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CHATHA

The fourth day of Bhadra is observed as Chatha by Newar communities when they worship the moon in the evening, and consume fried beans, sweets and fruits. The Newars do not look at the moon that evening, believing that the moon was cursed on this day by Ganesh, the elephant headed God with an effect that whosoever saw the moon that night could be falsely accused of theft. People would hide on this evening and pray for the safety of the moon itself. Though this is a very old practice, some Newars still believe in this practice. 
A fascinating aspect of Chatha Deo, meaning the God of theft is that the moon on this particular day is worshipped as the god of theft as it is associated with the theme of theft. According to an traditional belief, those who want to give themselves to theft as a profession should steal something on this day and give it as a gift to Chatha dyo, the God of theft. It is also said that those who fail in stealing on this day will not succeed in business for the year to come. As the age old custom would have it, small kids on this particular day from early in the morning go haunting around the fruit gardens of their neighbours to steal fruits like oranges, pears, peaches, plums and so on which they pin up like medallions to the dresses they wear. The main purpose behind this is interestingly to show that the fruit fairly pinned up to their dresses are by no means from theft but their own. The kids carry such fruits all day long till the thief’s “god” is worshipped in the late evening. It is in this worship that they make offering of all those fruits to the Chatha Dyo (Moon). The Newari word  chatha dyo also connotes one with a suspicious character and calling one Chatha Dyo can be agitating. Another word for Chatha Dyo is Chattuchor.

Religious texts say that the moon was born out of the human mind. As a matter of fact, there is a very close affinity between the moon and the human mind. Both are liable to rise and fall regularly in course of their life. So both are said to symbolize illusion which Gods always hate. Lord Shiva has the moon tucked in his matted hair symbolizes his divine wisdom to keep controlling the restless mind. Moonless nights are generally compared to the completely controlled minds which are free from illusions. This festival always falls on the fourth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadra is indicative of the human mind mingled with the moon which remains far away from the divine vision of the moon.

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