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Ghode Jatra, also known as the Horse Racing Day which falls on the Nepali month of Chaitra, is being celebrated in the Kathmandu Valley with much gusto on Monday.

The Ghode Jatra is known as the oldest festival celebrated in the country's cultural hub of the Valley.

The festival is being celebrated annually as per a mythology which relates the genesis of the festival after the death of a demon named Tundi.

Legend has it that the demon who lived on a meadow, which is now at Tundikhel, used to instigate terror among the Kathmandu denizens. After his death people rejoiced by dancing on his body by riding horses.

There is a belief that the parade of horses at Tundikhel keeps the demon's spirit away. The faster the horses run, the better Tundi's spirit is dispelled. As per another legend, the Ghode Jatra is held to mark the start of the New Year.

The festival is celebrated on the day of Krishna Aunsi, as per the lunar calendar, which is a day before the Chaitra Shukla Pratipada and this day is taken as the start of the New Year.

The horse parade, known religiously as Aswa Yatra, is organized to welcome the New Year.

The day before Ghode Jatra is also known as Pichas Chaturdarshi, as per lunar calendar.

On the day, the Nepali Army cavalry team performs different artistic stunts riding on their horses.

A Nepali national drowned while another has gone missing in the sea in Portugal. The incident took place at Montijo, close to Lisbon, in the night on April 6.

The deceased has been identified as 30-year-old Dhana Bahadur Tamang of Katunje, Netrawati Dabajong Rural Municipality-5, Dhading district of Nepal. The missing one is Tek Bahadur Tamang (38) of the same place.

The incident happened when the Tamang duo were searching for sea food in the sea at Montijo, said Gopal Yonjan, Chairman of Tamang Society Portugal. According to Yonjan, a rescue team recovered Dhana Bahadur's body on Sunday while Tek Bahadur is still reported missing.

The Nepal Army is to collect waste from Mt Everest, Mt Lhotse and Mt Nuptse under the Clean Himalaya Campaign-2024 this year.

The Army plans to collect 10 tons of waste and as many as five dead bodies from the mountains, the Army informed the media through a press conference on Sunday.

It said trained army personnel will collect trash from the Base Camp up to the Fourth Camp on Mt Everest.

Director of the Clean Himalaya Campaign, Brigadier General Sanjaya Deuja said that 12 trained army personnel will be mobilized for this campaign. Of them, 10 will mobilize above the Base Camp while two will coordinate remaining in Namche.

Similarly, 18 Sherpas will be mobilized for facilitating in the waste collection, it is stated. The leader of the Campaign, Major Aditya Karki said the waste would be collected up to a height of 8,000 meters on Mt Everest.

The waste collection drive would commence from April 11 and will run for 50 days. The campaign will conclude on June 5, 2024 on the day of the World Environment Day.

The arrival of domestic and foreign tourists has increased in Parsa National Park, officials said.

Information Officer of the National Park, Santosh Bhagat said the number of Indian along with the domestic tourists has increased compared to the past.

In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, the Parsa National Park witnessed the arrival of 613 tourists. During the same period in the last fiscal year, only 140 visitors had reached the Parsa National Park.

In order to ensure good hospitality services to the tourists there, a community homestay is run in the Sunakhari buffer zone area of the national park. The homestay has offered local cuisines and delicacies to the tourists arriving at Parsa National Park.

Besides the presence of endangered wildlife, the national park boasts of religious and natural heritages including Kaminidaha (lake), Halkhoriyadaha and Laukidaha. Religious sites Mayamandir and Dugdheshwor Mahadev Mandir are also there in the national park.

Availability of water sources in the national park, the number of Royal Bengal tiger and other animals has increased. As per the tiger census conducted in 2022, the number of tigers in the Parsa National Park has reached 41. 

Considering the potential for touristic prospects and infrastructure development, the Parsa Wildlife Reserve was declared a national park in 2074 BS.