Lalitpur. The Kartik Naach (Kartik Dance) this year has concluded with the performance of a two-day Nrisingha dance. The dance is performed on the 13th day of the waxing moon in the month of Kartik in the lunar calendar. The dance had been performed for 12 days last year, but with rising health concerns due to the pandemic, it was performed for two days, Friday and Saturday, this year.

Kartik Naach is originally a 27-day-long traditional dance and drama festival that takes place in the lunar calendar month of Kartik, which falls in October-November. This festival is performed on a public platform in front of the seventeenth-century Patan Palace, a World Heritage Site.

According to the Vishnu Purana, Lord Vishnu took the avatar of Nrisingha, a creature that was half lion and half human, and killed the demon Hiranyakashipu. To bring down his anger after the incident, the apsaras (celestial beauties) performed the Nrisingha dance, Bijay Tandukar, secretary of the dance committee, informed.

Similarly, the Varaha Dance was performed a day prior to the Nrisingha Dance. People took the help of electronic media to watch the live dance performances. The dance festival has been protecting the cultural identity and has woven the community in a single thread. it also provides religious, moral and social knowledge.

In 1697 BS, King Siddhi Narshingh Malla had started the dance for the welfare of his country and the people. This dance is considered to be the longest dance of the world.