The search for Seto Ghoda (white horse) in Bhaktapur has finally ended, much to the respite of Guthi Sansthan, priests and devotees, as without this puja on the night of Bijaya Dashami would have been incomplete.

Seto Ghoda, considered the conveyance of goddess Taleju Bhawani, is a must when priests perform puja during the festival. The one the Guthi Sansthan had died last year in October after serving for 37 years. At that time, the ritual had already been observed.

Krishna Gopal Pyacha, a local from Chyamasingh, Bhaktapur, has announced that he will donate his six-month-old pony to the cultural authorities that look after the Taleju Bhawani temple and the religious activities related to the goddess.

A ceremony has been scheduled before Ghatasthapana (October 1) to perform rituals for handing over the horse.

Pyacha operates a brick kiln in Bhaktapur and a female horse he owns had given birth to a white pony six months ago.

“We are finally going to get a new white horse,” said the head priest of the Taleju Bhawani temple. “We had repeatedly asked the Guthi Sansthan to find one.”

The white horse festival is celebrated on the night of Bijaya Dashami, when the horse is decorated and taken around the Bhaktapur city. The ritual is said to have started in 1323. The festival is also known as Ghode Jatra of Bhaktapur.

“We had even requested the Nepal Army to provide a white horse. We had even allocated budget for buying a horse,” said Leknath Sapkota, chief of the Guthi Sansthan.