Svasthani And Sakhu

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

The Svasthani story is told at every Nepalese house in Nepal usually at night after the evening meal. The story telling starts off on the full moon day (Mila Puhni) in Poush and ends on the full moon day in Magha. The story is about the horrendous religious conflict between Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, in which nobody knows how many had perished and shed the blood for their respective religious sect. Then, another main important story is about mundane folks such as Gomaiju and her son Navaraj, and her daughter-in-law Chandravati, who later on became the royals with the favor of the Svasthani deity. In between the two stories, many stories have been inserted in as the story copiers often liked to. So, different Svasthani stories have varieties of stories. Telling the story for a month will keep every house prosperous and the family happy, and evil spirits cannot enter into the home where this storybook is kept and perform worship every day.

The Svasthani story and the religious activities during the month-long-story-telling period are the examples of the highest level of the development of the Nevah religion and culture.

Everybody might be eager to know when this story was crafted and when the Nevah had started off telling this story at every house. This story was put in black and white in the Nevah language about five hundred years ago; then it was written in Sanskrit, and about 150 years ago in Nepali of that time. Up until then the Nevah folks had told the story for a month at every home every year, and it was passed on from one generation to another orally. Currently, this story has been translated into English, too. Thus, its translation into various languages globalizes the Svasthani story; and every household in Nepal, and some abroad tell the story for a month.

When the events described in the story had happened might be another question the devotees might like to ask. The answer is at the time when the Southern deity called Lord Vishnu accompanied by his devotees, climbed up to the mountain and reached the current day Sakhu where Lord Mahadeva also called Shiva had been residing with his followers. Naturally, when they met with each other then they did not agree with each other on many things, and the result was the great conflict, which ended with a compromise.

Lord Mahadeva was the local deity residing in the Nepal Himalaya, and he crafted yoga and performed yoga himself, and meditated almost all the time, and then developed Tantra. So, Mahadeva had different devotees, and different messages to his followers. Thus, Lord Mahadeva had been quietly residing in the Himalaya.

Lord Vishnu was originated probably in the Indian Ocean of today. A fish was his first incarnation, and an amphibian: tortoise was the second, a wild boar the third, Narasimha: a half lion and a half human the fourth, then a dwarf called Baman was the fifth, Parsurama the sixth, Rama the seventh, Krishna the eighth and so on. Thus, Lord Vishnu had demonstrated the evolution of the life on earth more than two millenniums before Darwin was born.

Lord Vishnu wears only yellow silk dhoti, as he was from the warmer part of the world. He had four hands, each one of them held one or another items. His upper right hand held a conch shell, and his upper left hand a spinning disc, his lower right hand held a club, and his left lower hand a lotus. A conch shell is surely for blowing up, the spinning disc is for cutting off anything including the heads of enemies, a club is for hitting, and finally a lotus to show a good will.

Lord Mahadeva wears the elephant skin to keep warm in the cold climate of Himalaya, and uses the tiger skin as a carpet for sitting on. He wears a crescent moon on the head. He wears serpents around limbs and neck. He also smears ash on his body to keep his body warm. These are visible elements to the external eyes but the real meanings of what Lord Mahadeva has are quite different. Smearing with ash on the body means everybody is bound to be ash. Wearing a crescent moon on the head means keeping the head always cool, and wearing serpents means keeping anger under control. Sitting on a tiger skin and wrapping in the elephant skin mean even such mighty wild animals are under his direct control.

Lord Mahadeva was also believed to be the Kirati origin. Kiratis were believed to be the Nevah. So, the tradition of the Svasthani story telling must have been at least as old as the history of Kiratis.

When Lord Vishnu coming from the Indian Ocean met with Lord Mahadeva of the Himalaya in Laovon-ney-desh, which became Shankharpur later on, and currently Sakhu, they had different views of life that had certainly led them to confrontation with each other.

Lord Vishnu was a tactful and did not directly or could not confront with Lord Mahadeva. So, Lord Vishnu had his proxy called Daksa Prajapati, who became absolutely against Lord Mahadeva. He even did not tolerate the presence of Lord Mahadeva and hated Mahadeva extremely.

Lord Mahadeva had his army or followers were all mundane creatures but Lord Mahadeva was a great Tantrik so he was so powerful and he also could create with his tantric power many powerful deities to confront with the army of Daksa Prajapati, and the three hundred thirty million (tetis-koti devata) deities.

The army of Lord Mahadeva under the leadership of Billbhadra and Mahakali fought with the army Daksa Prajapati led. When Lord Vishnu saw that Daksa Prajapati and his army were loosing the battle, Lord Vishnu and Indra came out to assist Daksa Prajapati but they had to accept the defeat and come to a compromise with Lord Mahadeva.

Billbhadra cut off the head of Daksa Prajapati, and tossed it on the altar of the fire worship. After so much of pleading the spouse of Daksa Prajapati had made to give Daksa Prajapati a life again, Lord Mahadeva fixed the head of the lamb sacrificed to the fire, on the shoulder of Daksa Prajapati turning it to back sending the message that Daksa Prajapati was not only an animal like but also facing the opposite direction.

So, the Svasthani story must be as old as the event of Lord Mahadeva and Lord Vishnu confront with each other and then came to the understanding with each other.

The religious activities held at the river called Salinadi and on its bank in Sakhu demonstrate how the deities of two different sects reconcile with each other.

Devotees take a month long religious semi-fasting eating only a single meal everyday after making offering to Lord Madhav Narayan: another name of Lord Vishnu, and then listening to the Svasthani story.

On the first day of the Svasthani festival in Sakhu, male devotees wearing only white linen, and women red linen lined up along the bank of the sacred Salinadi River. A man submerging in the water of the Salinadi River up to the knees, and holding Lord Madhav Narayan in silver image donned with silver ornaments first give the holy bath to the lord dipping the image in the water of Salinadi River three times. Thereafter, all male and female devotees taking a dip in the holy water of the Salinadi River clean up their bodies.

After the cleaning up ceremony, the devotees go up to a flat area uphill where all of them assemble together to perform worship to Lord Madhav Narayan. Then, they sit together to listen to the Svasthani story, which is mainly dedicated to Lord Mahadeva.  Every day a chapter of the story is read out to the devotees. So, these religious activities clearly indicate that Lord Mahadeva and Lord Vishnu or Madhav Narayan agreed to reconcile with each other ensuring the religious harmony and the tolerance.

The Svasthani story is directly linked with the daily life of the Nevah community.

When Lord Ganesh and Lord Kumar came of age, Lord Mahadeva and his divine spouse Parvati wanted to bestow a boon on one of their sons on the condition that whoever could make a circle around the mythical mountain called Sumeru and come back first would receive a boon.

Lord Kumar has a peacock as a steed to ride and fly on it. So, Lord Kumar immediately took off and flew to the mountain but poor Ganesh has a little mouse as a steed for a ride. Lord Ganesh has a large belly so he could not walk properly, too and he could not ride on a mouse to travel to Mount Sumeru. So, Lord Ganesh was upset.

Seeing its master so upset, the tiny mouse asked, “My lord, why are you so upset today?” Lord Ganesh did not respond to the concern of the mouse. Then, the mouse repeatedly asked the same question several times, irritated Ganesh said, “ Because of you, I had to be so miserable.” “Why, what I did wrong to my lord?” asked the mouse.

Then, Lord Ganesh told the mouse what his parents had told him to do to receive a boon from them. Then, the mouse said, “That was not a great deal. My lord could go back to Kailash and asked to the parents to stand together, and the lord needed to make three circles around the parents and tell them that they are the parents and also the Mountain Sumeru, so please bestow on me the boon.”

That was the perfect idea the tiny mouse had suggested Lord Ganesh. Lord Ganesh took the idea of the mouse and immediately set off for Kailash. Lord Ganesh requested Lord Mahadeva and Parvati to stand together, and then Lord Ganesh did what the mouse suggested.

Lord Mahadeva and Parvati bestowed a boon of receiving the first offerings on Lord Ganesh before any deity could receive offerings. So, the mundane folks have to make the first offering to Lord Ganesh before making any offering to any deity. Any offering without making a first offering to Lord Ganesh will not be meritorious, and it goes astray.

After making a circle around Mount Sumeru, Lord Kumar came back home only to find that Lord Ganesh had already received the boon. Lord Kumar vigorously protested against it but the parents could not do much. So, Lord Mahadeva and Parvati said to Lord Kumar, “We could not revoke the boon we have already bestowed on Ganesh but we could give you another boon but of a lower level. That is you will receive an offering even before Ganesh but not to the full size but of only a half.”

Since then, the Nevah community had set up at least one Lord Ganesh at each neighborhood, and Lord Kumar in front of the main entrance to every Nevah house, and developed a Sukunda, which has an embossed image of Lord Ganesh facing to the oil lamp. Each Nevah house has an eight-petal carved in a flagstone and set at the main entrance. It is called Pikha-lakhu means Lord Kumar.

If any Nevah family has to make offerings to any deity then the family prepares one bronze plate full of offerings to Lord Ganesh, then another to the deity the family is going to make offerings, and a fresh green leaf full of offering to Lord Kumar. Anybody going to make the first offering to Lord Ganesh at the neighborhood holds the bronze plate full of offerings on the left hand, and a leaf full of offering on the right hand. S/he coming out of a house with the offerings first drops off the leaf full of offering to Lord Kumar on Pikha-lakhu, and then s/he goes to the temple or shrine to Lord Ganesh and makes the offerings to Lord Ganesh.

For any celebrations such as birthday, or offering sagun, when the Nevah community does not need to go out of home then the family lights an oil lamp on a Sukunda, and at it lays a fresh green leaf. Then the family first makes offering to Lord Kumar on the leaf laid at Sukunda, and then Lord Ganesh built-in Sukunda before performing any religious event at home.

Thus, the religious life of the Nevah community is directly linked with the Svasthani story in which the story of Lord Ganesh and Lord Kumar receiving a boon is told every year.

Another important story told in the Svasthani book is about Gomaiju and her life. Lord Mahadeva and Parvati had been watching how Gomaiju had suffered from the poverty after her husband went for earning something to meet the needs of Gomaiju after she would given birth to a baby, and he did not return home even after her son Navaraj became an adult. So, son Navaraj also went to find his father but he also did not return home.

So, Lord Mahadeva and Parvati sent a bunch of ascetics called Rishis to Gomaiju to suggest her to take up the making of offerings to the Svasthani deity and listen to the Svasthani story for a month, and to show Gomaiju how to perform the reverence. The ascetics taught her the process for the month-long Svasthani rituals and then the story telling.

Gomaiju did take up the month-long offerings to the Svasthani deity, and she listened to the story. As a result, Navaraj came back home, and brought the news about whereabouts of and what happened to his father. Then, Navaraj was chosen to be the king of Lavaon-ney-desh, Chandravati became the queen.

Chandravati was at her parents’ home when Navaraj was crowned. Navaraj sent porters to pick up Chandravati and bring her to the palace. Chandravati rode on a palanquin porters carried. She had been impatient to reach the palace. When they reached on the bank of the Salinadi River, the porters obviously very tired of the daylong journey wanted to have a break for drinking water.

On the way back from the river after drinking water, the porters noticed a group of folks holding a Svasthani puja, and the priest was telling the Svasthani story. The porters sat for a short time to listen to the story, and then they received the blessed flowers and foods after the story.

When the porters came back the queen was furious at the porters taking so much of time, and lashed them out, and she did not accept the deity-blessed flowers and food rather she threw them out and even stamped on them. So, the porters hurriedly carried Chandravati, and then a freak storm and rains brought a flash flood on the river. The porters were reluctant to cross the Salinadi River but Chandravati forced them.

The flood swept away the porters, who immediately went to Kailash and reside in the domain of Lord Mahadeva and Parvati. Chandravati became shapeless and unrecognizable, and remained on the bank of the Salinadi River. She suffered a lot physically and mentally; Navaraj even lost the memory of Chandravati because of the insult she inflicted on the Svasthani deity; and nobody recognized her.

Then. Navaraj held a state feast for the ascetics. Many ascetics from different world came to Laovon-ney-desh. Chandravati approached the two ascetics on the way to palace, and asked them where they were going. They told Chandravati that they were going to the palace to have the royal feast. Chandravati requested them to bring something for her to eat.

After having the feast and the guru daksina means the teacher’s fee, the two ascetics asked the queen mother Gomaiju for some foods for the poor unlucky woman beggar on the bank of the Salinadi River. The palace chef could not find any food as all the leftovers were gone or dried up. He noticed only a dish specially kept for the queen mother remained. The chef reported so, and Gomaiju ordered the chef to give the dish to the ascetics for the beggar they would meet on the way back home.

The ascetics were embarrassed very much because they had caused so much trouble to the chef and the queen mother too asking some food for the unfortunate beggar woman. However, they took the food and turned it over to Chandravati on the way back home, and told Chandravati to make the month-long offerings to the Svasthani and listen to the story to get relief from her sufferings.

Chandravati recalled what she did to the foods the Svasthani deity had blessed the porters had given her. She lamented for the insult she had done to the deity very much and then she followed the month-long process for revering the Svasthani. At the end of revering the Svasthani, she got back her original beauty; and the memory of Chandravati came back to the mind of Navaraj. He immediately sent porters to Chandravati. Thus, Chandravati and Navaraj were reunited by virtue of the blessing of the Svasthani deity.

Svasthani is an abstract word. It could be roughly translated into English as the local. So, the Svasthani deity means the local deity, which is really an abstract deity. The Nevahs had the deities such as Taleju, Kumari, Degudyo or Kuladevta, Agamdyo, and so on in the abstract names. The Nevahs did not want to disclose even the names of their deities to others. Most of the deities are presented in round stones or in the shape of a triangle in the open public areas for everybody to see and make offerings but their names are either in codes or in abstract names. Even the religious stories are coded. The real meanings of the story might be different from what the story tells.

Now, let us talk about Lavaon-ney-desh: currently Sakhu.

Sakhu is the holiest place and the religious arena where Lord Mahadeva met with Lord Vishnu and confronted with each other ultimately leading to a battle in which millions of deities must have met the untimely death. Ultimately and fortunately, the religious showdown ended in a compromise making the mundane folks to revere both Lord Mahadeva and Lord Vishnu equally.

Sakhu is the place where the religiously sacred and holy Salinadi River has been flowing. Folks believe that even taking a single dip in the Salinadi River during the month-long religious festival held on its bank would keep them healthy. So, tens of thousands of devotees believing in the Svasthani deity rushed to Salinadi every day making hundreds of thousands a month.

Sakhu is the place where Lord Mahadeva and Lord Vishnu reside with the 330 million (tetis-koti) other deities. So, it is so holy, as every piece of its ground had one deity or another. Then in 1349 A.D., came the Muslim invaders and burned down all the religious shrines leaving only the temple to Vajrayogini at the mid hill.

The outing of the most powerful deity Vajrayogini is held in April every year. The deity travels from the residence to the Sakhu town on the portable shrines several devotees carry on the shoulder poles. The deity has been safeguarding Sakhu and the entire country from the evil spirits and outsiders. The outings of the deity was actually for the deity to see how the folks have been doing.

Anybody believing in the Svasthani story and the deity and the events told in the story need to travel to Sakhu, and take a dip in the water of the sacred Salinadi River once a year to keep him or her healthy, and free from the evil spirits that might cause troubles, and even from sufferings physically and mentally.

The author had discussed some of the contents in this article at the Lahana talk program held from 10:15 AM to 11:55 AM at the Ujyaalo FM radio on January 2, 2020.

Divine Interview

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

A few days after the “Haribodhani Ekadashi,” I made an annual pilgrimage to “Bhuyu-jasi Narayan” means Buddhanilkantha. I always avoided the crowd of devotees visiting Lord Vishnu only after a few days of the peak day of pilgrimage on the Ekadashi day. Even on the third day of the Ekadashi that also in the afternoon still devotees were flowing in to line up to the pond shrine where Lord Vishnu (Buddhanilkantha) in a black stone was peacefully lying on the bed of thirteen serpents called nagas plaited together, and floating on the water of the pond. Devotees had an access to the stone feet covered with the silver shoes for touching with their foreheads or hands.

Devotees shed their footwear before entering the shrine, and two policewomen were there to manage the devotees standing on line. Devotees were in the constant movement. None was allowed to take time to touch the silver shoes Lord Vishnu had put on. They needed to move on to come out of the next exit.

I was the devotee, who rarely would visit or enter any shrine where I needed to take off my shoes. So, I rested on the steel bench in front of the main entrance watching the devotees entering the shrine. I had some time to look around. I saw the tin sheds and two brick buildings, which looked, like hostels.

Several loud speakers blared out the religious discourse a saint or a wise person was delivering with the intermittent songs. I had such experience in this environment for the first time even though I used to visit the lord every year in this season. I felt it disgusting because it was so noisy and not compatible with the so peacefully lying stone deity.

The corrugated tin sheds and brick buildings had extensively disfigured the holy area. Those tin sheds standing on the steel pipes were so ugly that pilgrims must be feeling awful. I really wondered who permitted to construct such dreadful structures in such a holy place. I knew that this holy area had been pleasant and nice because of the natural environment with so many trees around, and birds nesting in them in those days. My mind immediately asked how Lord Vishnu could reside on such a noisy and human-made structures all around.

Such corrugated tin structures were built on the premises of Pashupati, too in the past. Then, some wise folks must have complained about those unpleasant structures. Then, all those horrible structures were bulldozed and the area was cleared of the human-made litters returning back the area to its original state. The Pashupati area had been far better than when it was with so many appallingly structures. Lord Shiva must be resting and enjoying the peaceful nights and days in the sanctum of the Nepal-styled temple.

My mind again questioned why and who made those structures with whose permission to turn the so beautiful and peaceful area into the noisy and crowed with so many dreadfully ugly human-made structures. I felt that the lord must have been terribly suffering from the so crude human noise, and so repulsive structures. Again my question was who allowed such things to encroach on the holy land.

Then, the road leading to the holy shrine came to my mind with the feeling of the road had been made a commercial hub. Pilgrims could buy shoes, winter clothing, and many other items of daily uses. Those commercial stalls had encroached on the road making hardly enough room for the pilgrims to walk to the shrine and then back. The local government must have allowed these traders to keep their commercial stalls to earn some revenue. It was terribly disgusting to see such commercials for the pilgrims coming here to have the blessing of Lord Vishnu.

I felt that I needed to talk to the lord about these things but the lord was lying on the bed of the stone nagas, and the lord himself was in stone, which did not talk. So, an alternative was to imagine Lord Vishnu and put questions and then answer. Thus, I conducted an interview with the lord, and the results follow.

Lord Vishnu in stone was peacefully resting while the attendant was pouring milk on the mouth surely disturbing the peace of the lord. Lord Vishnu does not need to drink or eat because it is the stone image even if it is real one the lord does not need such human foods or drinks.

