KATHMANDU, MAY 15

The chariot of Rato Machhindranath, which is pulled with much fanfare annually, was pulled symbolically in Lalitpur on Saturday as the valley grapples with soaring cases of COVID-19.

It has been reported that limited number of devotees pulled the chariot approximately 25 metres while adhering to COVID-19 precautionary measures at Pulchowk, Lalitpur.

Earlier, a meeting of the stakeholders had decided to minimise human gathering, in line with which the Jatra was marked symbolically.

Last year too, with the onset of the pandemic, stakeholders of the festival drew much flak, also resulting in clash between the devotees and police personnel as confusion remained on set protocols while the cases of infection were rising during the time.