Macca-ti Jatra: Trisul Jatra

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Macca-ti Jatra in other words Trisul Jatra is one such a unique festival celebrated not in honor of deities as most of the festivals do in Nepal but is celebrated in honor of the victory of humans over a demon that has inflicted sufferings on the inhabitants kidnapping their children and then devouring them in Gole (Deopatan). With the help of a Tantric priest, citizens of Deopatan have succeeded in getting rid of the demon and captured his children; the demon has managed to escape from the capture, and has gone on hiding in Jamaco: a top of the Nagargun forest on the northwestern side of Kathmandu. Kathmanduites have given the demon a shelter defying the demand of the citizens of Deopatan for extraditing the demon. So, the people of Deopatan denounce the Kathmanduites for not extraditing the demon while celebrating this festival every year. In celebration of the festival, the local people carry the children representing the demon children in a pose of being killed on three different portable chariots carried on shoulder poles, and the symbolic corpse made of holy flower representing the Tantric priest carried in public and follow the chariots, and then go for cremation at the nearby crematory. The Tantric priest has chased away the demon. This year the festival is held on June 2, 2009.

‘Macca’ means a child and ‘ti’ means pierce in the Nevah language. Macca-ti Jatra literally means the festival of piercing the demon children in retaliation for the demon devouring the human children. In celebration of this festival, the local people take out children representing the demon children in the position of trident piercing them. Trident in the Nepali language is ‘Trisul’. So, this festival is also known as ‘Trisul Jatra.’

Macca-ti Jatra has three main components such as local people (1) taking five children representing demon children in the position of tridents piercing them on three different portable chariots around Deopatan, (2) expressing their anger at the Kathmanduites for giving the demon a shelter, and (3) taking out a symbolic funeral procession for the Tantric priest following the chariots.

On the full moon day in the month of Baishak (April-May), making offerings to Living Goddess Kumari, the local people select five children: two boys and three girls to play the role of the demon children during the festival of Macca-ti Jatra. Priests perform Tantric rites to invoke demon spirits in the children. Then, they identify five children possessing demon spirits showing them various ornaments belonging to the demon children. Children not scared by the ornaments are considered to be demon spirit possessed.

After about a month from the date of selection of children for playing the role of demon children, on the eighth day of the dark fortnight in the month of Asad (June-July), the local people celebrate the festival of Macca-ti Jatra.

In the afternoon of the festival day, local people carry a portable chariot with a boy representing a demon boy from the temple to Goddess Batleswore nearby Aryaghat. A trident hangs over the belly of the boy symbolizing someone is hitting the boy with a trident.

Some other local people carry another portable chariot with a girl representing a demon girl from Bairdhar keeping the same position as of the boy representing a demon boy as if someone is stabbing at her with a trident.

Another group of local people make ready a third portable chariot with a boy representing a demon boy and flanked by two girls representing demon girls at Jaya-bageswore. The boy and girls remain in the same position as of the boy in the first chariot as if someone is stabbing at them with a trident.

Then, local people carrying two portable chariots: one from Batleswore and another from Bairadhar join the third chariot made ready at Jaya-bageswore.

At the same time, at the temple to Goddess Bhuvaneswore, local people have prepared a symbolic corpse of the Tantric priest called Bandhu Datta Achaju out of a fragrant flower called ‘mu-swan’ in the Nevah language to honor the Tantric priest for his contribution to driving away the demon from Deopatan. To the body made out of fragrant flower, a saligram (ammonite) representing Lord Vishnu is added as a head to a symbolic corpse of the Tantric priest.

Then, a funeral procession is mimicked. A corpse stretcher is made out of fresh bamboos. Then, the corpse made out of fragrant flower and ammonite called saligram is place on the corpse stretcher. Then, the corpse is covered with a satin cloth as it is done to a real human corpse. Four people carry the corpse and follow the three portable shrines.

Local people carry all three portable chariots from Jaya-bageswore to Siphal. Various traditional bands lead the three chariots to Siphal. Male youngsters and even adults follow the chariots shouting offensive words against Kathmanduites expressing their anger at them for sheltering the demon that has troubled them so much.

All the traditional musical bands continue to play the music while all three portable chariots holding the boys and girls representing demon children stand at Siphal for a while. Youngsters continue to shout offensive words. This act is primarily for showing the demon that his children have been mutilated in revenge for the demon has killed so many human children, and for expressing anger at the Kathmanduites.

After some time, the traditional musical bands turn back and the local people carry back all three portable chariots with the boys and girls representing the demon children. The funeral procession also follows the portable chariots.

After the completion of outing of the boys and girls representing demon children and the funeral procession following them, the children are lifted out of the portable chariots, and feed them a nice feast and then put them to sleep. Nobody wakes them up until they themselves wake up. When they wake up demon spirits have already left them. They become normal human children again.

At the temple to Goddess Bhuvaneswore, a priest performs a farewell ceremony to the symbolic corpse made out of fragrant flower and an ammonite dedicated to Tantric priest Bandhu Datta Achaju. Then, the priest removes the ammonite from the flower corpse and stores it for the next year. Then, the body made out of fragrant flower is taken to cremate at Aryaghat. Thus ends the festival of Macca-ti or Trisul Jatra.

Note: The fragrant flower called ‘mu-swan’ used for making a corpse of Tantric priest is an important flower for the Nevah people. This flower is one of the items of mandatory offerings made to the tutelary god called Kuldevta. The Nevah people perform worship to Kuldevta once a year starting on Achhetritiya (May) and ending on Sithi Nakha (June). From the day, this flower is used for making a corpse; the Nevah people do not use it for making offerings to any deity until the next year when fresh ‘mu-swan’ is raised again.

June 14, 2009.