Lord Vishnu in stone was wearing silver ornaments all over the body. Silver anklets covered both the stone legs whereas silver bracelets almost reached the elbow, and other silver ornaments covered some portions of the upper arm, too. A huge silver crown with thirteen silver serpents braided together was decorating the stone head of Lord Vishnu.

Interview

Reporter: I am a reporter representing a very reputed newspaper in Kathmandu, and I make a pilgrimage to your so famous shrine every year at this time of a year. Seeing so many unusual things happening here some curiosities arose in my mind, I wanted to talk to you, my Lord Buddhanilkantha after you wake up from the four-month hibernation. You have thousands of names: one of them is Buddhanilkantha.

Nilknatha: Wait a minute before going to the details of business, let me first make it clear to you that I did not hibernate but I went to stay with King Bali Raja. Probably, you know him: one of the most pious and generous demon kings anybody ever has known. To save the kingdom of Lord Indra, I went to Bali in the guise of a dwarf. Bali was happy to see me, as he had the weakness of giving anything anybody wished for. He asked me to sit next to him but I told him, “I am not here to sit but to ask a humble thing if the king would grant me. “What is that thing you want to have from me?” he said. Then, I made it sure that he was serious to give me even a small thing without hesitation.  “I need a piece of land to put on it my three steps,” I said. “Are you joking? It is nothing. Take it anywhere you like,” said Bali. “Are you sure, you are giving me that piece of land?” I questioned. “Of course, why not, put your so tiny feet on it now; all will be yours.” Bali almost ordered me.

Then, I started off expanding myself in such a cosmic speed that soon my first foot covered the world, then the second foot the sky, then I asked him where to put my third tiny foot. He bowed and asked me to step on his head. My leg became so heavy; it pushed him down to the underworld within a millisecond. Look, how sincere the demon king had been he kept his words and gave his head to put my third foot on it. He paid for the sincerity and generosity by life.

Then, I filled with remorse and even felt shame for what I did sending the so generous king down to the underworld only for the benefit of the heavily king Indra. I cannot help Bali undoing the entire process. King Indra was saved from losing his throne to Bali but I certainly did the thing, which is short of being justifiable by any moral standard.

So, I apologetically asked Bali what he really wanted from me. At least I wanted to pay something back to him for his generosity and sincerity. I really regretted what I had done to him. He was really worthy to be the heavenly king but the divinities did not want outsiders reigning over the heavenly kingdom. So, I have to put him down even though he was one of the best living beings anybody could find in any world.

Then, Bali clasped his hand at his chest and step up to me, and said. You really would not believe; I even cannot believe, too what he asked for. He wanted me to be with him forever in the dark underworld. He would use me as a light to illuminate even such a dark world.

What can I do? I have already given my words that I would meet whatever he has in his mind. Okay, I said; but I cannot stay with you forever because I have to save the human world, then work for the heavenly world, then even the cosmic world Kailash whenever Lord Shiva goes mad and goes to the mundane world and be with animals as an animal wearing golden horns leaving his divine spouse Parvati in despair. Of course, then I have to be in my own cosmic world Baikuntha. But I have given my words to Bali. So I have to do something for him. Then, I said to him, “I would partially meet your wish. I will stay with you for the four months of the darkest period of a year.” That is why I have to be with Bali Raja for four months of every year.

Some folks like you: reporters wrote that I went to guard Bali in the underworld for four months. Others said I hibernated for four months. All these things were just the crafts of reporters. The truth is what I just have said.

Reporter: Would you mind if I call you in short Nilknatha instead of god?

Nilkantha: I am a Nilkantha. That is what I am where you and I stand now. God is an abstract world. Nothing like god is ever existed. Instead you see the universe where billions of cosmic worlds exist, and divinities like all of us reside following their own merits in the cosmic worlds. So, how could I mind when you correctly spell my name?

Reporter: Why did you have to take the guise of a dwarf to trick Bali Raja to give you a tiny piece of land only to trick him again to get down to the underworld?

Nilkantha: You have just said that you are the representative of a reputed newspaper but to me you still needed to keep up the reputation of that so highly regarded newspaper because you obviously did not know a dwarf was of my incarnation. That was the fifth incarnation of my ten famous incarnations.

I took the form of a fish to guard and rescue the entire marine lives from disaster and destruction. Then, I took the birth of a tortoise to be the base of a huge mountain for the divinities and the demons to churn the ocean for finding elixir, which came up; and the demons so smartly took away. Then, I have to trick them to give it to the divinities. I became a wild boar to bring back your world from the demons, who took down to the ocean and tried to store it there forever. Then, I have to come out as Narsimha: a half lion and a half human to finish of Hiranya Kasaya-pu: the demon king to save my devotee Prahald, who happened to be his son. The fifth of my incarnation is Baman means a dwarf to just let Indra live as the king in the heaven sacrificing the so benevolent Bali Raja, who had earned so much of merits that shook the heavenly throne of Indra, who was about to fall from it. The sixth one was of course the improved person of the wild folks. He was a tall man with an axe as his weapon. You could call him Persuram. I took his form to do away with some disagreeable characters in the universe. His mission was completed. The next version was a well polished human called Rama, who did a lot of good things but not all because he did a great injustice to his own spouse not to mention his father but again he was not my last incarnation. The next one was Lord Krishna, who played a role of so many different characters in discarding all the immoral beings in the mundane world.

All these things had been the evolution of the life in your world. Thus, I played the role of different personalities at different time in teaching the evolution of life on earth well before anybody even could imagine of such things. Your human world has 8.4 million different living beings. You have been revolving around the circle made up of those 8.4 million different lives. That is in short how the lives on earth evolved in course of time following the movement of earth, moon and sun.

Reporter: I learned a lot from the lord in such a short time but my mission is to record what the lord Nilkantha has to say after waking up.

Nilkantha: Again, I am not waking up. I simply came back to your world completing my mission to Bali Raja. I hope you correctly understand me.

Reporter: I apologized to you my lord for not correctly putting up the questions. Now, I hope I can make right questions. How did you cope with the world of so much noise coming from at least two loud speakers: one posted on above your head and another on down to your legs playing so many strange things, and telling different stories?

Nilkantha: I really don’t think that the folks coming to me for blessing do really like such things. It has been a recent development. It is so noisy but I am still surviving against the so loud sound coming out of the two powerful loud speakers. I don’t think these folks have been doing any good to anybody even to themselves making so much of noise.

Bringing so many fruits and flowers and other foods, and polluting the area, added to the noise pollution; and burning so many oil-soaked wicks even at the day time have made the living condition worst for me and for all those who live with me here.

The priest even pours milk into my mouth of stone image. How could a stone image drink the milk? Again, I have already told you that the divinities needed not to eat because they did not have the macrobiotic bodies as you folks do. You folks could perish anytime but the divinities live forever in the cosmic world.

I am so amazed that these folks have not learnt yet that divinities don’t need to eat anything nor they need to drink any drinks. They even don’t need any human wear. They were celestial bodies and they could move from one planet to another in milliseconds. So, they have so many cosmic worlds where they could move from one world to another in a fraction of human time. So, there is no need for making offerings of human foods or other things to gratify the deities. The heavenly deities become happy with anybody trekking through the path of dharma means be disciplined and follow any divine and worldly rules and regulations. Anybody not following the dharmric path would be punished severely.

Reporter: Bhagvan, did you bless everybody who comes to you, and meet everyone’s wishes?

Nilkantha: For what I have to bless them for offering the flowers, bananas, apples, and burning the wicks lamps again causing the environmental deterioration? I don’t bless anybody for that trifle offerings. I don’t think that they had any wish in their minds. They simply visited me here because it was the season to visit this nice place.

Even if I wanted to bless them I cannot because I could not accept the offerings they made. You folks read out an Svasthani story in the month of Magha (January/February) for an entire month. Obviously, none of you folks did understand the story. If you think a little bit then you will find that Lord Shiva had given Ganesh the rights to enjoy the first offerings before making any offering to any other deities.

You have seen that none of the folks cared about going first to Ganesh, and then make offerings or even just to hand gesture of namastay. Ganesh is there since I have been here for the folks making first offerings to him but none of the folks goes there before coming to me. Everybody rushes to me, to throw flowers, bananas and what not.

None of the divine community members accepts any offerings made without first offering to Ganesh. So, I cannot accept any offerings made without making offerings first to Ganesh. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of the folks coming to me have wasted their offerings, and of course the time and energy. I have seen some folks going to Ganesh and making offerings later on. That was not the correct offerings, too. The divine community so concerned with the established rules want the earthly folks to follow the rules either Shiva or Vishnu or any other deities had crafted.

So, your question of meeting the wishes of those folks first coming to offer me ignoring Lord Ganesh does not make sense. So, you reporters had to go back to the Svasthani story and write those things Lord Shiva had made Ganesh the first deity to be worshiped before worshipping any other deities of the divine community. Ganesh enjoys the privilege of having the first offerings before any other deities.

Reporter: Bhagban, did you find pleasant to have the tin sheds on your premises?

Nilkantha: Of course not, all those sheds had already disfigured this pleasant natural site. Those sheds were not better than any sheds some folks had constructed at their crematoriums. Those sheds should go immediately, and they should stop holding any great fire worship or reading out the Bhagabat or anything on the loud speakers causing unbearable noise even to my stone image.

The large buildings whatever you folks called them needed to go, too. Those buildings had disfigured my premises. This area needed to be made as natural as possible. Remove all those sheds and buildings, and rather plant trees to make shade to my stone image so that it would not weathered under the sun and the rains, and of course under the heavily polluted air. Remove the slab of stone with inscription and the flags of Nepal and India crossing each other posted on the large building. I don’t feel comfortable with so many unnatural things encroaching on my premises.

Reporter: How come you became Buddhanilkantha even though you are Narayan or Vishnu?

Nilkantha: Buddhanilkantha is really the fusion of three religions: Buddhism, Shaivism and Vaisnavism. I was a Buddha at one time, then of course Shiva, and finally Vishnu. I had been so strong that no Tantrik could set me in the tantric net and made me one of the tantric deities. I had the three divine spirits of three different religious sects.

You know what Buddha means. Buddha had been for meditating forever and got the universal peace before retiring to the cosmic world. Buddha did so and he never came back to the human world again.

Nilkantha is another name of Lord Shiva. He became Nilkantha when the divinities and the demons together churned the ocean for amrit (elixir); unfortunately, the deadly poison called kalkuta surfaced. Nobody could dare to go even near not to mention touching it. It could dissolve the entire world.

Then, Lord Shiva descended from his cosmic world Kailash, and took the poison and put it in his mouth, and held it on his neck, swallowing it would have burned him down, too. Even at the neck it burned so much that Shiva had to go to Himalaya and break the mountain with his trident to get the icy water on his neck to cool it down. The poison caused him blue-necked means Nilkantha.

I am Narayan means born of water. My correct name is Jalasaya Narayan but you folks have been used to calling me Buddhanilkantha. I lie down on the bed of thirteen serpents braided together for making a cozy bed and their thirteen heads together forming a hood over my head. You must have seen the huge thirteen stone serpents braided together, and on them I rest forever. Actually, lying on the thirteen-serpents bed, I really float on the cosmic ocean. You folks have only the stone images of the serpents and me. I descend on the human world whenever you need me.

Reporter: Prabhu, previously, the kings were believed to be the human incarnations of Buddhanilkantha; so, they did not visit you fearing to die immediately because Prabhu would take back the divine spirit in them. Is it really so?

Nilkantha: How could an earthly folk be a divine? How could I take away the divine spirit in them when they had not anything like that?

It is really a made-up story to make the common folks believe that the king is really a divine. You have seen that the kings had been slayers. In fact, you have the kings starting from Prithvi Narayan Shah down to Jung Bahadur, Mahendra, then Birendra and finally currently most of the elected ones much like the kings had been killers and looters in the past. So, none of the rulers had any divine spirit in him or her rather most of the rulers had earned the power of killing so many innocent folks in the wars or in the course of destroying the opposition.

Prithvi Narayan Shah killed many innocent folks, and even forced out his foster father King Ranajit Malla of his Bhaktapur kingdom. He had cut off the noses and ears of his opponents in Kirtipur, and then he put the opponents in bags and then threw them in rivers in the eastern Nepal if you believe in the history. Some of the current cabinet ministers including the prime minister had been fans of Prithvi Narayan because his atrocities suited them.

Then, you know Jung Bahadur, who had killed a number of courtiers in two deadly incidents and became the prime minister making the king a puppet. Mahendra killed many cadres of the Nepali Congress after he took over from the elected government. His son Birendra killed many communist and congress cadres, who had just advocated for the fundamental human rights, then came the elected rulers, who had the background of killing the so-called landlords and feudal lords, and even common innocent folks on one pretext or another.

So, in conclusion you could say that most of the so-called rulers had been with the background of criminal acts, and some of them became criminals after becoming ministers indulging in legally or illegally looting the state treasury and the people’s pockets. Then, how could you equate those rulers with the divinity like me? I administer universe, and punish the culprits. So, you will find how those killers no matter whether they were kings or prime ministers ended their lives.

Reporter: Prabhu, now, I am asking the personal question. How long had you been here?

Nilkantha: Again the question is wrongly asked. I am omnipotent and omnipresent. I am everywhere. I am the universe.

Your question might be how long the stone image of the serpents forming my bed and me had been in this place.

Reporter: Yes, Prabhu. Please forgive me for the slip of the tongue.

Nilkantha: Gopalas had crafted this inimitable image in stone. It must be three thousands years ago. You could imagine how skillfully it was sculptured even at that time. Some folks in Kathmandu claimed to be the descendents of Gopalas.

The stone was brought from Nakhu. You could imagine how expertly they brought the stone from there when they did not have any energy-powered machine. They had to do everything with their hands and muscle power.

They believed that it was the right place for my stone image to be lying on my back on the bed of thirteen serpents. You can see the valley from here. It was a nice place for anybody to be. So, they made a place for me here at the foothill of the Shivapuri hills. They made a pond suitable to keep the image floating. Then, they invoke me, and set me up in the stone image. Then, they thought that I am in the huge stone image for the mankind.

As years passed by, monsoons after monsoons brought the heavy rains, which weakened the hills, and then caused a huge landslide that enveloped the human settlement and me, too. My stone image remained under the debris for thousands of years.

Folks forgot about me and about the area being the holy place for my devotees. It was and is the foothill, and then the stone image remained there without any trace of the deity. Trees and other vegetation competed each other to grow here. It became a forestland for a millennium or two.

Later on, folks came in to cut the trees and cleared of the vegetation and started crop farming. It became a farmland. Folks began to multiply every year to grow in number. They built houses for the families. As they went on digging the ground for farming they hit me incidentally. Thus, they discovered me after two millenniums.

They built the pond again, and they planted trees around the pond protecting the stone image floating on it. As the time passed by, folks had been different. They had different interest and different views to make me more pleasant to stay in the stone image. They cut down the trees leaving a single banyan tree.

Even the single banyan tree protected my stone image for quite many years. But the time came when even the banyan tree was cleared of leaving me in the stone directly exposed to the sun. The earthly stone image had hard time to withstand sun, wind and rain. It gradually was worn down in part.

Now, you could see a linen canopy has been hanging over the stone image to protect it from the sun. Natural protection had been the most appropriate one but some folks did not like it, and removed the evergreen banyan tree. When my stone image was exposed to sun and wind of polluted air, the stone started of disintegrating threatening the stone image to disfigure, and ultimately make it worthless. So, they hurriedly put up a canopy.

Reporter: Prabhu, that much for today. I would come to talk to the lord next year. Then, we will see how much improvement would have been done removing the ugly structures and the powerful loud speakers for bringing back the lord’s area to its natural shape and size.

Bless me, Prabhu.

Nilkantha: Live long my dear; be sincere and honest, and be happy as long as you have time in this human world. Then, we will see where you will go to dwell in your next life depending on the merits you have earned doing good things to everybody.

Bless you to be good and happy.

Then, Lord vanished spontaneously.

Then, I walked down from the pond shrine to the road crowded with so many commercial stalls made for selling everything any human needs. Some of my companions walked ahead of me.

Then, I asked them to wait for me at the point where the commercially crowed road met with the main road, and I went for my car, and then I drove them back to Kathmandu. We are back home again in the human world where everybody competes with each other for everything forgetting that everybody needs to leave whatever s/he has made or earned behind for going to the cosmic world after the body becomes no longer useful to live in this world.

December 6, 2019

Mha Puja: Making Self offerings

By Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Mha Puja literally means ‘body worship’ but it is actually making offerings to self. Mha means a human body and Puja means making offerings in the Nevah language.  Nevah: one of the natives in Nepal has a tradition of making offerings to self on the first day of the bright fortnight of Kartik (October). 

The self-offerings are made in four different ways.

We start with the first three Shastriya offerings and then conclude with the last Tantric offering.

The first Shastriya offering comprises five items of offerings such as flowers, sinha (red and yellow powder), fluffy rice, polished rice, and Jajanka. These five items of offerings represent the five sense faculties and also the five elements such as earth, water, air, light (fire) and ether (mind). Offerings of these five elements also represent the offering of a human life. So, the first offering is a human life offering made to the human Mandala.

The second Shastriya offering consists of flower, fluffy rice, manually husked rice, cut-fruits and hard nuts. All these five items also represent the five life-supporting elements and represent a human life. We make this second Shastriya offering to humans on their heads.

The third Shastriya offering consists of four different fruits and Jajanka (consecrated cotton thread). These five items also represent the five life-supporting elements and a human life. We make this third Shastriya offering to humans on their hands.

The fourth and the final offering is the Tantric offering called ‘Khen-sagan’. It consists of a hard-boiled-peeled and then-fried egg, a small dried and fried fish and a glass of alcoholic drink (distilled millet alcoholic drink or rice beer). Such an egg represents earth, heat and air, fish represents water and alcoholic drink represents ether (mind). Thus, these three items together represent the four life-supporting elements and then a mind thus representing a human life. We make this Tantric offering to humans on the hands: an egg and a fish on the left hand and a glass of alcoholic drink on the right hand.

On the new moon day in other words on the eve of the New Year day, Nevah brothers and sisters engaged in business of trade become busy at closing the one-year account. They see how much money they made, not made or even lost in the year, then they put the entire cash amount they have in the hand to the treasury room where they worship the Goddess of Wealth called Lakshmi. They stop any business of money after the worship to Goddess Lakshmi and they would run the business only the next day morning after making offerings to the Goddess again and receiving the blessing from Her. However, some other members of the Nevah community do not stop the business of money although they also worship the Goddess Lakshmi as other members of the business community do.

Nepalis in general follow three different calendars: 1) lunar calendar called Nepal Samvat for celebrating religious and cultural festivals, 2) Solar calendar called Vikram Calendar for official in-county business and 3) Gregorian (Christian) calendar for international businesses.

Nepal has its own calendar called Nepal Samvat. All Nepalis follow it for celebrating religious and social tradition. We had another calendar before it. A rich Nevah person called Shankhadhara Sakhvah paid the debt of all debtors; then he introduced a new calendar called Nepal Samvat more than one millennium ago. The Nepal Samvat calendar follows the lunar system.

