Jatra, portable shrines containing the images of various Ajimā mother goddesses are carried on the shoulders of their attendants and assembled at Tundikhel for an ancient ceremony. During the event which takes place late at night amid musical bands, flaming torches are exchanged between the entourages of the goddesses. The ceremony is repeated at Asan, Kathmandu the next day in the afternoon. Tundikhel is also the place where the people of Kathmandu celebrate Depujā, also known as Digu Pujā, the worship of the lineage deity. The shrines of the deities known as Digu Dyah are located around the field. The festival of the lineage deity is observed in open fields outside the historical city limits. The entire clan comes together for the annual picnic which consists of a religious ceremony and a grand feast. The Nepal Army holds a feu de joie at Tundikhel on two occasions. Soldiers fire a feu de joie using rifles and ancient cannons during the festivals of Phulpati which takes place during Dasain and Maha Shivaratri which occurs in February. In mythology According to one of the most popular folk tales told in the Kathmandu Valley, Tundikhel is the dwelling place of the giant Gurumāpā. A feast is still laid out for him here once a year in keeping with a deal made in ages past. The story goes that the man-eating Gurumapa was pacified and brought to Kathmandu from a nearby forest where he used to live. But after some time, he went back to his old ways and began terrorising the townspeople and taking away children. The people finally succeeded in persuading him with the promise of an annual feast to move out of the city and live at Tundikhel. So every year on the full moon night in March, a pile of boiled rice and buffalo meat is left on the open ground for him to feast on. History Among the earliest references to Tundikhel is contained in an account by Italian Jesuit Ippolito Desideri who visited Kathmandu in 1721 when Nepal was ruled by the Malla kings. He was travelling from Tibet to India, and has mentioned in his travelogue seeing a two-mile long plain near the pond (Rani Pokhari) situated outside the city gate. He has also written that there are many temples along the length of the field. Two of the temples remain. The temple of Lumari Ajimā, a