Saya Or Gai-jatra: Festival of Make-believe Cows

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Nepalis have a rich cultural heritage. The abundant harvest and the bumper food stock allowed Nevahs: the aboriginals of the Kathmandu Valley to devote much time to socio-cultural development in course of the historical development of the country, and create a rich cultural endowment in Nepal. One such a cultural endowment is ‘Saya’ also known as ‘gai-jatra’, which literally means the festival of cows. It is a religious-cum-entertainment street carnival celebrated in the Kathmandu Valley and in other major towns in Nepal. The ‘Saya’ festival starts up with the spire called ‘Taha-maca:’ an effigy of a cow dedicated to Goddess Taleju taking out around the town before the cock-crow and ends the festival after another spire: an effigy of a cow dedicated to Lord Bhairava taking out around the town in the evening of the first day of the dark fortnight of Bhadra (Aug-Sept). However, this festival continues with other entertainment for another seven days and ends on the eighth day of the dark fortnight of Bhadra.

Gai-jatra is one of the originally unique traditions that have evolved into the current day celebration as people went on adding one item after another to this festival. It combines religion, entertainment and satire together. In the end, it has become a messy festival. From this has come a saying ‘gai-jatra jula (bha-yo)’ means something is messed up.

The tradition of ‘gai-jatra’ has probably started about 2,000 years ago entirely from the point of view of liberating souls of the departed persons from rebirths, as Hindus believe in rebirths in different forms of life on earth. Nepalis believe that human souls after death travel from one living body to another making journey through 84 lakhs means 8.4 million living beings enduring various kinds of sufferings in each life of animal, bird and marine life before taking the birth of humans again on earth if they miss to enter the world of dead called ‘yama-loka’ on the day of ‘gai-jatra’, as the gate to the ‘yama-loka’ opens only on this day.

Nepalis believe that cows help the souls of dead people to cross the cosmic river called ‘vaitarni’ that tests the vices and virtues of dead persons and then to lead to the entrance to the ‘yama loka’ on the day of ‘gai-jatra’ and then help them in entering the ‘yama loka’ thus free them from numerous rebirths. So, this festival is dedicated to cows. Hindus also believe that souls of people dying on this day go straight to the ‘yama loka’.

The ruler of ‘yama loka’ called ‘Yama Raj’: the lord of the dead and a record keeper of all the living beings and the dead ones decides on this day depending upon their vices and virtues, who would enter the ‘yama loka’ or return to earth and follow the life-cycles of 84 lakhs means 8.4 million living beings on earth. So, family members and relatives in this world do everything possible for the souls of their loved ones to enter the ‘yama loka’ on the day of ‘gai-jatra’.

Nepalis celebrate the ‘gai-jatra’ festival as a street carnival after the completion of the rice-seedling transplantation season in the Kathmandu Valley. So, it is merry-making much to the amusement of the farmers. Young people dressed up as women, impersonate young ladies and dance with men on the streets. They are free to express any amorous acts on this day. Traditionally, amateur comedians used to dress up so as to attract attention of people and then go around a town telling jokes for making people laugh.

Currently, the local press publishes special ‘gai-jatra’ issues of newspapers and journals. The Nepal Academy awards the best publications. It also holds a ‘gai-jatra’ show of comedians and satirists, and decorates the best performers with medals on this occasion.

Celebration of the ‘gai-jatra’ festival differs from town to town. However, the main theme of religion, entertainment and satire remains the same. On this day, real cows and make-believe cows in the names of dead people are paraded on the streets of major towns in Nepal.

People in the Bhaktapur town parade different types of effigies of cows in the names of dead persons. Their sizes and garments tell to which sex and adults or children they are dedicated. For example, people use an upturned bamboo basket called ‘doko’ for making an effigy of a cow for a dead child. They make horns out of dry rice straw, buy two paper fans for ears and a paper portrait of cow and attach them together to the body of a ‘doko’ and make an effigy of a cow. Then, they dress it up in a male or female garments depending upon the sex of a dead child. Once, it is done then the family members make offerings to it at the main entrance to their house. Then, a man wears it and goes around the town following the ancient town route.