We the members of the Nevah community celebrate a New Year Day making offerings to ourselves to strengthen our mind, speech and body so that we would be able to work with vigor for the whole year even though the tradition of Mha must be probably at least-three millennium old. 

We believe that every human has a guardian spirit in him/her. In other words, every human possess with the divine spirit and s/he needs to revere it at least once a year. 

We do it on the first day of the New Year. It so happened after a new calendar was introduced replacing the old one. Our belief is that such an offering stimulates the hidden spirit in a human, body and then energizes him/her to be active for a year. Therefore, our philosophy of performing worship to self is to empower ourselves for fighting against evil spirits, diseases and for making fortunes in the New Year.

Our rituals of celebrating Mha Puja are primarily for purifying mind, speech and body. Human mind is the driving force in the body. Every person acts only after his/her mind conceives something to do. Speech comes only as the expression of what the mind has set to do. Finally, our body takes physical actions. Therefore, it is utmost important for us to keep those three things pure for a good and humanely living.

It is hard to confidently say when our forefathers had set the tradition of making self-offerings. However, this tradition must be at least more than one thousand year old, as the Nepal Samvat has been more than one thousand years old. The tradition might have set even a few thousand years earlier than the Nepal Samvat in view of a man called Shankhadhara Sakhvah started Nepal Samvat freeing all Nepalis from debt paying their debts to the moneylenders more than one thousand years ago  replacing the existing old calendar before the Nepal Samvat    .

Now, let us talk about how we celebrate the New Year and Mha Puja. The New Year falls on the first day of the light fortnight called ‘Kachala Tho’ in the Nepal Samvat (in the month called Kartik (October-November) in the Vikram calendar). We perform the self-offerings usually at night but could do so at any convenient time on this particular day. We make preparations for this occasion the whole day.

Mandala: First, we draw a Mandala in preparation for making self-offerings. Some people call Mandala a geometrical figure. In fact, it is the view of a human body sitting on an eight-petal lotus flower blossoming on water seen from above.

In preparing a Mandala, first, we draw a circle from holy water; then an eight-petal lotus flower in it with the rice flour; then we draw one inner circle after another of fluffy rice, then of one kind of bean and finally of policed unbroken rice and of mustard-seed oil and then we dip the central finger of our hand in a mixture of amber power and mustard-seed oil and print a fingerprint inside the circle of mustard-seed oil. This is called a Mandala.

The water circle symbolizes a pond. The eight-petal lotus drawn with the rice powder inside the water circle symbolizes a lotus flowering on it. The eight-lotus petals represent “astamangal” means eight auspicious symbols.

Other Mandalas made of fluffy rice, of beans and polished rice, mustard oil and amber powder mixed with mustard-seed oil represent the human body sitting on the lotus flowering on water as seen from above, as these five items represent the five life-supporting elements such as earth, air, water, fire, and ether (mind) thus making a human. 

Drawing Mandala: First, we select a place where all our family members could comfortably sit together in a row either facing east or west.  We never sit facing south or north, as it is inauspicious. Then, we purify the area of about one meter wide and the length as required by a number of our family members we have to sit, smearing it with the mixture of fresh cow dung and red clay. If we find it inconvenient to sit on a floor, we draw Mandalas on a table. If we do not have fresh cow dung and red clay to smear a floor or a table for purification, we might use anything that cleanse a floor or a table for drawing Mandalas.

We draw one Mandala for each family member (expect for the new born child not named yet) including the absentees, and one at the top for the life-giving God called Janmaraj and another at the bottom for the life-taking God called Yamaraj.  All other Mandalas are in between those two-deity Mandalas. These deity Mandalas are not different from the human Mandalas.

Our tradition has it that first, we revere the life-giving God called Janmaraj and the life-taking God called Yamaraj even if it is at the end of the row of Mandalas; then, we make self-offerings.

We believe that Janmaraj represents the past, humans represent the present and Yamaraj represents the future. So, humans are always in between Janmaraj and Yamaraj in other words between birth and death. We are always moving to the future ultimately to the end only to start again. It is a vicious circle of life we are moving around.

We draw about a half-meter diameter circle of holy water for each Mandala on the purified floor partially closing the opening of a holy water pot by an index finger. If we do not have a holy river for collecting water, we use the fresh tap water for drawing water circles; then we draw an eight-petal lotus flower from rice flour inside the holy water circle.

To draw an eight-petal lotus flower, we first draw a circle of about ten-centimeter diameter from rice flour using thumb and index fingers with special drawing skills.  Then, we go on adding one petal after another to the outer area of the circle. For making easy to draw a lotus flower from rice flour, some of us use a perforated paper sheet; on which we spread rice flour; we get the louts flower of the design made on a paper sheet when we lift it. We call it a rice flour Mandala inside the water Mandala.

Then, we draw a circle of fluffy rice balls within the circle of the eight-petal lotus Mandala drawn of rice flour. This is done placing the fluffy rice balls in row close to the inner line of the circle of an eight-petal lotus. Similarly, we draw two more inner circles within the circle of the fluffy rice balls. The first inner circle is the Mandala of beans; it is of about five-centimeter diameter and then we draw a circle of policed unbroken rice in it. Currently, some people make a number of other circles of various small beans inside the fluffy rice-ball circle following their choice to embellish the Mandala.

Then, we draw a mustard-seed-oil Mandala in it. This is the inner most Mandala. This is done soaking a cotton twine in mustard-seed oil and shaping it in a circle of a centimeter diameter or more and print an oil circle inside the polished rice Mandala.

Finally, we put an amber color ‘tika’ inside the oil Mandala. Using the right hand middle finger, we apply amber powder mixed with mustard-seed oil within an oil Mandala. This is called ‘sinha’ Mandala. We need to start the rituals of offerings immediately after it. So, we wait to apply this last ‘sinha’ Mandala until we set everything required for self-offerings.

Decorating Mandala: we place two cotton twines or wicks each of six-inch long and soaked in mustard-seed oil crossing each other at a right angle on the right side of the worshipper next to the Mandala. We set a piece of fruit or bread under the ends of each cotton twine and under the point where the two twines cross. This gives the most auspicious Hindu sign called Svastika.

We set varieties of fresh and dried fruits, one garland of ever-red flower called Goya Svaon (Makhamali), hard walnuts, marigold flowers and a folded twine called ‘Jajanka’ at each Mandala. Then, next to the fruits and flowers, we set one figurine made of dough, and cooked in steam at each Mandala. Each figurine depicts one God or another such as the God of Wealth called Kuber holding a gift hamper, God of perfection called Ganesh; then, we pin incense sticks to the shoulders of such figurines. We set one such figurine at the Mandala to the life-giving God and life-taking God.

Sitting arrangement:  When everything is set ready for making self-offerings, all of our family members sit at their respective Mandala. The patriarch sits at the top of the row, then his brothers, sons and daughters sit following the protocol of seniority, and then sisters-in-law and daughters-in-law sit at their respective Mandalas. The spouse of the patriarch sits at the bottom Mandala next to the Mandala to the life-taking God.

Once, we sit at the Mandala then, it is not auspicious to leave off the Mandala before completing the self-offerings. We, therefore, make it sure that every thing is in place before everybody sits at a Mandala. We select a volunteer from among our family members preferably a woman to attend the rituals of offerings. We make sure that all males sitting at Mandalas put on their headgears called topis and females wrapped in a shawl take out their right hands from their shawl. We all sit cross-legged in the posture of Padmason (lotus posture).

Performing self-offerings: An attendant holds a ritual brass or bronze plate or a container containing five items of offerings such as flowers, sinha (red and yellow powder), fluffy rice balls, polished rice, and Jajanka. These five items of offerings represent the five sense faculties and also the five elements such as earth, water, air, light (fire) and ether (mind) that support the human life.  She also holds a pot of yogurt on her left hand.

The patriarch begins the rituals of the self-offerings.  He first purifies his hands with the holy water taking water from a holy-water jar and sprinkles the holy water to all Mandalas. He then lights the mustard-seed oil lamp on a special auspicious lamp called Sukunda placed on his right hand side. 

Sukunda symbolizes the sun god. It has a built-in image of Ganesh: the God of Perfection. He then lights the incense sticks pinned to the dough figurine placed next to the Mandala to the life-giving God, the person sitting next to the Mandala to the life-taking God lights the incense stick pinned to the dough figurine placed at the bottom Mandala. Thereafter, every one of us sitting at the respective Mandala lights the respective incense stick.

The patriarch first makes offerings to a built-in image of Lord Ganesh on the oil lamp Sukunda. He puts a flower on the head of the God, applies red and yellow powder on the forehead of the God, then offers polished rice, fluffy rice balls, and Jajanka, and then applies the yogurt using the right hand thumb on the right side of the forehead of Lord Ganesh. Thereafter, the patriarch makes offerings to the Mandala to the life-giving God at the top and then the life-taking God at the bottom not leaving his seat.

We need to make the first offerings to Lord Ganesh, as none of the deities would accept the offerings made without first making offerings to Lord Ganesh. He has the privilege of having the first offerings among the deities.

Now, it is the turn of the patriarch to make offerings to his Mandala. The attendant holds a brass plate or a container with items of offerings on the right hand and a yogurt pot on the left hand, and offers them to the patriarch. 

He first takes a piece of flowers from the container, holds it on his left hand, applies red and yellow sinha on it, then offers polished rice and fluffy rice, places a Jajanka on it, and finally applies the yogurt on it and then touches it to his head and places it on his Mandala. He does it three times. The first offering is made to mind, second to speech and the third to body.

Every one of us in turn repeats this procedure of offerings made to Mandala. So, the attendant takes the container and the yogurt to each of us to make offerings to our respective Mandala in turn.

The second self-offerings are to make offerings to our body. The woman attendant does this. A large circular (about one meter diameter) wicker tray full of mixture of flowers, fluffy rice, manually husked rice, cut-fruits and hard nuts has been made ready for making offerings to the family members. She takes the handful of the mixture from such a wicker tray and puts it in a wooden grain-measuring pot called Mana, and then offers it first to Ganesh at the oil lamp Sukunda, then to the Mandala to the life-giving God and then to the Mandala to the life-taking God. She makes this offering only once to each of these deities.

She then makes offerings to our body three times to each of us by turn. All male members take off their headgears to receive the offerings. She first makes offerings to the patriarch. He bows his head on his Mandala. She takes the handful of the mixture including a hard nut and puts it in a wooden grain-measuring pot called Mana, and then, pours it on the head of the patriarch. She makes this process of offerings three times. All the items of the mixture fall on his Mandala. The first offering is to mind, second to speech and the third: the last one to body. This process is repeated to all our family members.

The third self-offerings are to offer the fruits, nuts, and flowers placed at the Mandala to the worshipper sitting at it. The female attendant makes first offerings to Lord Ganesh at the oil lamp Sukunda, then to the life-giving God and to the life-taking God.

Thereafter, she offers the fruits, nuts, and flowers placed at the Mandala to the patriarch. She collects all fruits, nuts flowers and Jajanka placed at the Mandala, and puts them on a tray and offers those things to the patriarch. She also wishes him to be as hard and strong as walnut, as pure and aromatic as a fruit called toshi (bimero), as beautiful and evergreen as the Goya Svaon (Makhamali flower), and as fresh as Katush (a kind of nuts).

Accepting the offerings of fruits, nuts, and flowers, the patriarch first takes out the garland of Goya Svaon (Makhamali flower) out of the tray, and wears it around his neck. He takes a Jajanka (a cotton twine consecrated with mantras) and wears it around his neck. Wearing this twine means protecting ourselves from the evil spirit. He puts back the rest of the items at the Mandala.

She makes these offerings to all of us repeating the same process as she has done to the patriarch.  Once, it is done to all of us the third self-offering completes.

All male members of the family wear their headgear after completing this process. The attendant then applies yellow-and-red-powder paste on the forehead of all family members. Before doing so, she first applies it on the image of Lord Ganesh and then on the Mandalas of the life-giving god and the life-taking god.

The fourth self-offering is the offering of ‘Khen-sagan’. We prepare a pot of home-brewed rice drink, one boiled, peeled and then fried egg for each family member, one each for Lord Ganesh, and two Gods: life-giving and life-taking, and a few extra eggs, and one small dried fish fried (the head of the fish turned to clockwise direction) in oil for each family members and gods.

The attendant brings a tray full of boiled, peeled and fried eggs and another tray full of fried fishes, and a jar of home-brewed rice drink, and set those items near the patriarch.

The patriarch takes an egg and a fish on his left hand and drops them into the jar containing the home-brewed rice liquor, and sprinkles the liquor to all Mandalas by his left hand. This is the symbolic offering of ‘Khen-sagan’ to all Mandalas.

We perform the offering of ‘Khen-sagan’ under the light of Svastika-shaped two-cotton twine set on the right side of each worshipper. So, the attendant lights the Svastika-shaped wicks placed at the Mandala to the life-giving god and then at the life-taking god at the bottom. Then, every one of us lights all four ends of the Svastika-shaped wicks placed on our right side. This is the climax of Mha puja. We need to finish the offerings of ‘Khen-sagan’ before the wicks burn out.

Thereafter, the attendant sets a bronze cup at each family member. She fills the bronze cup with the liquor from the jar. If the fish from the jar flows to the cup means a person getting the fish cup is the lucky family member for that year.

She holds the cup on her right hand, then an egg, and a fish on her left hand, and crosses the hands and offers those items to the patriarch first. The patriarch takes the cup on his right hand and an egg and a fish on his left hand. He first sips the liquor and then takes a first bite of the egg and fish. The attendant adds the liquor to the cup. He repeats the sipping of the liquor and takes a second bite of the egg and fish. Then, she adds liquor for the last time, and he makes the last ritual of sipping and biting egg and fish. This means offerings of the Khen-sagan to mind, speech and body.  Thereafter, he places the cup on the floor and then continues to eat the egg and fish and drink the liquor from the cup. This process is repeated for all of us.

When everyone finishes eating egg and fish and drinking liquor, and light from the Svastika wicks goes off, the self-offering is almost completed. Then, the attendant takes a flower and sweeps the Mandalas from the bottom up to complete the Mha-puja. This is the symbolic sweeping. A groom does the real sweeping from the top to the bottom, and save all those leftover for the next morning to dispose of in a holy river.

Thereafter, we feast on the various dishes we have prepared for celebrating self-offerings. We do not wash the dishes on this night, save those dishes for the next morning to wash believing the remains or leftovers on these dishes might turn into gold next morning. Most probably, our ancestors must have set this tradition of not washing dishes saying those remains might turn into gold in the next morning, as they must be tired very much on that day preparing and performing Mha-puja; so, they made such an excuse for not washing dishes on that night.

The unique thing we do on this occasion is making of offerings to the broom and a large circular wicker tray of about a meter in diameter together, and a pitcher of holy water. These two items never go together at other time. It might be because a broom is for sweeping all sorts of dust and dirt whereas a wicker tray is for winnowing food grain; so, our ancestors do not allow them to go together from the hygienic point of view. We believe that the broom and the wicker tray are the instruments of the Goddess of Wealth called Laksmi. 

November 14, 2008.

Note:

(1) After Nepal became a federal democratic republic in 2007, most of the ethnic groups went back to the original term the former rulers had distorted. Newar is the distorted term of Nevah. So, here, I used Nevah in places of Newar previously used.

(2) The term ‘Newar’ is not an ethnic term but a cultural term denoting the very rich and complex culture of the society of the Kathmandu Valley: John Locke author of ‘Karunamaya’.

Birth Of Lord Krishna

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

At midnight of eighth day of Bhadra (August/September) dark fortnight, Lord Krishna was born to the parent locked up in the lightless cell. He was the eighth child born to Devaki and Vasudev. Lord Vishnu himself incarnated in Krishna to bring back the order when so many demonic spirits had incarnated in the rulers and powerful royalties who had actually created chaos in the world not following the rule of law, and had been causing tremendous sufferings to the common folks. So, Lord Krishna’s mission was to end such chaos in the society sending the wicked rulers to heaven, and bring back the rule of law.

The divine spirit told Vasudev to transfer the just born baby to another place where a girl child was born and swapped with her. With the assistance of the divinity, Vasudev managed to take the baby out of the prison cell and go to Gokul and left the baby there and took the girl child born to Yashoda and Nandababa, and returned back to Mathura.

Kamsa: one of the demonic rulers was happy to know that the baby was not a son. The eighth child of the couple of Vasudev and Devaki was supposed to be a son as the ascetic prophesized, and he would be the cause of the death of Kamsa.

However, Kamsa did not like to leave even the girl child alive, and took the baby by her legs and spun her over his head when he was about to hit her on the wall, she slipped away and said, “Kamsa, you could not take my life but a baby boy was already born in Gokul who would take your life eventually.”

Yashoda and Nandababa named the baby boy Krishna to suit the body color of the baby. He was so dark that it gave rise to the saying “as dark as Krishna.”

Krishna grew up in Gokul as any normal babies. However, Krishna was not an ordinary baby then a toddler and finally a teenager in Gokul. He did many miracles even at his early years of life.

Kamsa was surely upset because someone had already born to kill him. However, Kamsa was not to give in. He thought out plans to exterminate toddler Krishna in Gokul. Kamsa sent one powerful demonic monster after another to take the lives of the children of his age, and caused the death of so many small children en mass in Gokul causing panic to the parents.

Krishna was not to die in the hands of the powerful demons rather those demons lost their lives. Krishna as the divine incarnation has supernatural power. So, no matter how mighty the demons were Krishna managed to take on one demon after another.

Kamsa had no more powerful demons left anymore to send them to Gokul in a mission to finish off Krishna. Krishna had been growing day by day. He had been a teenager. He had a brother senior to him named Balaram. They were more friends than brothers.

So, the childhood of Lord Krishna was not so easy but he enjoyed the childhood. He had to live with all the possible danger to his life. However, he enjoyed his early childhood going with the friends and stealing cream and yogurt from the next-door home, fed yogurt to the friends and him, too, got caught up by a chance, and serve the punishment bound in ropes.

With the passing of days, then weeks and months, Krishna growing up fast, Kamsa had been restless. He knew that the prophecy of the ascetic would come true if he were not to end the life of Krishna. He spent many sleepless nights thinking out viable and possible conspiracies to take the life of Krishna.

This time, Kamsa thought of powerful wrestlers in a wrestling ring or arena, and let them take the life of Krishna. Kamsa believed that the strong and skilled wresters would not have any problem of squeezing Krishna out of this beautiful world. That was a nice dream Kamsa had about bringing Krishna to an end.

Kamsa sent one of his trusted and loyal courtiers to Gokul and invite and bring Krishna to the wrestling show to be held in Mathura soon. However, the courtier knew the Kamsa’s motive, and did not want Krishna to risk his life.

