FRAGMENTED REMNANTS

Description

This work explores my experience of the Rato Machhindranath Jatra through the collective participation of the people who sustain it. These everyday yet meaningful actions became the lens through which I came to understand the Jatra. My experience of the festival was shaped by witnessing the experiences of others, where individual acts gradually accumulated into a shared experience.
The artwork is composed of small wooden fragments arranged to form the outline of the Rato Machhindranath chariot. Each fragment carries the traced outline of a hand, representing the presence and participation of different individuals. The fragmented wooden pieces reflect the many people whose contributions collectively give form, movement, and meaning to the festival. The work seeks to encapsulate the kaleidoscope of experiences that shape both the structure and the outcome of the Jatra. Through the recurring visual language of hands, it expresses how individual gestures become part of a larger collective identity. The completed form of the chariot is therefore not only a representation of the festival but also a reflection of the cumulative involvement of the community that I witnessed during my field research. In bringing these fragments together, the work suggests that the essence of the Jatra is created through shared participation, where many individual experiences converge to form one collective whole.