In Nepal, the traditional dance musical play Kartik Naach is presented during the month of Kartik (October/November). Siddhi Narsingh Malla, the Nepali Malla King, founded it in 1641 A.D. Every year, the play is presented in Patan Durbar Square's Kartik Dabali.
Typically, 17 stories about the Hindu god Vishnu are told alongside the traditional dance.
Malla's love for the arts gave birth to the dance, which honors the god Kartikeya. The dance enacts stories from the Swasthani and the Shreemad Bhagavad Geeta, two important Hindu texts, in an episodic format that is told day after day. The dance is a moral fable, a traditional tale of virtue defeating evil.
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