Krishna’s parents did not want Krishna to go to Mathura because they thought that it must be certainly a conspiracy to destroy Krishna. So, Yashoda and Nandababa prayed Krishna not to go to Mathura. Krishna had a commanding argument with his parents, and ultimately managed to convince them of nothing wrong could go to him in Mathura or in any mundane world.

Krishna and Balaram set off for Mathura along with the courtier Kamsa had sent to. They took a long journey to Mathura. On the way, the courtier hinted at the possible danger to the life of Krishna while in Mathura. Krishna simply accepted it and took the journey with ease.

In Mathura, women married or single en masse ran after Krishna. They had heard how charming Krishna was, and how he had charmed the women cow herders in the forest in Gokul while they were grazing their cows on the grassy land in the forest area. Some of the husbands went to Kamsa and complained that Krishna had charmed their wives, sisters, and even daughters to go after him.

A majestic show of wrestling game was arranged in a large stadium in Mathura. All the high officials including the ministers were seated in the splendid seats built for the special occasion. Kamsa sat among them taking the majestic seat. Krishna and Balaram got the extraordinary seats in the stadium apparently for having a good view of the wrestling matches to watch.

Wrestlers had been warming up to fight against each other. Soon the match started off. Wrestlers demonstrated their skills in wrestling and one game after another entertained the extraordinary audience.

Then, one of the wrestlers invited Krishna and Balaram to the wrestling arena. It must be just for a fun, Balaram thought. However, Krishna knew what was waiting for them. Wrestlers began to fight with Balaram and Krishna. That was not a fun really. Fights went on. Balaram and Krishna fought with the wrestlers whoever came forward, and ultimately faced Kamsa who jumped into the arena and fought with Krishna. Kamsa certainly lost his life as the ascetic prophesized at the hands of the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudev.

Krishna went to the prison where his grandfather had been serving the jail term his own son Kamsa had passed on him, and released him from prison. The old man wanted his grandson Krishna to take over the reign. Krishna’s mission had not completed then and there. So, Krishna move on to another prison where his parents were serving the jail term under Kamsa for no faults of theirs, and freed them, too.

Then, Krishna’s mission was to eliminate the rest of the demonic spirits.

Krishna did not spare even his own nephew Abhimanyu tricking him to remove the safety bracelet he was wearing when Abhimanyu was going to war.

He did the same thing to Duryodhan, who would have been immortal if Krishna had not told him to wear at least underwear to stand in front of his blindfolded mother, who was supposed to see her son naked, and make his body not destroyable when she removed her blindfolds, and saw his whole body. However, the body part covered by the underwear became vulnerable to destruction.

Krishna had another grand design to finish off hundreds if not thousands of demonic spirits prevailing then. That design culminated into the Great War at Kuruchhetra, which was the most sacred place, whoever got killed or died there went straight to heaven. So, Krishna was so compassionate that he sent even the devils to heaven holding a regional war in such a place.

When Pandavas went to heaven they saw all those folks killed at Kuruchhetra had been already enjoying the heavenly lives before they could reach there. They were annoyed, as those devils had already been there where only the most pious folks were supposed to be. That was called Krishna Lila means the grand design of Lord Krishna.

On the eighth day of Bhadra, devotees visited the temples and shrines dedicated to Lord Krishna from the early morning. Thousands if not hundreds of thousands of devotees visited Krishna Mandir in Lalitpur from the early morning until the late night.

Devotees made special offerings to crawling Krishna. They offered him all sorts of baby foods. They put an idol of baby Krishna in a cradle and swing it to amuse him singing songs in praise of Lord Krishna.

September 2, 2018

Lo-sar: The New Year Festival

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Ethnic groups such as Tamangs, Sherpas, and Gurungs mostly belonging to the Buddhist faith celebrate a New Year festival called Lo-sar in Nepal. Lo means year and Sar means new. Thus, Lo-sar means a New Year. They have three kinds of Lo-sar. They are “Tola”, “Sonam” and “Gyalpo” Lo-sars. People in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim and northeastern part of India called Ladak celebrate one of these three Lo-sars following their tradition and custom. Relatives and friends living abroad and far away return home for celebrating Lo-sar.

In Nepal, we celebrate “Tola” Lo-sar some time in December. Some people think that we celebrate “Tola” Lo-sar in preparation for celebrating the main Lo-sar following the lunar calendar. However, it is not so because we Nepalis living in the mountain areas of Nepal widely use both lunar and solar calendars. We celebrate Lo-sar on the day when the sun begins moving toward north according to the lunar calendar. Hence, it falls some time in December. Some people think that it is a mock New Year celebration because the name “Tola” denotes mock.

The second Lo-sar we have is “Sonam” Lo-sar. The name Sonam is derived from “Sonampa” means farmers. Farmers celebrate Lo-sar before the agricultural season sets in. Hence, it is called “Sonam” Lo-sar or farmers’ New Year. Farmers celebrate it some time in January about one and a half months earlier than “Gyalpo” Lo-sar.

The third Lo-sar called “Gyalpo” means royal or king. Hence, kings and royalties celebrate “Gyalpo” Lo-sar some time in February or March following the lunar calendar.

The Sherpa community in Nepal celebrates “Gyalpo” Lo-sar. Some people believe that scholars set the tradition of celebrating “Gyalpo” Lo-sar in commemoration of the miracles Lord Shravosti Buddha performed for fifteen days to convert religious pilgrims to Buddhism. Therefore, the celebration of “Gyalpo” Lo-sar coincides with these religious festivals.

Now, let us see how we celebrate Lo-sar in Nepal. In preparation for celebrating Lo-sar, we renovate, paint and decorate our houses. We draw figures of mountain, sun, moon and Shastric swastikas on the walls of our houses and rooms. We buy new clothes for all our family members. We discard old things and we bring new utensils, vessels and other household appliances into use in the New Year. We believe that the old things that were not much in use in the year won’t bring good luck to us in the New Year. We also think that it is inauspicious to throw away old things during the New Year festival. Hence, we discard and throw out many old things before the Lo-sar festival sets in. We collect all worn-out clothes, broken items and other non-usable materials, and take them to the intersection of seven lanes; there, we burn them down. We believe that by doing so, the misfortunes that struck us in the year, might not repeat in the New Year.

We read scriptures, and recite important passages of religious books throughout the day of the New Year eve, so that the New Year sets in with peace, happiness and good health for all.

We eat a special festival feast called “Gyathuk” in the New Year eve. The dish is a special kind of “Thukpa”: a noodle soup prepared from nine different items. We serve ‘Gyathuk” to family members with a dumpling. Each dumpling contains a piece of paper that has written an item such as chili, butter, coal and so on that describe the personality traits of the receiver. The person receiving a dumpling with a paper in it with a word “butter” is considered to be a lucky person for that year, and the person receiving a dumpling with a paper in it with a word “coal” is considered to be an unlucky person. We have nine different characteristics we use in dumplings for prophesizing the luck of our family members in the New Year eve. Our tradition is to feast on nine bowls of “Gyathuk” to ensure a lucky start of the New Year.

We make a dough figurine called “Luu” and place it in a separate bowl. This effigy serves as an evil spirit carrier. At the end of the “Gyathuk” meal, every member of a family pours the leftover soup in the bowl with the figurine. Thereafter, every one of us transfers the so-called evil spirit that may be dwelling in us to the effigy.

For transferring the evil spirit dwelling in us, we chipped off a piece of the dough effigy, and then rub it on our body, and return it back to the effigy. After this ritual, one of us takes the bowl with the evil spirit possessed dough figurine to a crossroads, and leaves it there. Then s/he comes home not looking back because if s/he looks over the shoulder, evil spirits might find the way back home.

We rise early in the morning on the New Year day, and go to collect holy water from the Water Gods. At the water source before collecting holy water, we worship three Water Gods. We believe that whoever takes water first will receive “Amrit” (elixir or nectar) from Water Gods as blessings. Then, we bring holy water home and offer it to our ancestral deity. Thereafter, we offer “Khapsay”: fried bread especially made for this occasion, and “Nai vidya” means nuts, sweets and fruits together to the deity. Thus, we begin a New Year with auspicious offerings to the deity.

After completion of the offerings to the deity, we eat breakfast comprising soup called “Chang-go”. We prepared it boiling ‘chhang’ (homebrew corn, wheat or rice beer) with sugar, butter and dried cheese. Then, we eat a second course called “Deysel”. It is a sweet rice dish cooked with dried fruits and nuts. We consume a number of “Khapsay” along with these dishes. We also drink butter tea endlessly.

After the morning meal, we visit monasteries to perform offerings to Lord Buddha, to read holy books, and to receive New Year blessings from Lamas.

We do not do businesses that involve monetary transactions on this day believing that it might bring unfavorable business in the New Year.

From the second day on, we visit relatives, friends and neighbors to exchange best wishes. We greet each other saying “Tashi - Delek” means happy New Year. Every household welcomes guests with delicious dishes and “chhang”.

On the third day, we gather at a public place to celebrate Lo-sar jointly. First, we offer “Khada”: ceremonial silk scarves, sweets, fruits and so on to Lamas and senior respectable people of the society, and receive blessings from them. Then, we share delicious food among us.

After eating the community meal, we take ‘Dor-chhod” means religious flags to the top of hills, there, we unfurl them on flagpoles. We also offer incense and sweets to deities there. We chant “Lha-Gyal Lo, Dud Famshow” in one voice. This means glory to the deities and death to the devils. Then, we distribute “chhang” and “chemar” as blessings from deities. “Chemar” is a mixture of cooked barley flour, butter and sugar. We drink “chhang” and eat “chemar.”

Then, our men and women holding hands of each other sing and dance spontaneously, thus, displaying happiness in the celebration of Lo-sar festival. This dance is called “Sya-pu”. It does not need music.

Thereafter, each household holds a feast for relatives every day, in turn, until all related households has done it. Thus, the New Year feast lasts several days.

“Khapsay” is fried bread. It is a special cuisine of this festival. Some of us decorate our religious room with the different color and size of “khapsay”. Therefore, we put our efforts on and skills in preparing a variety of “khapsay” on the occasion of “Lo-sar”. We cook this kind of bread only once a year during the “Lo-sar” festival. Our people demonstrate their craftsmanship and ingenuity in preparing such artistic and unique bread not only for consumption during the festival but for decoration and for sending it as a present to friends and relatives. We have a tradition of sending a basketful of “khapsay” to friends and relatives.

References:

1. Bhichhu Wong Wosere Lama Sherpa: Lo-sar: The Festival of Nepalis Living in the Himalayan Region, February 19, 1994 (Gorkhapatra in Nepali).

2. Jamyong Lodoe and Susan Roe: Happy Tibetan New Year, February 16, 1994 (The Independent)

Note: This year “Tola Lo-sar” is on January 05, 2011; “Sonam” is on February 04, 2011; “Gyalpo” is on March 05, 2011 according to the Nepalese calendar.

Addendum:

Following is "The Story of Losar" contributed by Venerable Salden of Namgyal Monastery (Personal Monastery of His Holiness the Dalai Lama) to Tibet Center, Chicago, and posted on the website Phayul.com, Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Happy Losar (Tibetan New Year)!

It is time again for Tibetans around the world to celebrate their Losar: this time, the Year of the Earth Mouse 2135.

Tibetans and a section of Buddhists around the world will celebrate Losar on Thursday, February 7, 2008. The celebration normally lasts for three days, and it all means time for greetings, togetherness and abundant festivities, and time for prayers as well.

The word Losar is a Tibetan word for New Year. LO means year and SAR means new.

The celebration of Losar can be traced back to the pre-Buddhist period in Tibet. During the period when Tibetans practiced the Bon religion, every winter a spiritual ceremony was held, in which people offered large quantities of incense to appease the local spirits, deities and protectors. This religious festival later evolved into an annual Buddhist festival, which is believed to have originated during the reign of Pude Gungyal, the ninth King of Tibet.

The festival is said to have begun when an old woman named Belma introduced the measurement of time based on the phases of the moon. This festival took place during the flowering of the apricot trees of the Lhokha Yarla Shampo region in autumn, and it may have been the first celebration of what has become the traditional farmers' festival. It was during this period that the arts of cultivation, irrigation, refining iron from ore and building bridges were first introduced in Tibet. The ceremonies, which were instituted to celebrate these new capabilities, can be recognized as precursors of the Losar festival.

Later when the rudiments of the science of astrology, based on the five elements, were introduced in Tibet, this farmer's festival became what we now call the Losar or New Year's festival.

The calendar is made up of twelve lunar months and Losar begins on the first day of the first month. In the monasteries, the celebrations for the Losar begin on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth month. That is the day before the Tibetan New Year's Eve. On that day the monasteries do a protector deities' puja (a special kind of ritual) and begin preparations for the Losar celebrations.

The custom that day is to make special noodle called guthuk. It is made of nine different ingredients including dried cheese and various grains. Also, dough balls are given out with various ingredients hidden in them such as chilies, salt, wool, rice and coal. The ingredients one finds hidden in one's dough ball are supposed to be a lighthearted comment on one's character. If a person finds chilies in their dough, it means they are talkative. If white-colored ingredients like salt, wool or rice are inside the dough it is considered a good sign. If a person finds coal in the dough it has much the same meaning as finding coal in one's Christmas stocking; it means you have a "black heart".

The last day of the year is a time to clean and prepare for the approaching New Year. In the monasteries it is a day of preparations. The finest decorations are put up and elaborate offerings are made of called "Lama Losar". In the early dawn of this day, the monks of Namgyal Monastery offer a sacrificial cake (Tse- tor) on top of the main temple (Potala in Tibet) to the supreme hierarchy of Dharma protectors, the glorious goddess Palden Lhamo. Led by the Dalai Lama, the abbots of three great monasteries, lamas, reincarnated monks, government officials and dignitaries join the ceremony and offer their contemplative prayers, while the monks of Namgyal Monastery recite the invocation of Palden Lhamo. After the completion of this ceremony, all assemble in the hall called Excellence of Samsara and Nirvana for a formal greeting ceremony. Seated on his or her respective cushions, everyone exchanges the traditional greeting, "Tashi delek".

In order to wish the His Holiness the Dalai Lama good luck for the coming year, consecrated long-life pills (tse-ril) made out of roasted barley dough are offered to him by the representatives of the three great monasteries, the two Tantric Colleges, etc. Then entertainers (garma) perform a dance of good wishes. And two senior monks stage a debate on Buddhist philosophy, and conclude their debate with an auspicious recitation composed especially for the event, in which the whole spectrum of Buddhist teaching is first briefly reviewed. A request is made to His Holiness and to all holders of the doctrine to remain for a long time amongst beings in samsara in order to serve them through their enlightened activities. The official ceremony of the day then concludes with a ceremonial farewell to the His Holiness, who then retires to his palace.

The second day of Losar is known as King's Losar (gyal-po lo-sar) because officially the day is reserved for a secular gathering in the hall of Excellence of Samsara and Nirvana. His Holiness and his government exchange greetings with both monastic and lay dignitaries, such as representatives of China, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Mongolia and other foreign visitors.

Then from the third day onwards, the people and monks begin to celebrate and enjoy the festive season. In Tibet before the Chinese came, Losar had been celebrated for fifteen days or more. In India today we celebrate for three days, and in America we have minimized it to one day. In this way the three days of the New Year celebration officially concludes.

Ends

Completing The Svosthani Story

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

A large number of the Hindu Nepalis visit Sakhu to take a last dip in the holy waters of the Salinadi Stream, every household completes the one-month-long Svosthani story, and about one hundred men and women taking the one-month-long Svosthani fasting complete it on the full moon day (February 18, 2011) of the Magha (Jan-Feb) month in the Nepalese calendar called Nepal Sambat. The Svosthani Story is unique to Nepal. It tells about the creation of the earth planet, the battle between the Shiva sect and Vishnu sect and finally, the election to a new king in the ancient Nepalese style.

Every Hindu household has started telling the Svosthani Story, once, one-month-long religious festival has started at Salinadi Stream in Sakhu, and a group of about one hundred men and women have started taking the Svosthani fasting at the Salinadi on the full moon of Poush (Dec-Jan) following the Nepal Sambat. During this period thousands of Hindu Nepalis have visited Salinadi and have made offerings to Svosthani, and then to Chandravoti, Nava Raj and the porters that have carried Chandravoti on a palanquin. Some of the pilgrims take a dip in the holy but cold winter waters of the Salinadi Stream in Sakhu.  All these things complete on the full moon day of the Magha.

The Svosthani Story tells first about the creation of the earth planet then about Lord Shiva marrying the first spouse Sati Devi, then the battle between the followers of Lord Shiva and Daksha prajapati: the proxy of Lord Vishnu, then the death of Sati Devi, her incarnation as the daughter of King Himalaya and her marriage with Lord Shiva again. The couple then have two sons: Ganesh and Kumar. Lord Shiva and his spouse Parvati want to bestow a boon on one of them that meets the condition making a round trip to Mount Sumeru: current day Himalaya, and coming first. Then, comes the story of Nava Raj and his spouse Chandravoti, how he becomes the king and how she suffers disgrace after insulting the deity Svosthani.

Daksha prajapati has several beautiful daughters. He has given them in marriage to one divinity after another including Lord Vishnu. However, he not only refuses giving his youngest beautiful daughter called Sati Devi to Lord Shiva when he comes to ask for the hands of his last daughter but also insults him in a disgraceful language using several foul words. This story is actually about the fight between the supporters of Shiva sect and Vishnu sect.

Frustrated with not having Sati Devi as a spouse for him and with the humiliating words of Daksha prajapati, Lord Shiva starts wobbling on earth. Lord Vishnu feels it and takes it seriously. So, he immediately approaches Lord Shiva, and finds out the reasons for Lord Shiva making unsteady steps. Lord Vishnu proposes Lord Shiva to trick Daksha prajapati to give the hands of his most beautiful daughter Sati Devi in marriage to Lord Shiva.

Lord Vishnu has been holding the hands of Sati Devi at the marriage platform for several minutes but Lord Shiva has failed to show up as agreed on. When her parents approach to grant the hands of Sati Devi to Lord Vishnu he becomes impatient and thinks that he will fail in tricking Daksha prajapati but Lord Shiva shows up just on time, and places his hands under the hands of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu pulls out his hands leaving Lord Shiva’s hands receiving the grant of the hands of Sati Devi. This is another story that Lord Vishnu attempts to reconcile Daksha prajapati with Lord Shiva.

Furious with Lord Vishnu at tricking him to grant the hands of Sati Devi to Lord Shiva, Daksha prajapati once again uses whatever foul words available to insult Lord Shiva. However, Sati Devi accepts Lord Shiva as her spouse despite her father being deadly against it.

Then, comes the story of Daksha prajapati performing the fire worship called Yagya. As a rule, Daksha prajapati should invite all his married daughters and their spouses but he skips the invitation to Sati Devi and her spouse Lord Shiva. However, Narad: the divine messenger of Lord Vishnu takes the news of Daksha prajapati performing Yagya to Sati Devi and Lord Shiva. Disregarding the advice of Lord Shiva not to go to her father, Sati Devi rushes to her father only to get insulted again. Not being able to digest the insult of her father, she simply jumps into the fireplace and meets the death.