For adults, they put together four fresh bamboos each about 20 ft long to make a spire: an effigy of a cow. They wrap it in simple white linens and then clothe it with a male or female dress following the sex of a dead person to whom it is dedicated. They set two straw horns, a paper portrait of cow, and paper fans on a spire to complete the making of an effigy of a cow.

They fasten two shoulder poles to the bamboo spire about three feet above its bottom for four men to carry it on their shoulders. They also bind long white linen to the neck of it so that two men: one at the front and another at the rear holds the end of the linen to balance the spire while four men carrying it on the streets. Recently, people have started hanging a photo of the deceased person on such a spire.

They make such a spire on the street at the entrance to the house of the deceased person. When it is still in a horizontal position, family members make offerings to it. Then, they pulled it to a vertical position. Four men carry it while one man hold the front end of the linen attached to its head and another man at the rear holds other end of the linen to balance the spire. Mourning sons in complete white dress with smoldering incenses in their hands and other family members follow it. Some people arrange a ‘ghintan ghising’ dance troupe to lead it.

‘Ghintan ghising’ is a stick dance. Several couples: men dressed in women’s clothes or pairs of men only each holding something in their hands usually stick, each striking the stick of the counterpart dance rhythmically to the tune of a drum and cymbals. Youngsters greatly enjoy such a dance. With such a dance troupe, the spire goes around the Bhaktapur town, moving in a clockwise direction following a circular route set by ancient rulers for this purpose.

After the completion of taking the spire around the town, the four carriers of the spire bring it back to the main entrance to the house of the deceased person, and put it again in a horizontal position, and strip it of the clothes and decoration. Paper horns, paper portrait and paper ears are thrown in the nearby river. Clothes and bamboos are saved for other purposes.

Instead of taking such spires and ‘doko’ cows, some people parade live cows covering the body of a cow with a piece of yellow linen printed with the names of Rama or Krishna. Other people decorate children and parade them on the streets representing cows while some rich people make a small cow out of a black clay, place it on a portable shrine, and have it carried by four men on shoulder poles around the town. They also hire a band of musicians to lead such a clay cow around the town. Such symbolic cows and real cows are on the street from the early morning through the evening of the day of ‘Saya’ festival until the spire dedicated to Lord Bhairava is taken around the town.

A spire dedicated to Lord Bhairava is similar to other spires dedicated to humans but it is made out of only dry rice straw. Members of association called ‘guthi’ set up to run this annual spire dedicated to Lord Bhairava make a spire, and perform rites to it similar to other spires, and take it out around the town following the same route as others do. Following the tradition, a number of other spires dedicated to the deceased people in some areas of the ‘kone’ means southern part of the town wait for the spire to Bhairava to follow it around the town. In the large squares such as ‘Taumadhi’ and ‘Dattatraya’, it makes a number of circles making it a spectacular scene for visitors to watch. A large number of volunteer ‘ghintan ghising’ dancers lead this Bhairava spire on the day of ‘gai-jatra’. Lord Bhairava presides over the dead.

The ‘gai-jatra’ festival starts only after the attendants at the temple to Goddess Taleju complete the taking out of the spire dedicated to Goddess Taleju around the Bhaktapur town before dawn. The tradition has it that the spire dedicated to Goddess Taleju: the Supreme Hindus Goddess should precede any other spire dedicated to humans. So, the attendants to the goddess take the spire dedicated to Her around the town before dawn as even crows will not have chance to fly over it, as Nepalis believe that flying of crows over any auspicious things will make it inauspicious. So, many people do not notice the spire in the name of Goddess Taleju going around the town so early in the morning.

On this day, people standing on the streets serve ‘malpua’: bread cooked in boiling oil until it gets dark brown, ‘svari’: fried thin circular white bread and fruits in leaf-plates to the masquerading people carrying effigies of cows in the names of their loved ones deceased in the year.

