Bhaktapur's Navadurga dance: eight months with masks, four months without

According to the Navadurga Devagana Jatra and Temple Management Committee, Bhaktapur's famous Navadurga dance is performed with masks for eight months of the year and without masks for nearly four months.

The performers who dance and the musicians who play the instruments are called Devagana. As per tradition, each year a new generation of Devagana is trained in the dance and music. The dance formally begins only after they complete their training by Vijaya Dashami.

In the performance, artists appear as goddesses such as Brahmayani, Maheshwari, Kumari, Bhadrakali, Varahi, Mahakali and Indrayani. The roles of deities including Ganesh, Mahadev and Shwet Bhairav are also part of the same dance. All the characters move their steps to the rhythm and tune of various instruments.

The dance is staged throughout the year on designated dates at 21 locations in Bhaktapur. Outside Bhaktapur, the Devagana also travel to various Shakti Peeths around the Kathmandu Valley to perform the dance. It is also presented in local settlements around the valley.