The revered living goddess is not leaving her temple this year.
The old palace courtyard packed with hundreds of thousands of people each year during the Indrajatra festival is deserted, the temples are locked and all public celebrations are banned by the government to curb the coronavirus.
Autumn is the festival season in predominantly Hindu Nepal, where religion, celebrations and rituals are big parts of lives, but people this year will have to scale down their rituals within their homes.
Many in this Himalayan nation believe they would anger the gods by shunning the rituals — which would cause catastrophe. Even violent clashes broke out between police and devotees defying government orders during a separate chariot festival south of Kathmandu.
A lockdown was ordered around the eight days when the canceled Indrajatra festival would have been held, and instead, a…