In Kathmandu, people decorate youngsters ranging in the age of from five to fifteen years with portraits of cows fastened to their foreheads, painted moustaches on their upper lips and dressed them up in saffron silk clothes and parade them on the streets of the town. They go around the town following the ancient route through the old palace square.  Some people parade live cows covered with yellow linen printed with the names of demigods such as Rama and Krishna. Mourning sons in white clothes with smoldering incense in their hands follow them. Teenagers dressed up in a silly manner also parade on the streets masquerading as ‘gai-jatra’ maniacs. They go around the town and pass through the ancient royal palace square. Such activities last until the afternoon.

In Patan unlike in Bhaktapur and Kathmandu, all such make-believe cows and live cows assemble at the ancient palace square near the famous Krishna temple. At about 10 A.M., all people should be there. From there after religious rites, they move on along a route set for this purpose in a clockwise direction. Some people drag a small copper drum on the way. As in Bhaktapur and Kathmandu, people on the way serve food on leaf-plates to all people masquerading as cows. They finish the procession after going around the town and reaching the palace square where they have gathered to begin the procession. The procession normally starts off at 10: A.M. in the morning and completes it before 4:00 P.M afternoon.

This festival continues for another seven days. During these days, local people entertain themselves and others with varieties of programs. They have comedians and satirists going around the town and telling jokes to make people laugh in the evening. Mask dancers put up their shows at different places at the late evening or night. Dramatists hold drama shows at night during those seven days.

The Malla kings in their crusade to develop culture, have added entertainment and satire to ‘gai-jatra’, and have made it mandatory to pass through the palace square to enable the royal family members to watch them. So, some people think that the tradition of ‘gai-jatra’ was set for amusement of the then royal families in the past.

A popular story about the ‘gai-jatra’ is about four hundred years ago, King Pratap Malla of the Kathmandu city-state has designed and introduced ‘gai-jatra’ to cheer up his queen that has lost her son. The queen has been crying all day and night at the loss of her beloved son. The king has difficulty in cheering up his queen that has almost lost the mental stability. After thinking for a long time, he has come to the conclusion that he will be able to console his queen only showing how many parents have lost their children, how many people have lost their parents and so on in a year but the people have not lost their faith in living a cheerful life.

When the queen saw that so many people in the kingdom had lost one or more loved ones then she came to her sense that not only she has lost her loved one but also so many people have lost their loved ones. Thus, she got consoled; and the tradition of this festival was set. Later on, this festival was developed into the current day festival of cows.

So, the king has decreed that all the households that have lost their loved ones in a year need to take a cow in an effigy around the town passing through the royal square, at the same time they need to make it as funny as possible. The king has also announced that the people can make a fun of anybody including the members of the royal family, and they can stage events, performances or activities designed to entertain others and make them laugh for a week starting from the day of this festival. All comedians, entertainers, and performers need to pass through the royal square.

Individuals, groups or communities display various dances, comedies, dramas and other entertaining events at the open public stages and squares twenty-four hours a day throughout the week. Comedians go around the town making fun of the society, politicians or rulers or of celebrities based on the real or make-believe stories. Dancers display their dances to the tune of music on the platform made at various neighborhoods, and performers play in dramas that start late night and continue until morning.

The timing of this festival is made so that most of the people have sufficient time to put the shows; and the audience has time to watch the public performances. Most of the people have been farmers. Once they have completed the rice transplantation they have three-week time to spare for anything until the next working in the rice fields. About two weeks, they spend on in preparation for putting up their shows and then actually on displaying the shows for a week.

Some people think that the tradition of ‘gai-jatra’ was set to take the census of dead people, but some Buddhist Nevahs do not participate in it. Hence, such census would be incomplete one.

‘Gai-jatra’ was specially held for the pleasure of all people when modern means of recreation were not available. This festival is also for strengthening the community bond and for increasing the sense of belonging to the society.

August 14, 2011.

Note: ‘Saya’ in this year is on August 14, 2011