Ugratara Jatra: Aspiring Cultural Identity via Sacrificial Performativity

Abstract

This study examines Ugratara Jatra, a festival celebrated in Dadeldhura District, Nepal, to explore how its sacrificial rituals and performative practices contribute to the construction and expression of the cultural identity of the local community. The animal sacrifice at Ugratara temple during Mahaasthami, the eighth day of the Bada Dashain festival, is a dominant ritual tradition that strengthens regional cultural identity and promotes collective participation, social unity, and continuity of local cultural legacy, where devotees collectively sacrifice he-buffaloes. This ritual is believed to honor Goddess Kaali and mediate relationship between the community and the divine. The multifaceted performativity of this ritual explores how it functions as a mechanism for executing vows and interpreting natural or accidental occurrences via a deeply rooted belief system. To analyze the ritual performances of Ugratara Jatra, this study draws on Victor Turner’s concept of social drama to examine how ritual processes negotiate social tensions, reinforce collective values, and restore communal order. It also employs Richard Schechner’s concept of restored behavior to interpret sacrificial rituals as culturally transmitted, repeatedly enacted performances through which participants reproduce, reinterpret, and legitimize shared meanings. Together, these theoretical perspectives enable an examination of sacrificial performativity as a dynamic cultural process through which the community negotiates identity, continuity, and social unity amid changing social conditions. Drawing on qualitative data from observations and interviews with practitioners, the findings reveal that the sacrifice is a complex socio-cultural performance that shapes distinct cultural identities, maintains communal harmony, and reveals social reality.