The Red God
Cultural Studies Group of Nepal
Presents its monthly lecture
on TUESDAY 24 May 2011 at 6.00 PM
at the Shanker Hotel in Lazimpat
On the road with the red god:
MACCHENDRANATH
by
Kesang Tseten
The Rato Machchendranath Jatra is the longest and most important annual festival of Patan. It begins with several days of ceremonies and the fabrication of a wooden-wheeled chariot at Pulchowk, near the Ashoka Stupa, culminating in a procession around Patan. Every 12 years, impassioned devotees pull the 65-foot tall unwieldy chariot, its rider an enigmatic god worshipped by Hindu and Buddhist, on a month-long journey from Bungamati to Patan. This film, which depicts these rituals, won the Grand Prize at the 2006 Kendal Mountain Film Festival, a Mention at the Bilan du Ethnographique, and was voted Best Documentary of the Decade by the Nepal Motion Pictures Association (’05).
Kesang Tseten is a Nepali documentary filmmaker who has made seven films over the last 13 years. Hami kunako manchhe [we corner people] and Frames of War won awards for the Best Nepali Documentary at the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival. His latest film, Saving Dolma premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA) and won the Audience Award at the 2010 Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival.
