Jugari Na:Mi [3]

The ninth day of the bright fortnight Kachalathwa is in October/ November. This is an event in commemoration of Visnu-Narayana's^[*] victory—in the form of his avatar Vamana—over an Asura king. It is a time for a pilgrimage to shrines of Visnu^[*] , ideally to the four major shrines of Visnu^[*] in the Kathmandu Valley, although this is now limited to a visit to one of them and often, even more conveniently, to one of the two major Visnu^[*] temples within Bhaktapur. The visits may be made by a group of family members or by one person representing the family. This special day is in the context of two fortnights (Kachalaga and Kachalathwa) specially dedicated to Visnu^[*] . During this period, people who wish to may worship him daily at one of the Visnu^[*] temples.

People who go to the valley shrines of Visnu^[*] do this along with non-Newar Nepalese, joining them in a mela . In keeping with the theme of Vamana's outwitting of the Asura, people may pray at the shrine for protection against demons, evil spirits, earthquakes, destructive rains, and the like—the nonmoral dangers that are, in the system most properly centered on and localized to Bhaktapur, the concern of the dangerous deities. From the perspective of Bhaktapur's civic religion this is an event of moderate importance.