Lord Shiva rushing after Sati Devi finds his beloved Sati Devi lying dead in the fireplace, in anger, he cut off the head of Daksha prajapati and tosses it to the fireplace but he sets a head of sacrificial lamb on the shoulder of Daksha prajapati after a dramatic plea of his spouse for saving the life of Daksha prajapati. Thus, the fight between the Shiva sect and the Vishnu sect ends with the violent demise of Daksha prajapati: the protagonist of Vishnu sect.

The Shiva sect has originated in the Himalayas. So, we see Lord Shiva always meditating in the snow-capped mountain. His teaching is non-violent and peaceful ways of living.  The Vishnu sect has originated in ocean. So, Lord Vishnu is always lying on the bed of plaited five-headed serpents. It teaches the evolution of life on earth. So, Vishnu has ten incarnations. The story about Svosthani is the meeting between the Shiva sect and the Vishnu sect in Nepal.

After the death, Sati Devi incarnates as Parvati: the daughter of King Himalaya. The Svosthani story brings back the possibility of Lord Vishnu wedding Parvati but she herself avoids such a possibility and dedicates her life to Lord Shiva. Thus, Lord Shiva wins the hands of Parvati. Lord Shiva and Parvati have two sons: Ganesh and Kumar. When both the sons have come of age, Lord Shiva and Parvati call them to their abode and announce, “It is time for us to bestow a boon upon one of you that meets the condition of making a trip to Mount Sumeru and then going around it three times and coming back first.”

Kumar has a peacock as a steed whereas Ganesh has a rat. Immediately without thinking twice, Kumar rides on a peacock and undertakes a journey to Sumeru. Poor Ganesh remains puzzled at home with his steed rat sitting beside him. The rat notices his master is upset, so it asks the master why he has been so upset today but Ganesh ignores the concern of the rat for his mental status thinking the poor rat can do nothing and even it is good for nothing. Then, the rat goes on insisting on its master to tell the reason for being so upset. Finally, Ganesh give in and tells the reason for being so upset.

“Listen my dear, my parents have decided to bestow a boon on one of their sons in other words my brother Kumar and me on one condition: we have to make a long trip to Mount Sumeru and go around it three times, and then come first to receive the boon. Kumar has already possibly been half way to the Mount Sumeru flying on his steed whereas I having you as a steed have not been able to move even a single step. Tell me what can I do without being upset?”

The rat says, “Master, it is not a big deal. Please go to your parents and ask them to stand together and go around them three times in a clockwise direction and then prostrate at their feet, and tell them ‘for me, you are my Sumeru and I have made three rounds of it; so please grant me a boon’.”

Taking the rat’s tip, Ganesh goes to his parents and do whatever his steed rat has advised him to do. Lord Shiva and Parvati become very pleased with Ganesh and without thinking twice grant a boon of receiving first offerings to Ganesh. Lord Shiva says, “My son Ganesh, from today onwards, humans will make first offering to you before making offerings to any other deities. Enjoy it, my son.”

Soon after the parents have bestowed the boon to Ganesh, Kumar comes back and hoping to receive the boon from his parents goes straight to Lord Shiva and Parvati and finds they have already granted the boon to Ganesh. Kumar makes an emotional appeal to his parents for a boon. Lord Shiva says, “Kumar, we have already granted the boon to Ganesh, we cannot take it back from Ganesh and give it to you but we can give you a boon of receiving an offering even before Ganesh does but not the full-fledged one but only a half of the offering Ganesh gets.”

So, Nevah people make a small offering to Kumar that sits in the form of an eight-petal lotus carved in a flagstone set at the main entrance to every house on the way to make offering to Ganesh at the neighborhood before making offerings to any deity. The Nevah people living in the Kathmandu Valley still follow this tradition.

Then the Svosthani tells the story about Nava Raj; how he is born as the son of a small girl destined to marry 77-year old man following the curse she has received from a holy man. After Nava Raj comes of age, he goes in search of his father that has gone to find out some herbs required for his infant son, and has gone missing since then, and finds his father’s bones, performs the last funeral rites and rituals to his dead father and comes back home.

One day Nava Raj goes to watch the selection of a new monarch by a royal elephant. He lines up with other curious bystanders on the sidewalks for curiously watching how the heavily decorated elephant with precious jewels and ornaments will choose a new monarch. He sees the elephant holding a flower garland by its trunk and walking steadily at its own pace. Bystanders clap their hands as the greetings to the elephant when it passes them.

When the elephant reaches Nava Raj standing with other onlookers, it stops and stands still and surprisingly takes a close look at Nava Raj, turns around and takes a close look at Nava Raj second time. The elephant seems to be satisfied with his look at Nava Raj but turns around once again to the surprise of all people standing there and this time with determination, the elephant takes a very close look at Nava Raj, and then puts the flower garland it has carried on its nose around the neck of Nava Raj and lifts him by its trunk and places gently on its back and takes Nava Raj to the palace.

At that time, Chandravoti is staying at her parents’ home but the news of her husband becoming the monarch has not taken much time to reach her. She immediately arranges two porters to carry her on a palanquin to the palace. Before crossing the Salinadi River, the porters want to drink water from the river. Chandravoti warns them of not taking too much time for drinking water but the porters after drinking water from the river find a group of people making offerings to Svosthani on the bank of the river and sit there for a minute to listen to the story of Svosthani but stay there until the end of the story and receive the food and flower blessings from the deity for themselves and for Chandravoti.

Furious at the porters for taking so long time to drink water, Chandravoti refuses to listen to the porters and does not accept the food and flower blessings of the deity and wants to move forward without delay. The porters carrying Chandravoti on a palanquin finds the river flooding but Chandravoti does not listen to the porters, simply wants to reach her husband at the soonest possible time. So, the porters have no choice but to attempt on crossing the swollen river. When they reach the middle of the river one of them slips and falls down and the river washes both of them away taking Chandravoti on the other side of the river and depositing her on the bank but she has been so disfigured nobody recognizes her. After sometimes, she comes to sense and thinks that she needs to revere deity Svosthani, so does she and gets her figure back and goes to live with her husband as a queen. Thus, ends the story of Svosthani.

On the full moon day of Magha, every Hindu household completes the reading out the Svosthani story and put the book on the shelf for next year to read out.

On this day, at the confluence of the Hanumante River in Bhaktapur, a religious festival is held. A dozen of men devotees wrapped their bodies down from the waist in white linens lie on their back on the bank of the river immersing lower portion of their bodies in the waters, some of them clasping their hands at their chests in prayer and others blowing conch shells calling Madhav Narayan. Women devotees opened up to their chests wash their heads in the waters of the Hanumante River in prayer to Madhav Narayan.

February 18, 2011

My email address is siddhiranjit@gmail.com for anybody wishing to contact me.

Note: Svosthani is the supreme deity called Bhagavati. She has eighteen limbs as the embodiment of nine goddesses.

Gaura Parva: Festival Of Wedding of Goddess Gaura with Lord Maheswore

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

The festival of Gaura Parva is actually the ceremonies of the wedding of Goddess Gaura and Lord Maheswore. Gauri is one of the many manifestations of Goddess Parvati, and Lord Maheswore is one of many incarnations of Lord Shiva. Thus, Gaura Parva is the celebration of the divine wedding. Gaura Parva is also known by other names such as Gauri, Gaura and Gamara. People believed that the original name of this festival was Gauri. Later on, the name Gauri has evolved first to Gaura, and then to Gamara and finally to Gora. People in general pronounce the name of Maheswore also as Mayesir. They have many holy shrines dedicated to Lord Maheswore and Goddess Parvati under different names in the mid and far western regions of Nepal.

In the mid and far western regions of Nepal and adjoining areas of India, people celebrate this festival for six days beginning on the fifth day and ending on the tenth day of the bright fortnight or dark fortnight in Bhadra (August-September) in the Vikram calendar depending on the position of planets at that time. Gaura Parva falling in the bright fortnight is called “Dholi Gora” or “Ujayai Gora” means light Gaura. Gaura Parva falling in the dark fortnight is called “Anari Gaura” or “Kali Gauri” means dark Gaura. Women taking the Gaura fast for the first time begin with the light Gaura.

Mostly women perform offerings to Goddess Gauri and God Maheswore on the occasion of the Gaura Parva. Men assist women in putting together all items of offerings, and in performing worship to these deities. Men participate in dancing, singing and merrymaking on equal footing with women. Women take the fast believing that the deities will bless them with children and happy lives.

Men and women spend most of the time during this festival singing rhythmically while performing various religious rituals. So, this festival is also known as the “loli gora” means ‘lyric gora’. Men and women describe the life of Gauri and Maheswore in the songs reflecting the difficult rural lives of women in these regions. They also describe the heroic deeds of main characters mentioned in two Hindu epics: Ramayan and Mahabharat. Recently, young men and women have begun singing amorous songs and ‘dohari’ songs on this occasion. However, parents and guardians are not favoring such songs despite the fact that the young people do not indulge in the corrupt activities. So, youngsters often stay away from their parents and guardians to sing such songs during this occasion.

Singers portray the lives of Gauri and Maheswore in the songs of the Gaura Parva as follow: Maheswore was born in a cowherd family, and Gauri was born in a rich family. However, both of them tend cows daily. When they have come of age, while tending cows one day the cowherd man noticed a beautiful woman also tending cows on another side of a river. The man and the woman started tending cows together in the forest, and have lovely days together. So, finally the poor man proposed the daughter of the rich family for marriage. The woman alone would not decide such a vital matter of life. So she asked him to go to her parents and ask them for her hands.

So, one day in the guise of a Hindu ascetic, the man went to the house of the woman’s parents and begged for alms. The mother brought the alms comprising various valuable items to please the ascetic but the ascetic refused to accept the alms rather asked for the hands of her daughter. The mother in anger spoke harshly to the beggar and told him to go away saying she would give her daughter in marriage to the Sun God or Moon God only not to any untidy ascetic.

Then, the man changed back to Lord Maheswore and the woman to Goddess Gauri. The parents were amazed very much and prostrated at the feet of those two divinities and apologized to Lord Maheswore for saying so harshly not knowing the ascetic was really a Lord Maheswore.

In addition, the popular songs describe the life of Gauri in a human form similar to the current lives of women in these regions. One day she visited her parents. Her senior brother and his spouse ignored her, as she was poor but her younger brother and his spouse treated her very well. She blessed the younger brother and his spouse with enough food and children. Seeing the richness of his brother, the senior brother and his spouse apologized to her for the bad treatment they made to her during her visit to them. Thus, the festival songs describe the rural life in the names of divinities.

On the fifth day of the lunar dark fortnight in Bhadra (August-September), fasting women perform the ceremony of soaking five different beans mixed together called ‘birudou’ in water. Early in the morning, women take a purification bath, and then, they wear clean and fresh clothes. Thereafter, they go to the house where they have set up the Chief Gauri called “Budhi Gora”. There, they perform the main ceremony of soaking ‘birudou’ in water following the tune of religious music and songs. Men, women and children participate in the singing. After completing the ceremony of soaking ‘birudou’ in water in the house of the Chief Gora, they move on to another house to repeat the same ceremony. Thus, they go from one house to another performing the soaking of ‘birudou’ in water at all houses of the area.

On the sixth day, fasting women perform the rituals of washing of ‘birudou’. First, they take the purification bath actually a dip in water, and then wear fresh clothes and then they gather at the house where they have set up the Chief Gora. They collect the pot containing ‘birudou’ from the house of the Chief Gora, and someone carries it on her head. Then, they go to the next house and collect a pot with ‘birudou’ and another woman carries it on her head, thus, the women visit all the houses where they have set up ‘birudou’.

Then all women carrying ‘birudou’ on their heads go to the nearest water source to perform the rituals of washing ‘birudou’. After completing the ceremony of washing ‘birudou’, they come back with ‘birudou’ on their heads. On the way singing and dancing, they visit one house after another for returning ‘birudou’. A musical band accompanies them.

This ceremony of taking ‘birudou’ to the water source at the distance of about three kilometers and washing ‘birudou’ there and returning ‘birudou’ to each house take them about five hours. Some women sign the songs depicting the lives of Gauri and Maheswore.

On the seventh day, they make offerings to Goddess Gauri and God Maheswore in the house of “Budhi Gora”.  Before performing the worship to the divine couple, early in the morning women go to the rice field and collect five different plants collectively called ‘sau’, and they make idols of Gauri out of these plants and leave them nearby village. This idol is called “Gamara”. They dress it up in satin, and deck it out with a glass-bead necklace, other bridal jewelry, and make it a bride, and put it in a wicker basket, and make offerings to it.

Thereafter, they go with a musical band to collect “Gamara”. They fetch all “Gamara” and leave one “Gamara” to each house of all women moving from one house to another. Then, they take the main ‘Gamara” to “Budhi Gaura”. All women taking the fast bring their ‘birudou’ soaked in water to “Budhi Gaura”. Here, the priest makes an idol of Lord Maheswore and performs worship to Goddess Gauri and God Maheswore. Women offer ‘birudou’ to this divine couple.

While women devotees perform offerings to the Goddess and the God at the “Budhi Gora” house, youths sing and dance at the courtyard. This dance is called “Dueda”. This is a special performance done on this occasion of “Gaura Parva”. Two groups: one of men only another of women only sing songs in turn describing about love and friendship. This sort of song is called “dohari” in other parts of Nepal. “Dohari” means two ways. These two groups of men and women dance together holding hands of each other forming a circle to the tune of music.

In the evening of the seventh day, after the completion of offerings to the deities, women wear threads with seven knots that symbolize seven worlds. They do so in the belief that they will be liberated from seven worlds. After the completion of this ritual, they dance with the idols of Lord Maheswore on their heads. At that time, they stage various sorts of shows and dances. After such lively celebration, fun and enjoyment, accompanied by a musical band, they take “Gamara” home.

On the eighth day, women devotees perform religious rites to Goddess Gauri and God Maheswore at the house of Budhi Gora”. After the completion of worship, they distribute ‘birudou’: mixture of five different grains as the blessings from the divinities. On this day, women devotees wear threads with eighty-four knots. These threads are called “bubo dhago”. They believe that this will emancipate them from taking the births of eight million four hundred thousands different living beings on earth. Hindus believe taking the birth of so many lives is an arduous life cycle, so, people attempt to get liberated from such rebirths.

On the eighth day also, men, women and children enjoy the festival occasion dancing and singing. On this occasion, they perform a men-only dance called “dhamari”. Two groups of men perform this dance. All men dance holding hands of each other standing in a circle stepping forward and backward in the tune of music.

On the ninth day, devotees perform the wedding of “Gamara (Gauri)” and Lord Maheswore. On this day, women bring “Gamara” from their houses and assembly them together to a single “Budhi Gora” at the “Budhi Gora” house. A tradition has it that they set up “Budhi Gora” at two places in ‘Moodbhara’ of the Doti district. Women of one place go to collect ‘Gamara’ from every house of another and assemble them a single “Budhi Gora” there. Thus, women devotees of one place make “Budhi Gora’ of another. Thereafter, they hold wedding rituals to Goddess Gauri called “Gamara” and Lord Maheswore at their respective places. After the ceremony, people dance, sing and entertain the whole night.

On the tenth day, devotees decorate “Budhi Gora” and Maheswore, and then take them to the community courtyard for religious rituals and then to the temple to Pashupati to burn them down. They take “Budhi Gora” on a portable shrine carried by devotees on shoulder poles from the lower village to every house on the way to its last destination called ‘winokhala’. Similarly, devotees bring “Budhi Gora” from the upper village to the same courtyard called “winokhala’. They also bring Lord Maheswore along with “Budhi Gora”. Here, people from all difference places congregate to watch the swapping of Lord Maheswore of the lower village with that of the upper village. Thus, one “Budhi Gora” has Maheswore of another. Thereafter, they take the idols of “Budhi Gora” and Maheswore to every house on the way to the Pashupati temple where they burn down the idols of divinities. Thus ends the Gaura Parva. After the completion of the religious ceremonies, youths spend the whole night singing and dancing.

References:

1.    Bhuvaneswore Joshi, August 28, 1994, Kantipur: Dharmik Aastha Ra Rasaranga Ko Sangam, Gora Parva.

2.    Harihar Pandey, August 14, 1993, Gorkhapatra (supplement): Sundar Paschi-manchal Ko Chad “Gora Parva”

Janma-astami: The Day Lord Took Human Birth

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

“Happy Janma-astami, May Lord Bless you,” Some people greeted each other in Kathmandu today, as today at the midnight Lord Krishna is to descend on this mundane world to correct all the evils and political corruption prevailing in the Hindu world. Lord Krishna has been the symbol of the victory of good over evil. Every Hindu household particularly the Vaishnavi household makes offerings to the crawling Krishna decorating as a child at home. Today starting early morning, Nepalese have been visiting the temples to Lord Krishna elsewhere in the Kathmandu Valley and specially the world-heritage Krishna Mandir in Patan. The visiting of the devotees continues today until midnight. The nine-day festival called Gunhu-punhi also ends today.

Even the deities have to take human incarnations to bring the law and order back in the Hindu society. On this very day called Janma-astami: the last day of the nine-day festival, two deities were born in the human forms to end the tyrannies prevailing in the Hindu world of that time. The nine-day festival started off on the Gunhu-punhi or Jani-purnima. The last day is Janma-astami. The day is for two deities to take human forms to destroy all evil spirits including Monarch Kamsa of Mathura. Kamsa represented the deadly evil in the Hindu world.

Kamsa took over as the monarch of Mathura imprisoning his father. He was a tyrannical monarch. He did not see anybody above him. He thought that he was only the supreme human and he could do everything. He disregarded all the Hindu scriptures and disbelieved all super power or super soul. He set his own norms to run the administration causing tremendous sufferings to the believers.

However, he had soft corner in his heart for his super beautiful sister called Devaki. He wanted to give her in marriage to the person equally smart matching her beauty. He found all those qualities in the prince Basudev. Sister Devaki and Basudev got wedded in the lavish royal style.

Kamsa himself took the newly wedded couple to the streets of Mathura driving a royal horse cart. While on the streets, the divine super soul descended as an ascetic on the street of Mathura, and stopped the cart Kamsa was driving, and warned Kamsa saying, “Kamsa, you are so happy with this newly wedded couple but the eighth son of the young lady will be the cause of your death.” Then, the ascetic disappeared.

Kamsa immediately took out his saber from the case and raised his hand to cut Devaki in two. Basudev stopped Kamsa committing a heinous crime holding his hand, and he pleaded Kamsa not to kill Devaki, as only the eighth child was the cause not her even believing the ascetic. He said, “We will give you all the children born of Devaki to you, and then do whatever you like with them.”

