Madya: Jatra [14] End of Swasthani Vrata
This jatra comes on the final day, the full-moon day, of Sillathwa. This day is also the last day of the four weeks of the Swasthani Vrata. This full-moon day is called "Swasthani Punhi" or "Si Punhi." The day is said to be an important event—but many of the activities previously associated with it have been discontinued. A procession honoring Siva begins at the riverside at the Khware ghat[*] and proceeds to the nearby Ga:hiti Square, where it joins the main festival route, and then proceeds around it. The procession stops temporarily at the two main Narayana[*] temples, one in the upper half of the city and the other in the lower half, then continuing its circumambulation of the festival route returns to
Ga:hiti Square, and then to the river, where it disbands.[20] This jatra takes place during the day. Previously in the evening children and adults dressed as Siva and Parvati were carried around the city in palanquins, accompanied by torches and music. Still now on this day people often perform special puja s to Siva as "Madya:" (Mahadya:, the "Great God") in their homes and to his representations as linga[*] s at the riverside. These activities are an extension of the worship of Siva lingas[*] during the course of the Svasthani month. In the evening there are household suppers in which various sweets, including special forms of sweetcakes dedicated to Mahadya:, are eaten. Traditionally 108 of these tiny cakes were presented to wives, who would then eat one hundred of them, and present the remaining eight to her husband.[21]
The themes of the previous month are summed up with this act of wifely household devotion in the context of worship of the benign deities. What is added here is a jatra that emphasizes the integration of the city through its visits to the two Visnu[*] temples, and the circumambulation of the main festival route.
The procession is a relatively small one now. Most people do not join it but go about their ordinary activities during the day. (Moderate.)