Manila, May 9 -- The Rato Matsyendranath Chariot Festival started in Patan this week, one of the longest such carnivals in the world.

Matsyendranath is a festival that spans South Asia and is revered as a rain-giver god by both Hindus and Buddhists. It has close historical links to the Indian state of Assam.

Legend has it that 1,500 years ago, a 12-year drought threatened famine in Kathmandu Valley because the sage Gorakhnath was sitting on a bed of serpents preventing rain from falling. In despair, the Lichhavi King Narendra Dev travelled to Guwahati to bring Guru Matsyendranath to the town of Bungamati.

Gorakhnath was a disciple of Matsyendranath, and upon seeing his guru, promptly stood up, thus setting the serpents free. The heaven...