Kamsa cooled down, and started to think logically a little bit. He accepted the offer of brother-in-law Basudev, and he turned around the cart and drove it back to his palace. He ordered the prison officials to come to him. He ordered them to put both Basudev and Devaki in shackles, and imprisoned them within the seven cells, and to padlock all the cells with strong locks.

Thus, the newly wedded couple instead of going to the honeymoon landed in the cells in chains. The jail life has been the Basudev and Devaki’s worst nightmare. However, Devaki conceived a first child in the prison. As soon as the news of the Devaki’s pregnancy reached Kamsa, he intensified the prison security and he frequented the prison to see the progress of the Devaki’s pregnancy. He even increased his frequency of the prison visit, as the delivery date was approaching.

Kamsa ordered the prison officials, and said, “No matter when a child is born just inform me instantly.” He impatiently waited for the birth of a child. He had a little sleep at night waiting for the news of the childbirth in the prison cell. Devaki and Basudev had been just a helpless couple surviving at the mercy of the cruel and despotic Kamsa.

On one night a prison official ran to the palace, and breathlessly and emotionally said, “His Majesty, Devaki gave birth to a child.” Kamsa responded, “Yeah?” Kamsa grabbed his outer garment and hurriedly put it on, and ran to the prison cell. “Yeah, Devaki gave birth to a child.”

Kamsa snatched the child from Devaki. Kamsa was about to smash the child on the ground. Devaki made an emotional appeal to Kamsa for not harming the child but the brutal demonic Kamsa did not listen to his once-beloved sister. He took hold of the two feet together of the child and spun the child over his head and then he smashed the child on the prison wall splashing the blood everywhere. Kamsa laughed heartily.

Kamsa killed one child after another Devaki gave birth to in the prison. When the birth of the eighth child was approaching, Kamsa became even more nervous and concerned with the childbirth, and he ordered the jailers to be additionally alert not to miss informing him instantly the birth of the child, as this very male child would be the cause of his death, as the ascetic prophesized.

Devaki gave birth to an eighth child. Immediately, a divine voice in the prison said, “Basudev, take the child to Gokul and swapped the child with the girl child born there, and bring her back to the prison.” “How could I do what you said when I am here within the seven cells so strongly locked and so many jail guards have been guarding the prison,” said Basudev.  “Do just as I said, the rest, I will take care of.”

Basudev reluctantly took the male child and put him in a wicker basket and held it on his head, and went on to the prison gate. To his utmost surprise, the prison gate was opened automatically, all the guards were snoring heavily drowning any sound in the prison. He came out freely.

Basudev marched with the basket on his head as fast as he could. He came to the Yamuna River full of water as it was during the rainy season. He waded the waist-deep river but it went on rising as he waded.

The goddess of water called Ganga sensing the lord was in the basket, the river water went on rising to reach the lord. The water went up so high it was up to the neck of Basudev when he reached the middle of the river but he went on. The lord in the wicker basket Basudev was carrying on his head just lowered his right leg to touch the water. The River Goddess Ganga has the audience of the lord, and the water level immediately went down.

Basudev reached Gokul. All the doors and windows were wide opened up. Yasoda and Nanda-gopal were in their sound sleep. A girl child was born to them. Basudev kept the basket on the ground and took out the male child, and placed the child next to the mother Yasoda, and took the girl child and returned back to the prison. As soon as he was in the prison he lost the memory of what he had done, and where he had been.

The chief jailer went to the palace, and he said, “His Majesty, a girl child was born in the prison.” Kamsa was surprised very much. He thought for a minute the child should be a male. Anyway he hurried to the prison. He took the child from Devaki despite her emotional plead for saving the life of the innocent child.

Kamsa kicked off the hands of Devaki that had been holding the feet of Kamsa pleading him for the life of her eighth child. Kamsa held two feet together of the child and started spinning her over his head for smashing the child on the prison wall.

The child slipped of the hand of Kamsa and flew in the air. The child said, “Kamsa, you don’t have sufficient power to kill me but a male child called Krishna have been already born in Gokul to kill you.” Then the child disappeared.

Kamsa almost lost his balance and about to fall down but Basudev saved him from falling. Kamsa came to his sense. He thunderously shouted, and said, “How come, a child born in Gokul can kill me.”

However, Kamsa did not want to take any chance, and he decreed to kill all the children of up to the two years of age in Gokul. He called on one demon after another that could change to any animal or human as needed to send them in the mission of killing children in Gokul. One demon after another visiting Gokul succeeded to destroy numerous young children but not Krishna. Rather all the demons went to Gokul to kill Krishna lost their lives.

Krishna has been growing up as a regular child in Gokul. He has many playmates including the best one called Sudama that loved to bring with him the roasted broken rice to feed Krishna. All the playmates followed him wherever he went.

Krishna loved to eat cream. He along went his friends stole the cream from the neighboring houses. Every household stored the cream in an earthen pot hanging from the ceiling. To reach the cream pot, Krishna often rode on the human wall his playmates formed, and brought the pot down only to devour the cream in a second.

A woman caught Krishna stealing her cream. She grabbed him and tied him up by a rope to a nearby wooden pillar. She went to the Krishna’ mother, and complained of how Krishna stole her cream, and that was why she tied him up and fastened to a wooden pillar.

Krishna’s mother Yasoda rushed to the neighbor’s house but they did not find Krishna supposed to be tied up in ropes. When Yasoda left the house, the neighbor found Krishna in place. She was so surprised. She hurriedly freed Krishna, and let him go.

Then, it had been an open secrete that Kamsa wanted to end the life of Krishna. As Kamsa could not take the life of the young Krishna, he wanted to put an end to Krishna using any other possible means.

Kamsa invited Krishna to watch the wrestling match in Mathura ostensibly to amuse him but obviously with an aim of taking life of Krishna. It was his last attempt on the life of Krishna. Kamsa prepared ferocious looking powerful wrestlers to wrestle with Krishna and take the life of Krishna at the wrestling arena. A large stage was set in a stadium.

Krishna and his elder brother Balaram set off for Mathura despite mother Yasoda pleaded Krishna for not going, as she knew that Kamsa was simply setting Krishna to a death trap. Yasoda said, “My son, Kamsa wants to take your life. He must be simple setting a death trap for you in Mathura.” Krishna said, “Mom, You don’t have to worry about my life. I know what he is doing. I will be fine; nothing will happen to me, and my brother.”

Apparently, Kamsa was very happy to receive Krishna in Mathura on the occasion of the great wrestling match. Kamsa carefully hide his fear and concern for Krishna being the cause of his death. He set special seats for Krishna and Balaram in the stadium. All the high officials took their respective seats in the stadium to watch the wrestling match.

A great wrestling match went on among the famous wrestlers in Mathura. In the middle of the match, some of the wrestlers invited Krishna and Balaram to wrestle. Obviously, Kamsa had carefully planned all these acts. Balaram and Krishna cheerfully accepted the invitation to the wrestling match.

Both the brothers demonstrated their high skills in wrestling, and highly entertained the audience. They sent one wrestler after another out of the wrestling arena. Most of the wrestlers disabled and some of them even died.

Then came Kamsa himself down to the wrestling ground clearly with the intention of killing Krishna and Balaram. Kamsa believed that he could do the job with his powerful hands but he had been so weakened with his atrocities and royal corruption, Krishna and Balaram put Kamsa to death in no time.

Krishna went to the jail where he was born, and where his parents were still in shackles for their no faults but for the sins Kamsa committed. He freed them from both the shackles and the prison.

Then, Krishna went to the next cell to free his grandfather Kamsa had imprisoned. Krishna said, “Grandpa, go and take the kingdom you have lost to your son Kamsa.” “No, my grandson, you killed Kamsa and you earned the kingdom,” said the grandfather.

However, Krishna made his grandfather realized that he did not end the life of Kamsa for the kingdom. Krishna said, “Grandpa, I did not take the life of Kamsa for the kingdom but to end all sorts of the royal corruption and atrocities prevailing in Mathura.”

Krishna had a good life in Mathura. He was so charming whenever he was on the streets in Mathura women rushed to follow him. Unmarried women and married as well followed Krishna. Some husbands even complained about Krishna hypnotizing their wives and other women in Mathura.

Ending the life of Kamsa, Krishna has not completed his worldly mission. He has even more challenging tasks to complete in Hastinapur where Duryodhana: the son of born-blind Monarch Dhrittarastra has been causing havoc. Duryodhana played tricks on Pandavas: five brothers to send them to exile, and even attempting to take their lives burning down the Barnabate royal guesthouse where they are for the retreat.

Krishna was the chief architect of the battle of Kuruchhetra to decide who would have the Hastinapur kingdom, as Duryodhana did not want to settle the issue amicably.

When all the warriors of both sides stood face to face in Kuruchhetra ready to kill each other for gaining the Hastinapur kingdom, one of the five brothers Arjun: the most powerful warrior and would-be the deciding figure in the battle of Kuruchhetra seeing all the opponents were his friends, relatives, and teachers, he put down his bow and arrows, and refused to start a war for killing anyone of those standing opposite to him.

Then and there, Krishna took up the challenging task of convincing Arjun of he was not going to kill their souls but their physical bodies that had been foul because of their corrupt practices, and of the Arjun’s mission was simply to end the so much prevailing corruption in them. The Kuruchhetra war ended with the destruction of all warriors on both sides except for a few. That is a lesson for the war mongers.

The Hindu scriptures says Krishna is the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu clearly ignoring the female child that has challenged Kamsa and flew away from the prison cell in Mathura. The two divine souls one remained as Krishna another flew away immediately completing its mission are surely the part of the super soul that is the combined form of Shiva and Parvati that has taken innumerable forms in different names to end the evils in the human world.

With the celebration of the birthday of Lord Krishna, the nine-day festival called Gunhu-punhi ends. Nepalese have enjoyed a lot of entertainment during the nine-day festival. On the night of the ninth day, Nepalese make a portable stage on which a scene of Krishna and his spouses was depicted, and carried on shoulder poles round the town.

August 25, 2016

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

On the fifth day of the bright fortnight of Sravon (July-August) in the Nepalese calendar, every Nepalese household pastes a printed-multi-color portrait of Serpent God called Naga on the lintel of the main entrance to the house believing the portrait of Naga protects the house from lightning and other evil elements. This day is called ‘Naga Pancami’ means the fifth day of Naga. On this day, Nepalis visit various ponds where Serpent God Naga believed to be residing in Kathmandu and elsewhere in Nepal, and make offerings of milk, holy grass ‘dubo’ and other items Serpent God Naga believed to like. Serpent God called Basuki Naga had played a crucial role in bringing a deity called Matsyandranath or Karunamaya from Kamarupa to Nepal. Naga also plays a significant role in a religious festival held in Panauti.

On the early morning of this day, the senior male member of every household takes a purification bath in a nearby river and goes around the deities there, and then comes home to perform the rituals of pasting a portrait of Naga on the lintel of a main entrance to the house. He remains fasting until he completes the pasting of a portrait of the Naga god.

One female member of the household puts together all the items required for pasting a portrait of Naga. She puts together some grains of buckwheat, a small bunch of holy grass called ‘dubo’, vermilion, cow milk and a coin on one copper platter, a pot of holy water, and a lump of fresh cow dung on a leaf.

A lady brings all the items of offerings on a platter, a holy water pot, and a lump of cow dung on one hand, and a stepstool on another to the main entrance for the patriarch to paste a Naga portrait on the lintel of the main entrance to the house. She holds all those items on a platter and a holy water pot. One of the senior male members or a patriarch or a priest (some households use the service of a priest) climbs up the stepstool, and cleans the middle part of the lintel, then takes the holy water pot from the lady, and purify the spot with the holy water, takes one lump of cow dung after another and sets four small lumps one each on four corners and another at the center of the spot making an enough space for the portrait of Naga to be pasted on. Then, he takes the paper portrait of Naga from the platter a lady has been holding on, and carefully pastes it on the five lumps of cow dung on the lintel. He takes the holy grass ‘dubo’ and sets them on the top of the Naga god portrait, and applies vermillion on the forehead of the Naga god on the portrait, offers a few grains of buckwheat, offers a coin and finally pours the cow milk on the head of the Naga god on the portrait. Then, he reads out the prayer hymn to the Naga god written on the portrait. That completes the pasting of a portrait of the Naga god on the lintel of a house done once a year.

The man pasting a Naga portrait needs to keep fasting until he completes the rituals of pasting a Naga portrait, as none of the Hindu deities accepts the offerings made by devotees after eating a meal or even drinking a tea. Eating any food or drinking any beverage except water defiles a human body according to the Hindu belief. So, Hindus keep fasting until they complete performing any religious rituals.

Hindus consider cow dung as the holiest item. So, Hindus use cow dung for making any spot a holy for any deity to set on and make offerings. Thus, cow dung being the holy item serves as the glue for pasting a portrait of the Naga god on the lintel of every Hindus house in Nepal.

A few days before this day called ‘Naga Pancami’, the Nevah art painters called chitrakars sell portraits of Naga printed in papers of various sizes in the Kathmandu Valley market to suit everyone’s pocket. So, not a single entrance has an identical Naga portrait pasted on.

A religious festival is held at the pond called Nagpokhari in Kathmandu to revere the Naga god on this day for the whole day. On the early morning of the day, a priest climbing up a ladder reaches the bronze head of the Naga deity standing at the middle of the pond. He cleans the metal head of Naga. Then, the priest offers holy water to the bronze Naga head, then holy grass ‘dubo’, vermillion, grains of buckwheat and finally cow milk, thus completes the rituals of making offerings to the Naga. Thereafter, any devotee may make offerings to the Naga deity but not climbing the ladder. So, devotees simply toss all items of offerings on the pond, and then go around the pond in reverence for the Naga deity.

Thousands of devotees visit a small lake called Taudaha about ten kilometers south of Kathmandu to revere a Naga King called Karkot on this day. He has been living there with his subjects since Manjushree drained the water from the Kathmandu Valley lake cutting a small channel at Chovar with his divine sword and making the Kathmandu Valley livable for the land creatures.

Finding Lord Manjushree drained his kingdom of lake; Naga King Karkot made an emotional appeal to Lord Manjushree for making room for his subjects and him to stay on. Showing empathy to Naga King Karkot, Lord Manjushree left the small area with water that became known as Taudaha and the abode of Naga King Karkot. Thus, Manjushree has preserved a special small pond for Karkot and his subjects to live there.

Similar festivities are held at Naga Bahal in Patan, and at Basukithan in Pashupatinath, at the Changunarayan Temple in Bhaktapur and elsewhere across Nepal from the early morning to mark the Naga pancami festival.

 Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Hindus believe in at least ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. One of such incarnations of Lord Vishnu is a holy plant called Tulsi. Lord Vishnu needed to dwell in Tulsi for four months for various reasons. One of such reason is every year He goes to serve as a guard at the entrance to the residence of Monarch Bali Raja whom Lord Vishnu himself pushed to another world for saving the heavenly throne for Indra. Another reason is He needed to reincarnate in Tulsi because of the spell he received from a beautiful woman called Brinda: the spouse of a holy man called Jallandhar. Lord Vishnu therefore, reincarnates in a basal plant called Tulsi for four months every year. Nepalis, therefore, perform worship for Lord Vishnu in Tulsi for four months.  This four-month period is called Caturmasa.

Nepalis sow seeds of Tulsi on the eleventh day called Nirjala Ekadasi of the lunar light fortnight in Jestha in the Vikram calendar. The sowing of seeds is done one month before the transplantation of Tulsi plants.  Devotees first prepare a flowerpot with good soil and compost. Then, they take a purification bath. They do not drink even water on this day to keep the body clean.  That is why they identify this day as Nirjala means without water. They perform other religious rituals to clean their mind, and utter mantras to clean their speech too. Thus, they clean their body, mind and speech for sowing seeds of Tulsi plants.  Thereafter, they sow seeds following Vedic rituals in the flowerpot specially prepared for it.

After a month from the day of the sowing seeds of Tulsi every household prepares a special site or a fresh flowerpot for transplanting Tulsi seedlings. Devotees prepare a special shoulder high hollow column of one and a half feet by one and a half feet of surface area. They fill it with fertile soil and compost. This is done in preparation for transplanting Tulsi seedlings. This is called a Tulsi Maath, and is built in such a place so that devotees can go round it. According to the Hindu religious rituals, believers need to make a round of any god keeping the deity on the right after completing offerings to the god. Devotees having no areas for such a Tulsi Maath prepare a fresh flowerpot for transplanting Tulsi seedlings.

Every household transplants Tulsi plants on the eleventh day called Harisayani Ekadasi of the lunar light fortnight in the Asadha-sukla month in the Vikram calendar. Traditionally, only men perform the rituals of transplanting Tulsi seedlings. They do not drink or eat anything before performing the religious rites of transplanting Tulsi seedlings. According to the Hindu religious belief, a human body becomes defiled after eating or drinking something.

The person assigned to transplant Tulsi plants needs to undergo the purification rites as in the case of sowing seeds. Thereafter, he first offers pure water to the Tulsi Maath or to a flowerpot for making it clean. Then, he transplants a few seedlings into the Tulsi Maath or into the freshly prepared flowerpot. He consecrates them, and then makes offerings to them. Thus, Lord Vishnu reincarnates in Tulsi plants.

Every household believing in Lord Vishnu makes offerings to Tulsi plants twice a day after the transplantation. Anyone of a household may make daily offerings to Tulsi plants.  Usually, a senior most woman in a household performs the daily offerings.  She uses special items such as barley and sesame seeds: the two most favorite items of Lord Vishnu, and other regular items such as vermilion, flowers, and incense for the morning offerings. She waters the plants with holy water freshly collected from a tap before making offerings. She should do it before taking food or drinking tea or any other beverage. The god will not accept the offerings made after eating or drinking anything.

In the evening, the same woman or someone else makes offerings of wick lamps to Tulsi plants. She lights wicks soaked in mustard-seed oil and offers the light to the Tulsi plants.  Offering a light to a deity means asking for enlightenment. She may do it at any time after the sun set. Every household takes special care of Tulsi plants believing the death of Tulsi plants will bring them misfortune.

Hindus in general and people of the Vaisnavis sect of Hinduism in particular perform special offerings called Tulasayanark for the Tulsi plants on the eleventh day called Hariparavartani Ekadasi of the lunar light fortnight in Bhadra (September) in the Vikram calendar. Some devotees take a special one-day fast in the name of Lord Vishnu as the reverence for Him on this auspicious day. Devotees in thousands visit shrines of Lord Vishnu in various parts of the country to perform worship for him on this day.

The four-monthly reverence for Tulsi plants comes to an end on the eleventh day called Hari-bodhini Ekadasi of the lunar light fortnight in the month called Kartik in the Vikram calendar. By this time the Tulsi plants have grown and matured. Lord Vishnu also must have completed his services to Monarch Bali Raja in another world. He must be preparing for coming back to the surface. Therefore, Hindus perform a fire worship called Yajna for the Tulsi plants as the last religious rites. Normally, Hindu priests perform the last offerings to Tulsi plants on behalf of their clients. Thereafter, people let the plants dry for collecting seeds for the next season and leaves for using them as medicine.

