Lubhu, Lalitpur

Lubhu is a village development committee in Lalitpur District in the Bagmati Zone of central Nepal. Lubhu is a sub-urban Newar village situated seven kilometers east of Kathmandu in northern part of Lalitpur, Nepal.In 2015, Lubhu, along with 4 other VDCs formed Mahalaxmi Municipality.EtymologyThere are interesting folklores explaining how Lubhu, which in Newari means “Golden Plate” got its name. It is believed that there was a homosexual resident who worshipped Maha Laksmi and Gobhrateshwar Mahadev to resolve his confused sexual orientation. After three years of devoted worship, the Gods were finally happy and granted the worshipper the body of a “complete man”. Knowing no bounds for his happiness upon this, the devotee is said to have offered both the deities plates made of gold, and hence named the place “Lunbhu”, meaning the same.In ancient time, Lubhu was hit by disease. Ganga Maharani, the ruler of the city, sold her golden plate and resettles the city. So, the city was called Lubhu which means Golden Plate.God Bhairav laid under golden umbrella to save the people from disease. The place was then called ‘Subarna Chhatrapur’ but was called ‘Lubhu’, which means the same in Newari.CultureThe Lubhu people have their own unique Jatras and festivals, the most famous being the Maha Laksmi-Maha Bhairav Jatra observed in the month of Baishakh . This is the time of the year when the whole of the Newari community of Lubhu gets out of their daily monotonies to celebrate in a truly carefree fashion.The two chariots inside the temple of Maha Laksmi are loaded with the gold-plated masks of deities that are house in the same. While one of the chariots is used to carry a set of Maha Laksmi, Ganesh and Kumar statuettes, the other carries another set of Maha Bhairav, Ganesh and Kumari. The chariot is then hoisted by drunken revelers to make a complete tour of all the houses in the locality followed an elaborate Bhoj, which is an essential part of the merrymaking.