September 9: Indra Jatra, the festival of rain and good harvest, is being observed today with much fanfare in the Kathmandu valley.    
The festival that falls on the eve of the full moon day in the month of Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September) is especially marked in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Dhulikhel, Dolakha and some other districts.    
The festival begins with the erection of lingo, a sacred wooden pole, in front of Hanumanthodka on the eleventh day of the waxing moon in mid-August to mid-September with religious processions.    
The eight-day festival is dedicated to Lord Indra – the god of rain. Various ceremonies and processions take place during the festival and it concludes with series of ceremonies, including Lakhe Naach.    
As part of the festival, the wooden pole brought from Bhaktapur is installed on the chariot at Hanumandhoka. The chariot procession, a major part of the festival, involves towing of a big chariot of Kumari and two smaller chariots of Ganesh and Bhairab along the thoroughfares of the city. -- RSS