It is hard to say when Nepalis have begun to perform worship for Tulsi plants as Lord Vishnu. However, Nepalis have begun worshipping Lord Vishnu since the fifth century during the reign of Licchavi Monarch called Manadev according to the stone inscription of 464 A. D set at the Changu Narayan temple.  People believe that Nepalis must have started venerating Lord Vishnu much earlier than the fifth century.

Lord Vishnu is rightly called the preserver of the world order. He intervenes whenever and wherever something goes wrong. He reincarnated in the ideal persons such as Ram and Krishna to bring back the order in the society of that time destroying the evil spirits called demons. However, He reincarnated in Tulsi plants primarily for atoning for his sins.

Lord Vishnu drove Monarch Bali Raja to another world for preserving the heavenly throne for Indra. This He did in return for the devotion of Indra's mother to Him. Bali Raja was a pious monarch. He had done so much meritorious work and accumulated merits that Bali Raja would replace Indra on the heavenly throne if let him continue his meritorious activities. Knowing the threat to her son's job the mother of Indra meditated on Lord Vishnu and pleased Him with her dedication to Him. So, Lord Vishnu appeared before her and said, " I am pleased with you very much, tell me your wish, I will fulfill it". Indra's mother without losing a single moment said, " O! Lord, please destroy Bali Raja. He has won most of the territories in the human world, he has continued his virtuous deeds, he will soon occupy the heavenly throne if he continues his meritorious deeds."

Lord Vishnu has already given his words to Indra's mother; so, He has no choice but to undertake the most distressing task. He took the guise of a dwarf Brahman and went to the human world. Noticing a half-human-sized Brahman coming toward him, Monarch Bali Raja said, "What can I do for you, venerable Brahman? Let me know your wish, I will meet it."  Lord Vishnu in the guise of a dwarf asked Bali Raja, "Do you promise to give me what I want?"  Bali Raja said to the dwarf, "Yes, I promise."  The dwarf said to Bali Raja, "Give me a piece of land enough for my three steps."  Bali Raja said, "What a nonsense! Is it your will? Then, have it."

Counselors to the monarch suspected that the dwarf must not be an ordinary Brahman. They, therefore, advised the monarch to break his promise and refuse to give the land he promised. Bali Raja, however, could not take back the words he gave.

The dwarf began blowing up and became so large his single foot covered the whole earth and another foot covered the sky and then asked Bali Raja, "Where to step the third foot on?"  Bali Raja offered his own head for the third foot to step on."  Gigantic Vishnu stepped on the head of Bali Raja and pushed him to another world.

Realizing his mistake and having compassion for Bali Raja, Lord Vishnu said, "O! Pious monarch, I am pleased with you for keeping your words.  Now, tell me, what do you want from me?" With clasped hands in prayer, Bali Raja said to Lord Vishnu, "O! Lord, thank you for your kind offer. Here, in this world I have to live in darkness.  I, therefore, want your company."

Lord Vishnu said to Bali Raja, "I cannot remain with you in this world for ever, however, I will guard your entrance for four months a year."  Thus, Lord Vishnu needed to be in the company of Bali Raja in another world for four months during which he reincarnated in a basal plant on the earth.

Another legend has it that Lord Vishnu made love with Brinda by deceit. Brinda was a beautiful woman. Her beauty attracted even Lord Vishnu. One day while her spouse Jallandhar was out for a long hour purification bath in a nearby river, Lord Vishnu took the guise of Jallandhar and went to Brinda. The early return of the spouse surprised her because he was supposed to take a long bath. She, however, was glad to have her spouse back. Again, to her utmost astonishment her spouse made advances to her at such an unusual time of a day. She, however, could not resist the temptation of her husband. When Lord Vishnu in disguise was about to leave Brinda, her real spouse arrived causing great embarrassment to Brinda and the spouse. Brinda being furious with Lord Vishnu at the deceit immediately cast a spell on Him to be a plant. Lord Vishnu realizing his mistakes begged Brinda to revoke the spell. Brinda, however, could not annul the spell but she reduced it to four months a year. Thus, Lord Vishnu needed to reincarnate in a basal plant for four months a year to atone for His sin.

July 20, 2013

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

Following the auspicious day a group of astrologers have found for pulling the chariot of Lord Matsyendranath, devotees have pulled the chariot from the crossroads at ‘Thati tole’ to Jawalakhel on June 4, 2013. The chariot has been standing there since the women only had pulled it from Lagankhel to the crossroads. Then the festival of the display of the vest encrusted with jewels held on June 7, 2013: four days after the arrival of the chariot at Jawalakhel. After the display of the vest, the about-a-month-long festival has come to an end. Lord Matsyendranath went to the summer temple in Bungamati to reside for six months. Then, Lord Matsyendranath comes back to Lalitpur for another six months to reside.

The festival of pulling the chariot of Matsyendranath starts at Pulchok in Lalitpur. Two chariots are built at Pulchok: One for Matsyendranath, and another for Minanath. Before Lord Matsyendranath was brought to Nepal, Lord Minanath enjoyed the monopoly on enjoying the festival of pulling the chariot through the narrow lanes of Lalitpur. After the arrival of Lord Matsyendranath, Lord Minanath took the backstage giving the limelight to Lord Matsyendranath.

Pulling the chariot of Lord Matsyendranath and of Lord Minanath has been the festival of the people of the three city states: Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, and Lalitpur. People of Bhaktapur used to pull the chariot at certain areas for a certain days. Then, the people of Kathmandu used to pull the chariot from the area left by the people of Bhaktapur to certain areas for certain days. Finally, the people of Lalitpur pull the chariot at the remaining areas. One day is allocated for the women only to pull the chariot from Lagankhel to the crossroads at the ‘Thati tole’. Women devotees of the three city-states and from other towns and villages pull the chariot on the day allocated to them. Women believe that they earn merits from pulling the chariot of Lord Matsyendranath. However, the tradition must be for giving women the opportunity of pulling the chariot.

The festival of pulling the chariot of Lord Matsyendranath also is held in Dolakha: former major commercial town in the eastern mid hills of Nepal. Dolakha had played a major role in the trade between Tibet and India via Nepal. Some scholars believed that Lord Matsyendranath arrived first in Dolakha. The festival of pulling the chariot of Lord Matsyendranath was suspended in Dolakha for some years. The festival has been restarted in Dolakha again.

One of the Matsyendranaths is in Nala of the Kavre district but the people of Nala have no tradition of the festival of pulling the chariot of Lord Matsyendranath.

Kathmandu has a white Matsyendranath. The festival of pulling the chariot of Lord Matsyendranath is held in Kathmandu in April. The chariot is built at the area called Tindhara pathshala north of Tri-Chandra College in Kathmandu. On the eighth day of the Dashain festival in Chaitra (April), the priests take Lord Matsyendranath from the temple at the Matsyendranath Bahal to the Tindhara pathshala in Kathmandu, and install the lord in the sanctum of the chariot there. On the first day of the festival of pulling the chariot, devotees pull the chariot to Bhotahity, on the second day to Hanumandhoka, and finally to Lagan in Kathmandu if everything goes smoothly. At the Lagan, Living Goddess Kumari of Kathmandu presides over the final day of the festival of pulling the chariot. Then, Lord Matsyendranath rides back to the temple at the Matsyendranath Bahal in Kathmandu on a portable shrine carried by devotees on shoulder poles.

Living Goddess Kumari of Lalitpur presides over the major events of the festival of pulling the chariot of Lord Matsyendranath in Lalitpur. Living Goddess Kumari presides over the installing of Lord Matsyendranath in the sanctum of the chariot at Pulchok at the beginning of the festival of pulling the chariot, then at the Lagankhel when the festival of hurling a coconut from the top of the chariot of Lord Matsyendranath is held, then presides over the final pulling of the chariot from the crossroads at the ‘Thati tole’ to Jawalakhel, and ultimately, presides over the festival of displaying the vest encrusted with jewels at Jawalakhel. Living Goddess Kumari presides over the annul-cleaning ceremony held to Lord Matsyendranath at Lagankhel before starting the festival of the pulling the chariot. Living Goddess Kumari of Bungamati presides over the major events of the festival of Lord Matsyendranath held in Bungamati. Living Goddess Kumari of Kathmandu presides over the major events of the festival of pulling the chariot of Lord white Matsyendranath in Kathmandu.

Lord Matsyendranath is the deity of all Hindu and Buddhist Nepalis. Matsyendranath is the name given by the ‘nath’ sect of Saivities. Matsyendranath is the combination of two words: Matsyendra means originated from a fish, and ‘nath’ means the master. Matsyendranath is believed to have come from a fish following another story. Buddhists call Him Avaloketesvor. Vaishnavis call Him Birenchi Narayan. Tantriks offer him animal sacrifices at one corner of the compound of temple at Matsyendranath Bahal in Lalitpur. Common folks call him Karunamaya means the compassionate.

To get relief from the 12-year drought in the Kathmandu Valley, King Narendra Dev of Bhaktapur city state, Tantrik expert Bandhu Dutta of Kathmandu, and a strong and brave porter Rathan Chakra of Lalitpur went to Kamarupa currently Assam in India to bring a young deity born to the demon parents there. Gorkhanath seized the 12 serpents, and wove them into a cushion and sat on them meditating on his guru Lord Matsyendranath causing the drought. The Kathmandu Valley suffered from the drought because the serpents supposed to bring rains had been under seize. The only alternative was to bring Lord Matsyendranath to Nepal to free the serpents from Gorkhanath.

Narendra Dev, Bandhu Dutta, and Rathan Chakra passed through several hurdles on the way to Kamarupa. They faced the challenges of the serpent king Karkot Nag. They made the adversary Karkot Nag a friend and used him as a bridge whenever they needed to cross over rivers. In the end, Karkot Nag also played a significant role in bringing Lord Matsyendranath to Nepal. Tantrik Bandhu Dutta played a major role in catching the young deity and convert him into a bumblebee and sent him to a holy water jar called ‘kalash’ and covered it with a clay bowel by his tantric power.

Porter Rathan Chakra carried the holy water jar with the deity in it. The demon army came after them but Tantrik Bandhu Dutta managed to keep them away from his tantric power. They entered the Kathmandu Valley. Then, they started arguing where to take the deity to reside. King Narendra Dev wanted to take Lord Matsyendranath to Bhaktapur but Tantric Bandhu Dutta argued in favor of taking the deity to Kathmandu. While arguing on the way, the porter reached Lalitpur, and set the holy water jar with the deity he carried on the ground.

The argument for taking the deity to the final destination was going on. Many curious people gathered around them. They have started proposing different solutions to the problem. Finally, they came to the understanding on the oldest man in Lalitpur to decide where to keep the deity. They agreed on the oldest man of 120 years of age to give his decision on the residence of the deity they have brought from Kamarupa. On the night, Rathan Chakra went to the old man’s house offering him the flattened rice with yogurt. Shrewd Rathan Chakra added some salt to the yogurt. The old man tasted the salt so he needed to do what Rathan Chakra told him to do. At the time, the belief was that if you took salt from anybody then you have to be faithful to him. So, the old man could not say ‘no’ to the request of Rathan Chakra to keep Lord Matsyendranath in Lalitpur.

Next day, all the curious people gathered at the public place to hear the decision of the oldest man in the city. King Narendra Dev took his royal seat, Tantrik Bandhu Dutta took his special seat, and Rathan Chakra sat with the holy water jar containing the deity in the form of a bumblebee.

Seven logs of about three feet in length stacked one above another for the old man to climb and announce his decision. All people gathered around it. The king, the tantrik and the porter were watching what the decision of the old man would be. The old man announced that the deity should reside in Lalitpur. The seven logs fell down bringing the old man down showing that he had been bias. Everybody accepted the decision of the old man that Lord Matsyendranath would stay in Lalitpur.

Why the people made such a story of bringing Lord Matsyendranath from Kamarupa to Nepal, and then keeping the lord in Lalitpur was unknown. However, the people including the king, tantrik, and porter once reached the understanding, they kept their agreement no matter whether the decision made by the old man was right or wrong. Surely, the story of bringing the deity from Kamarupa, and the deity born to the demon parents is myth. It also contradicts with the story of Lord Matsyendranath arriving first in Dolakha.

All three main characters such as Narendra Dev, Bandhu Dutta, and Rathan Chakra agreed on the people of the three city-states: Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, and Lalitpur in turn celebrating the festival of pulling the chariot. So, the tradition of pulling the chariot of Lord Matsyendranath first by the people of Bhaktapur, then by the people of Kathmandu, and finally by the people of Lalitpur has been set but the tradition has faded away. Only the tradition of women only pulling the chariot has continued.

The deity called by different names by the different sects of Hinduism, and Buddhists, and common folks calling Him Karunamaya is really the deity of harvest. Farmers need water for irrigating their farms for good crops. They pray him for good rains. Then they transplant rice seedlings. They pray him for the good rice crop. Then, at the time of harvest, they pray the deity for the good harvest. The deity is always there for meeting the wishes of the devotees.

The story of displaying the vest encrusted with jewels also equally mythical. Once the serpent queen had an eye ailment. None of the serpent healers could heal her ailment. So, the serpent king sent his attendants in human forms to the human world for bringing a healer. They found a farmer plowing his land. They simply grab him and brought him to the palace of the serpent king.

The serpent king told the farmer that his queen had the eye ailment; so, the farmer needed to heal her.  The farmer could not say anything and disobey the king, too. He collected some dirt from behind his right ear and applied it on the eyes of the queen. After a few days of the dirt treatment, the queen recovered from the eye ailment. The serpent king gave the farmer a vest encrusted with jewels as the reward for healing the eye ailment of his queen.

The farmer wore the vest every day. One day, the farmer took off his vest and set it at one place to get rid of the heat. He continued to plow his land. A ghost happened to pass by. The ghost seeing the valuable vest took it and went away. At the end of day, when the farmer went to wear his vest, the vest had gone. He got upset but he was helpless.

At the time of the festival of Lord Matsyendranath at Jawalakhel, all the people from the towns and city-states gathered there to watch the festival. The Head of State, other dignitaries, and high-ranking civil, police and army officials were there to watch the festival. The ghost wearing the vest encrusted with jewels also was there to watch the festival. The farmer immediately grabbed the ghost by the collar and fight between them started.

Then, the people gathered around the fight the ghost and the farmer had. Quickly, law enforcements officials came to the scene. Both of them claimed the vest as theirs’. The farmer tried to convince the law enforcement people stating he got it from the serpent king as a reward for healing the eye ailment of his queen. The ghost had equally convincing argument. The law enforcement officials could not decide whom the vest really belonged to. So, they took the vest to the Head of State, and law enforcement officials briefed the Head of State on the case. The Head of State also could not decided to whom it belonged to in absence of witnesses and other evidences. So, the Head of State decided that the vest would be kept with Lord Karunamaya, and it would be displayed every year publicly to show that it has remained with the deity. The claimants could collect it with the evidences.

The myth of displaying the vest encrusted with jewels must be for convincing the people that they needed evidences and witnesses to claim something, and the unbiased judgment of the Head of State of that time.

Lord Matsyendranath is of the red color in Lalitpur.

June 4, 2013

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

Bhaktapur has a tradition of reveling the festival called ‘bi-si-ka’ jatra starting four days before the New Year Day of the Vikram calendar, and ending four days after. ‘Bi-si-ka’ literally means dead serpents. Jatra means festival. ‘Bi-si-ka’ jatra means the festival of dead serpents in the Nevah language. The festival runs for eight nights and nine days. During this period, God Bhairav, and Goddess Bhadrakali enjoy outing. Almost every neighborhood revels a local festival taking the neighborhood god or goddess out of the respective temple for five days. On the evening practically night of the ninth day, God Bhairav and Goddess Bhadrakali return to the respective temple for residing the rest of the year.

Three-tier and two-tier wooden chariots are standing at the Taumadhi Square. Carpenters took a week to assembly the chariots. Painters painted huge eyes on each of the four wheels of the chariots. The painted large three eyes on each wheel represent the god of strength invoked by Tantric priest in each of the wheels to carry the mighty god called Bhairav and the mighty goddess called Nakinju Ajima (Bhadrakali). The two-tier chariot is for Bhadrakali whereas the three-tier chariot is for Bhairav.

Lord Bhairav has a steed called ‘betal’: a human-form-divine spirit. Betal is restless and could cause harm to humans if he is unleashed. Lord Bhairav keeps him under control. Lord Bhairav rides on him for travel.

On the first day of the festival, tantric priests make tantric offerings to Betal. The priests make aware Betal of outing of Lord Bhairav for eight nights and nine days through the tantric offerings. They also inform Betal about the need for Betal to remain tied to the top portion of the upward bending wooden axle-like beam of the chariot to Lord Bhairav. The upward bending wooden beam is the spiritual serpent called Karkot Nag. It takes the entire load of the divine passenger.

The upward bending portion of the beam is at the front of the chariot. Betal looks like a driver of the chariot. He remains at the seat for eight nights and nine days during the ‘bi-si-ka’ jatra. Tantric priests take the large brass mask of Betal to the chariot, and they bind the mask to the upward bending wooden beam at its top. A caretaker keeps watching him for the period of the festival.

Tantric priests make tantric offerings to Lord Bhairav almost for the whole day. They prepare the lord for the festival. The priests tantrically give the message of where the lord is going to stay and what offerings he will receive during the festival days. It is practically the outing of the lord once a year. Tantric priests say to the lord that the lord will enjoy the outings. Finally, the priests secure the acceptance of the lord to take him to the chariot for outing on the first day of the festival. The priests carry the lord on their arms to the inner sanctum of the chariot. The chief priest holds the lord by his left arm in the inner sanctum of the chariot throughout the outing on this night.

A musical band leads other priests to go to the temple to Goddess Taleju to pick up her double-edge knife called ‘khadga’. They bring it to the chariot. One of the priests holds it throughout the outing of the lord on the chariot. It is the symbol of the presence of the head of the state. It also symbolizes the approval of Goddess Taleju to run the festival. Goddess Taleju is the spiritual form of the Living Goddess Kumari that presides over the festival.

Two men dressed in long white skirts, and wearing white turbans flank the chief priest holding Lord Bhairav in the chariot. These two men are known as ‘bhailo nayo’ means the heads of chariot. Each of the four carpenters stands at each corners of the chariot. Once, everybody is at his position on the chariot, the chief priest declares the outing of Lord Bhairav to start. Then, the revelers pull the chariot to the north or to the south.

Taumadhi Square is at the center of the Bhaktapur town. Revelers from the north and south assemble on the Taumadhi Square to pull the chariot. The chariot stands on the square facing south. The chariot has six ropes in the front and four in the rear.

First, revelers pull the chariot on the square. They pull back and forth, each side in turn but sometimes both sides pull simultaneously causing the chariot to jump. Most of the time in the past, the pulling of the chariot had been on the square. Then, they pull the chariot to the direction it faces either to the north or to the south for a short time before parking it at the area called ‘gaa-hiti.’

