रा
Khokana's alternative to Dashain, a multi-day village festival dedicated to the goddess Shikali or Rudrayani with masked dances, processions, and tantric ritual.
Location
Khokana, Lalitpur
Duration
9 days
Month (Local)
Ashwin
Month (AD)
October
Next celebration
Sep 30 – Oct 1, 2026
In 147 days
Highlights
Ancient Dashain-time ritual honoring fierce goddess Shikali Devi. Guthi-organized processions through one of Nepal's best-preserved Newar villages. Architectural setting of medieval courtyard houses and carved facades.
Tips for Visitors
Khokana is about 8 km south of Patan (20–30 min). The village itself is worth visiting any time for its intact medieval streetscape and traditional mustard oil presses. During Shikali Jatra, be respectful and follow community guidance on where observers may stand. Confirm exact dates from local sources as the festival follows a lunar tithi.
Shikali Jatra is the defining festival of Khokana, a traditional Newar village in Lalitpur known for its mustard oil heritage and preserved medieval streetscape. Unlike most of Nepal, Khokana does not celebrate Dashain in the usual way; instead, the village marks the season with Shikali Jatra, dedicated to the goddess Shikali, also identified locally with Rudrayani.
Recent reporting describes the festival as Khokana's indigenous nine-day alternative to Dashain, observed from Ghatasthapana to Mahanawami. Older cultural and travel sources sometimes describe a shorter five- or seven-day core festival. Across those accounts, the best-attested features are masked dances representing Hindu deities, processions led by Newar priests, and the carrying of the Rudrayani idol in a wooden chariot through the village.
The rites are rooted in Khokana's guthi system and remain primarily community-centered rather than staged for visitors. That makes the jatra particularly distinctive: it is less a public spectacle than a living expression of Khokana's separate ritual identity within the Kathmandu Valley.
Because the festival unfolds in one of the valley's best-preserved Newar settlements, visitors see not only the rituals themselves but also the tight relationship between sacred practice, village space, and local memory.