Seven-Village Festivals

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

A tradition has it that simultaneously seven villages celebrate the festival of deity of each village following its own tradition. Those seven villages are in the southern part of the Katmandu’s core city. Each village has its own festival of a deity but all the villagers bring their respective deities to the temple to Mother Goddess Vishnudevi at Balkhu on one day. Every village starts off the festival cooking rice floor for brewing homemade liquor. Then, each village sent its seniors to Kirtipur for informing on holding the festival.

On the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of the Marga, each village senior most man called ‘thakali’ responsible for initiating the festival oversees the making of homebrewed liquor. His women family members cook rice floor and mix it with locally made yeast cakes and put it in a cooper pot and take it to the temple to the deity of the village for fermentation.

Then, after four days of setting up the first brewing copper pot at a temple, responsible women of the ‘Jyapu’ community of each village cook rice flour enough for two copper pots, put it in two copper pots and mix the cooked rice flour with yeast cakes and take those pots to the local temple for brewing.

Having done the business of brewing liquor at each temple, every village sends a man with a cock to Mother Goddess Vishnudevi at Balkhu for setting the day of starting off the festival. The sacrifice of such a cock is offered to the deity for setting the day of a festival. Once, the deity sets the day for the initiating the festival of the seven-village festival; then, they go to Kirtipur to inform about it.

Each village community has its own deity at the center of each village and at the periphery, too. The deities at the center of a village are made of bronze and are in the temple. Each village has eleven deities; nine of them are goddesses called Navadurga and two of them are the gods such as Bhairava and Ganesh. However, each temple has the main god or goddess residing in it. Such a temple is called by the name of the main deity residing in it. The guardian of the deities at the village center is of the ‘jyapu’ community. The deities at the periphery called ‘pitha’ are of only large pebbles. They do not make the idols of deities at ‘pitha’ for fearing of other people pleasing the deities and taking them away. However, anybody with the knowledge of the deity carved in at the center of the half-circled ‘torana’ placed above the main entrance to the temple is of the deity residing in it would not have any difficulty in recognizing the deity. The guardian of the deities at the periphery is of the community called ‘pode’.

On the seventh day of the bright fortnight of Marga, the senior most man responsible for caring the deity of each village brings the bronze deities out of the temple for cleansing them. Members of the village community cleanse the bronze deities. Each deity is placed on a wicker basket. The responsible senior member of the village community called ‘thakali’ takes all deities to the temple at the field site called ‘pitha’.

On the eighth day, each village makes the offering of a sacrifice of a buffalo to the local deity at the field. Then, they have the feast called ‘chuyala bhu’. In this feast, the senior most of the village community for holding the festival, then of the butcher community and the field attendant called ‘pode’ to the deity at the field sit together and have the ‘chuyala bhu’. People of the community called ‘duin’ carry the first homebrewed liquor pot to the field deity and serve the liquor to anybody willing to drink. The senior member of the village community called ‘thakali’ brings back the deities to the village temple.

On the ninth day, each village takes out its respective deity from the temple and places the deity at the village center for the public offerings and then ascends the deity to a chariot for taking the deity around the village. Various bands play music and lead the senior most man of the village community responsible for carrying the deity in a wicker basket and placing the deity at the village center for public offerings and then for ascending it to a chariot made ready for it. Devotees make offerings to the deity in a chariot, too. The village community celebrates it as the main festival, and invites relatives and friends for the festival feast. Devotees take the deity carrying the chariot on the shoulder poles around the village. People of the ‘duin’ community carry one of the second homebrewed pots to the festival area and serve it to anybody wishing to drink it.

On the tenth day, devotees take all deities except for the Indrayani of Kirtipur in their respective chariot to the Mother Goddess Vishnudevi at Balkhu. First, the Satungal villagers take their deity called Goddess Vishnudevi to the Balkhu Mother Goddess Vishnudevi. Satungal Vishnudevi is the youngest among the sisters and the brother, and has outsmarted all of them reaching the Mother Goddess first of all. Then, God Bhairava of Boshigau village and Lunkot village arrive at Balkhu. Then, come the deity Balkumari of Naikap village, and the deity Vishnudevi of Panga. All the five chariots sit at the Balkhu facing the Mother Goddess. Then, the senior most daughter deity Vishnudevi of Macchegau arrives at Balkhu and sits just before the Youngest Daughter Goddess Vishnudevi of Satungal keeping her back to the of Satungal Vishnudevi. She did so in anger, as the youngest sister has tricked her to coming last to the Mother Goddess.

After all of the deities have taken their respective seats, then the senior most of each village makes offerings to the Mother Goddess Vishnudevi at Balkhu on behalf of the respective deity. After completing the offerings to the Mother Goddess, all the senior most villagers sit together to have a common feast. When the feast completes, it is already afternoon and the time for deities to leave the Mother Goddess for her or his abode. Anybody willing to drink homebrewed liquor can do so from the brew carrier ‘duin’.

In order to identify themselves to which village they belong to, members of each village community carrying the deity on the respective chariot and the devotees following such a chariot to Balkhu wear the caps of their color so that anybody can identify them which village community they belong to. Revelers of six different villages converge at Balkhu on the tenth day of Marga.

After completing the religious ceremonies at Balkhu, first, Goddess Balkumari of Naikap village takes the leave of the Mother Goddess and rides on her chariot carried on shoulder poles by her devotees to her temple at Naikap. Then, the Bhairavs of Boshigau village and Lunkot Village say goodbye to the Mother Goddess and leave the temple for their respective temple at Boshigau village and Lunkot village. The senior most Daughter Goddess Vishnudevi of Macchegau leaves the Mother Goddess, and then the deity of Panga, and finally the youngest daughter deity Vishnudevi of Satungal leave the Mother Goddess at Balkhu. Thus, ends the climax of the seven-village festival.

Every village takes a break on the eleventh day, as this day is of Lord Vishnu or Narayan. On this day, no matter whom you make offering it goes to Lord Narayan. So villagers take a rest for a day on this day. Narayan is a non-tantric but a Vedic deity. So, devotees of Narayan remain vegetarian on this day.

On the twelfth day, each village celebrates the taking of each deity back to his or her village abode. Village devotees come to make the last festive offerings to their respective deity at the village center. After completing the public offerings to the deity, the concerned senior villager takes the deity to her temple at each village. Then the people responsible for storing the chariot take it to the usual place for the next year. Thus, ends the seven-village festival.

Kirtipur celebrates the seven-village festival independently although it is the part of the seven-village festival. Kirtipur is a city-state. So, Kirtipurians independently celebrate the festival of Goddess Indrayani following their tradition. They announce the beginning and ending of the seven-village festival.

1 Kirtipur, 2 Satungal, 3 Naikap, 4 Panga, 5 Boshigau, 6 Lunkot, and 7 Macchegau are the seven villages that celebrate the seven-village festival at their respective village independently and then the six villages except for Kirtipur come together at the Balkhu where the Mother Goddess resides and celebrate together there and then go back to their respective village on the tenth day of the bright fortnight in Marga.

Kirtipur celebrates the festival of Goddess Indrayani, Satungal of Goddess Vishnudevi, Naikap of Balkumari, Panga of Vishnudevi, Macchegau of Vishnudevi, Lunkot of Bhairava and Boshigau of Bhairava. Six other villages go to Kirtipur for announcing the starting off of the festival of gods and goddess in their respective village. Kirtipur also announces the ending of festivals, too.

November 28, 2009

Note: People of seven villages have celebrated their seven-village festival on November 25, 26, and 27, 2009, and complete it on November 29, 2009.