The tradition has been to pull the chariot amicably. Revelers enjoyed pulling the chariot to the north or south without concern. Since last 30 years, revelers had grouped into the north and south. The fighting between the revelers of the north and south has been an annul event and part of the festival. They enjoy hurling bricks at each other.

After the revelers park the chariot at ‘gaa-hiti’, the chief priest takes Lord Bhairav to a temporary residence at ‘chaphali’ at ‘lakola chen’, and Goddess Bhadrakali to her temporary resident at ‘lakola-chen.’ It might be late night or even next morning depending on the mood of the revelers.

Devotees make offerings to Lord Bhairav, and Goddess Bhadrakali at their temporary residences. Devotees sing devotional songs at both the lodges of the deities. They keep burning mustard-seed oil lamps while singing the devotional songs. The state also makes offering to Lord Bhairav, and Goddess Bhadrakali during the second and third days.

On the fourth day, Lord Bhairav and Goddess Bhadrakali have to travel to the open area called ‘yao-sin-khayo. A pole called ‘yao sin dyo’ with outstretched hands and a head made out of green tree branches with leaves has to go up at the yao-sin-khayo on the evening of this day at the earliest otherwise at night. The deities have to watch the ‘yao sin dyo’ pulled up there.

Some attendants unleash two black male goats at ‘gaa-hiti.’ They are free to move any direction. One that moves to north goes to Lord Bhairav for sacrifice, and another to Goddess Bhadrakali on the morning of the fourth day.

Then, priests take Lord Bhairav to his chariot, and Goddess Bhadrakali to her chariot, too. First, Goddess Bhadrakali travels on her chariot to ‘yao-sin-khayo. Lord Bhairav follows her. Revelers pull the chariot in one direction only on the fourth day. They park Goddess Bhadrakali next to her superb field temple, and Lord Bhairav a little farther away from her at ‘yao-sin-khayo.’

The local Nevah community called ‘pode’ pulls the pole from its shed to the area, and sets its bottom near the hole on the ground where it is to be pulled up. Then, another Nevah community called ‘sayami’ brings eight ropes, and green tree branches. First, they make the hands and head out of the green tree branches at the top of the pole, and set a cooper image of the combined deity of Lord Bhairav, and Goddess Bhadrakali at the intersection of the hands with the pole. Then, they tied up two flags almost as long as the pole one to each armpit. They tied up eight ropes: four at each armpit. They also make several two-crossed-log supports to back up the pole while it is rising up.

Tantric priest perform tantric offerings to the pole at its top and at the hole it stands. They tantrically invoke one each of the eight-tantric deities out of Nava Durga means nine goddesses in each of the rope. Spiritually, each tantric deity is pulling one each of the eight ropes. Practically, revelers pull all the eight ropes. Some revelers synchronize pullers of all eight ropes. If they are successful, then ‘yao sin dyo’ rises up. Revelers pull the rope only after tantric priests declare that the ‘yao sin dyo’ is ready for pulling up.

The pole represents the phallus of Lord Bhairav, and the hole on earth represents the female organ of Goddess Bhadrakali. Thus, while standing the ‘yao sin dyo’ on the hole represents the union of Lord Bhairav and Goddess Bhadrakali.

Some people hold the wooden supports to back up the rising ‘yao sin dyo’. If the pullers are tired then ‘yao sin dyo’ also rests on the supports. As the pullers put more effort on pulling, the people holding supports move them up, too. ‘Yao sin dyo’ rises up easily when it manages to rise up to the two-thirds from the ground.

Once, ‘yao sin dyo’ goes up, attendants to Nava Durga troupe tantrically take back the eight goddesses tantrically deployed to pull the ‘yao sin dyo’ up.

Once, ‘yao sin dyo’ thrusts into the hole of Goddess Bhadrakali. Two long flags with the drawings of symbols of thirty-three thousands three thousand and thirty three deities unfurl, and eight ropes hang from its armpits. Some youths rush to show their strength climbing the ropes. If anyone could reach the armpit of ‘yao sin dyo’, it is a spectacular sight but rarely anyone could reach even to the half way to the armpit.

Tantric priests take Lord Bhairav from the chariot to the local shrine with eight-corner roof. Goddess Bhadrakali goes with other tantric priests to her three-tier magnificent field temple to reside for a night. Tantric priests make tantric offerings to Lord Bhairav the whole night. Goddess Bhadrakali also receives tantric offerings from other priests on the night.

The fourth day of the Bi-si-ka Jatra is also the day for the deities at neighborhoods to come down from their abodes to the hangout places. Residents of the neighborhoods make offerings to their respective deities. The deities stay on in such shrines for five days.

On the fifth day: the day also the New Year day on the Vikram Calendar, devotes go to the bank of the Hanumante River at the area called Chupingal not far from the area the ‘yao sin dyo’ is standing, Lord Bhairav and Goddess Bhadrakali are residing, to take a dip in the water or simply wash their faces. This makes them healthy for a year. This is of course their belief. Then, the devotees first go to ‘yao sin dyo’ to revere, then Lord Bhairav, and Goddess Bhadrakali and finally to Betal bound to the upward-bending wooden beam of the chariot.

Betal enjoys staying under the open sky. The farmer community makes the offerings of female chicken to Betal. The attendant slits the neck of one chicken after another to offer the blood to Betal, and throws the chicken out. Betal protects the farmers from any possible damages to their health and their crops. The price is only a small chicken for the farmers to pay for the insurance of their crops and even their health. None of other deities accepts the sacrifice of female animals.

On the evening of the fifth day, the tantric priests make tantric offerings to Lord Bhairav and Goddess Bhadrakali. They prepare the deities for taking to their respective chariot. Tantric offerings are done, the time for the deities to move to their respective chariot.

After the deities are on their respective chariot, it is time to untie the ropes. It also is time for the ‘yao sin dyo’ to go down for a year. ‘Yao sin dyo’ moves back and forth for a few times, and then goes down crashing on the ground. People rush to the head of the deity and take a few pieces of the green leaves as the blessings from the deity.

Lord Bhairav and Goddess Bhadrakali travel back on their respective chariot to ‘gaa-hiti’. They again go back to their respective lodges for another four days. Devotees visit the deities for their blessings. Tantric offerings go on for the rest of the days. Thus, the deities have fun for all the days.

On the sixth and seventh days, locals of different neighborhoods revel the outings of the local deities. On the sixth day, Goddess Mahalaxmi meets the sister Goddess Mahakali at the area half way between their temples. They ride on their respective portable temple to meet each other. Revelers carry them on the shoulder poles. On the seventh day, God Chumaganesh enjoys the outing at the neighborhood. Locals take the god on a portable shrine around the neighborhood for fun. Musical bands play different tunes to appease deities, and devotees sing devotional songs.

On the eight day, every deity at the neighborhood sits at the hangout place. Devotees from different neighborhood come to make offerings for the whole day. So, all deities remain busy with accepting the group offerings, individual offerings, a single offering or multiple offerings made by beautiful women dressed in festival attires. Men carry different items of offerings in bamboo baskets suspended from shoulder poles. Women offer so much of the homemade spirit and homebrewed white beer, all deities must be drunk by the evening. Probably, deities are so drunk they don’t notice of the devotional songs and the noisy musical bands passed by.

That is not all; deities have to go around in the neighborhoods on the night of the eighth day. Both the deities and human revelers are drunk on this night. Drunken revelers sing and dance while carrying the drunken deities on portable temples but everybody including the deities behaves soberly.

Revelers must be tired to death. The deities must be feeling sleepy from overeating and overdrinking. It is time for the deities to go back home and revelers to rest. Deities on the arms of priests quietly go back to their respective abode, and then have sound sleep only to get wake up next day: the final day of the festival.

The ninth day is the last day of the bi-si-ka festival. All deities have been back home. Only Lord Bhairav and Goddess Bhadrakali are still at their respective field shrine. Tantric offerings continue at both the field shrines. Probably, Lord Bhairav and Goddess Bhadrakali also have enough of the festivities. They also need the rest but they need to travel to north and south of the town on their respective chariot, and see how the revelers fight a brick war.

Lord Bhairav stands at the entrance to his abode. The tantric priest does not let him go in. The tantric priest asks the standing lord: had the lord accepted the unacceptable offerings, had committed adultery with any unacceptable woman, and had the lord feasted on the unacceptable dishes, and so on. The lord stands quiet. The tantric priest performs the purification rites and rituals to the lord, and cleanses him. Lord Bhairav finally enters his abode and takes the regular lion seat for the rest of the year.

Bi-si-ka jatra: how this name is derived. A highly skilled tantrik has a beautiful wife. She hears from her peers, her husband is a high-class tantrik. He can transform into any sorts of creatures on earth. One day, she says to her husband: I want to see you transform into a large serpent. The tantric husband says: it is not so easy. But the spouse has put so much pressure on the Tanrik. He gives in. He puts his tantric power in a few grains of rice, and gives the rice to her.  He said to her, “When you have had enough of seeing me as a serpent, just toss the grains of rice at the serpent, I will transform into a human again.” She agrees.

The Tantrik transforms into a huge serpent. The wife gets so scared of the serpent. She runs away from the serpent. The Tantrik transformed into a serpent goes after her in anticipation she tosses the grains of rice at him. Once, the serpent gets so close, the spouse puts the rice in her mouth from fear.  She also transforms into a serpent.

Nobody could transform them into humans except for the king. They go around the palace. Nobody notices the serpents. The king also is a great Tantrik. He knows how to bring the serpents back to humans. The problem is the king has not noticed them.

For quite some time, the king has not heard from the famous Tantrik. The king sends courtiers to see what the Tantrik has been doing. They find the house empty. Then, the king sends a search-and-rescue team across the country. They find two large dead serpents.

The king goes to see the dead serpents, and finds they are the Tantrik and his spouse transformed into serpents. To honor the distinguished Tantrik and his spouse, the king set the tradition of marking the anniversary of the two dead serpents calling it Bi-si-ka jatra means the festival of dead serpents.

April 13, 2013

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

Lalitpur Festival of 2013 has started off on March 28, 2013 and ended on April 3, 2013. Lalitpur has been famous for its arts and crafts. The main objective of this festival is to impress the world with its religion, culture, crafts, and business. The festival has shown that each neighborhood has its own crafts such as metal-craft, stone-craft, woodcraft, and the farmer community that has distinct culture representing the Nevah community. Each neighborhood has the typical Nevah food show and sale for taste. The business community has held a large sale-cum-exhibition at the Bhandarkhal in the ancient palace. The religious show was at the perpetual fire called Agnimath.

The stated objective of the festival in a brochure is “Lalitpur Festival 2013 is an effort towards (on) transforming city into one of the most vibrant city (cities) (in the world) for its rich culture and heritage, social lifestyle, its traditional handicrafts and its industries borne upon its tradition; attracting thousands of visitors from all over the world annually to experience Lalitpur.”

The main organizers are Lalitpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City, and Jyapu Samaj Yala. Jyapu means farmer in the Nevah language. The supporting agencies are religious, cultural, business and district administration. People at seventy-seven localities have set up different shows.

Lalitpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry has the business exhibition at the Bhandarkhal. Money plays a main role in the business community. You need to pay Rs 20 to enter the mall like exhibition area. It has nothing but the different sorts of stalls set up to sell goods. You can buy different clothing, shoes, electronic goods, and many more things that are not related to the arts and crafts of Lalitpur, certainly not the glory of Lalitpur, as almost all goods are imported, and even the idea of such show was imported.

Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City took the responsibility for managing the festival. It has set up parking lots, bus stops, exhibition stalls, and even toilets but not many. The Sub-metropolitan City would have done better job if it had publicized the information required by the visitors on where to start and end. Most of the visitors reached the ancient palace area and ended up seeing the Bhandarkhal exhibition. It gave the impression of the Lailtpur Festival was in fact the Bhandarkhal exhibition.

The Jyapu community and the craftsmen community did excellent jobs showing their arts and crafts to the world. The Jyapu community did ever things possible to display the Nevah culture that has been fast disappearing. Craftsmen communities such as coppersmiths, stone carvers and woodcarvers displayed their extraordinary skills in molding idols, making pots, and pans, carving deities in stones, and in wood.

Women made a great contribution to the festival cooking different Nevah dishes for the visitors. You can enjoy fresh ‘yeomari’: dumplings in different sizes with sweets in them. You can enjoy ‘samaya-baji’: a unique dish that goes with the freshly distilled spirit. You can watch how the Jyapu women distilled spirit. You can even test the warm spirit.

A group of Jyapu women proudly displayed the preservation of greens and chilies. Another group displayed the traditional method of spinning of cotton, preparing yarns for weaving cloth. The scene of women wearing traditional outfits and working in the traditional style is the most attractive one. We might be able see such outfits in the theaters only in the immediate future.

We started off at the show of a dumpy of an old man standing on several piled-up dummy logs talking to the dummies of scholars and common folks assembled at the public place in the ancient time. The old man was the final decision-maker on where the rain god brought from Kamarupa was to reside. The deity has several names such as Karunamaya, Matsyandranath, and Avloketsvor.

The man was 120 years old. Everybody thought that he would be an impartial arbitrator. He became bit bias toward Lalitpur, and said that the deity was to stay on in Lalitpur. All the seven logs piled up sunk into the earth and the old man fell down.

A drought had continued for 12 years. No sign of breaking it. The king of Bhaktapur consulted with the astrologers. Only on arrival of the deity would break the 12-year long drought in Nepal, a group of astrologers found out. The deity was in Kamarupa. He was born as a son of the demon king and the queen of Kamarupa.

The king of Bhaktapur, the priest of Kathmandu, and the porter of Lalitpur went to Kamarupa to bring the deity. The king of Bhaktapur was the powerful one, the priest of Kathmandu was the ablest Tantrik, and the porter of Lalitpur was the strongest man. The trio of king, priest and porter successfully brought the deity from Kamarupa to Nepal. Immediate rains broke the 12-year drought.

A placement dispute arose in the group. Where the deity was to stay. Each of the trio argued that he had contributed so much to bring the deity. Each of them wanted to have the deity in his area. Ultimately, they agreed to approach the oldest man in Nepal to resolve the dispute. Incidentally, the old man was in Lalitpur. He decided in favor of Lalitpur but he lost his integrity, and fell down from the platform.

The deity resides in Lalitpur and Bungamati for six months in turn. The deity spends six months in Lalitpur when the sun moves up to the north, and then another six months in Bungamati when the sun moves down to the south. In both the places, the deity has a magnificent temple to reside.

The deity used to travel on an about 50-feet-high spire-like temple on four wheels back and forth between Lalitpur and Bungamati. Later on, the deity traveled on such a wheeled temple once every 12 years. The rest of the years, several volunteers carried the deity on a portable shrine on the shoulder poles.

Then, we went to see the arch made of cooper pots, pans and idols. It was in the neighborhood of the ‘tamrakar’ means coppersmith.  Traditionally, ‘tamrakars’ had made cooper pots, pans and saucepans for household purposes. Even now, they make such items but they also make bronze items such as idols of various deities, and candle sticks.

Traditionally, the crafts of the making bronze idols of deities were of Vajracharya and Shakys. Then, ‘tamrakars’ also came to the scene. Now, even some members of the Jyapu community compete with the traditional craftsmen in making bronze deities. Some members of the Jyapu community worked as helpers to the traditional craftsmen. They learned the crafts while working as helpers. Later on, they set up their own workshops to mold deities. I saw number of about five-feet-long bronze deities kept on display at the Jyapu neighborhood.

Stone craft is the special skill of one of the Nevah communities at the neighborhood of stone crafts. I noticed a young man meticulously carving a sophisticated idol of a deity at the neighborhood of the stone carvers. The craftsman has a bunch of different-sized chisels. Traditionally, they carved every idol or image manually. Now, they use some modern tools, too.

Woodcarving is another crafts; one of the communities of the Nevah perfected the woodcarving. They live in one neighborhood. They carve figures of animals, birds and deities out of wood. They also use several-sized chisels and modern tools to carve those figures. They make doors, and photo frames with carved deities and other auspicious figures. They carve the famous peacock windows. Currently, they started off carving in bamboos, too.

Prices of various idols and items vary from one material to another. The highest prices are of the idols made out of bamboos, wood and stone, and then only of bronze and copper. A single bamboo image of a monkey of one and a half feet is priced at US$ 200, a single peacock window of 2’x3’ sells at US$600, a stone idol of 2’x3’ costs thousands of dollars whereas a pair of bronze lions of 1.5’x2’ costs only US$400.

At the Jyapu neighborhood, we saw some women showing how they roped the greens together, and other women roped red chilies. Some other women demonstrated the spinning of cotton, and then preparing the yarns for weaving cloth. Such things are going to disappear soon.

We found women making traditional foods such as ‘yeomari’: a kind of dumpling of different figures with sweets in them, and a traditional dish called ‘samaya-baji’: flattened rice with roasted buff meat, boiled beans, and a pancake of lentils. At other places, women also cooked modern dish called ‘mo-mo’: dumplings. They must be making a lot of money selling these dishes.

At one neighborhood, a traditional distillation system of spirit was on display. A copper pot was on fire made of wood. It was boiling the fermented millet. On top of it sat a terracotta vessel holding a cooper pot with water in it to cool the vapors of spirit coming out of the copper pot, and to transform the vapors into liquid. Another small clay pot called ‘gulu’ placed inside the terracotta pot collected the liquefied spirit. Making such spirit is against the law but it is the tradition, the law could hardly stop.

We could not reach all the neighborhoods. We had already walked for about three hours but there were still many neighborhoods to visit, yet. We were tired and our desire for seeing the rest of the show had been fading away fast.

Somebody told us we should not miss the show at the Bhandarkhal. We bought tickets each costing Rs 20 for each of us. Seeing at the enthusiasm of the people going in to the Bhandarkhal, I guessed that ticket counters must collect thousand of rupees a day.

Unlike at each neighborhood, we did not see arts and crafts at the Bhandarkhal until we reached the end of the complex. Almost all of the stalls were full of different consumer goods. It looked like a mall. New products were demonstrated and sold. Even the Bible messages in the Nepalese language were distributed. Not having any show of crafts disappointed me but soon I saw a handicraft stall. The stall had bamboo crafts, woodcrafts, and stone crafts. Prices of the crafts went through the roof.

Finally, we visited the perpetual fire called ‘agnimath’. It was a religious show to attract the people to our religion, according to the attendant at the ‘agnimath’. Four Rajoupadhayas means royal priests read out four Vedas in Sanskrit. I did not know much about the ‘agnimath’. The attendants said that almost all research articles on the ‘agnimath’ were posted on its facebook.com/agnishala. The brochure prepared by the Society of Rajoupadhayas translates ‘agnimath’ as ‘The Temple Of Sacred Fire’. It also makes money selling the items of offerings to the fire god.

April 3, 2013