CJ-led Government—34

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

We celebrate a festival of lights and flowers at the heels of the bloodiest Hindu festival called Dasain in which millions of animals shed their blood. I call it a festival of lights and flowers because we decorate our windows and doors with the garlands of marigolds, and illuminate our homes with electric or paraffin or oil lamps for five days during this festival called ‘svonti’ or ‘tihar’ or ‘dipavali’ depending on in which groups you belong too.

We start the festival making offerings to a bird ‘crow’ on the thirteenth day of the lunar dark fortnight (kartik krishna pachaya) of Kartik (October-November), then we go on making offerings to an animal ‘dog’ on the second day, to another animal ‘cow’ on the third day, to self or to an ox on the fourth day, and finally end the festival on the second day of the lunar bright fortnight (kartik sukla pachaya) of Kartik (October-November) making offerings to brothers.

The first day is the day of ‘crow’. Every Hindu household celebrating the festival offers a set of puja including good foods to ‘crow’ on the morning of this day. Usually, a woman puts all the items required for making ‘crow’ happy on a leaf, and sets on the parapet.

A crow or a number of crows fly in but don’t dare to land on the parapet until the householder goes in. Landing nearby the good foods on the parapet, crows first look both sides with suspicion whether these foods are the traps set by the humans much smarter than they are. Once, they are sure that the foods are not the traps; they scooped the foods by their beaks and fly out.

We believe that crows are the messengers of the life-taking god called ‘Yamaraj’ that administers the souls of dead, and judges the souls of humans according to the deeds during their days on earth. We try to please crow once a year so that they would not bring bad messages to us. We believe that when a crow sitting at the parapet crows at us means a message either bad or good has come to us.

Ayurvedic physicians celebrate the first day of the five-day festival as the anniversary of the inventor of Ayurvedic treatment. He was the saint called Dhanavontari. He developed the fifth Veda called Ayurveda. It is a comprehensive treatise on herbal medicines and treatment. Nepal has a number of Ayurvedic schools that produce a large number of Ayurvedic physicians.

The second day of the five-day festival is the day of dog. We offer a puja to dogs. A woman householder prepares a tray of puja items such as rice, flower, amber powder, wicks soaked in oil on a brass tray, and a pot of holy water. We call these items together ‘pan-ca-tato’ means five life-supporting elements such as water, air, heat, earth (food), and ether (mind). She also prepares a separate tray of festive foods for dogs.

Then, she makes offerings to a dog at home if she has any; if not, then she goes out, and calls out stray dogs. A number of dogs might show up simultaneously in which case she might have a trouble to manage them. She might need a help of someone in handling the dogs fighting for the larger share in the puja and good foods.

First, she offers holy water to a dog, and then she smears the forehead of a dog with vermilion, and then offers a flower, and decorates the neck of a dog with the garland of marigolds. She throws some rice on the head of a dog. She touches the paw of a dog on her forehead. Then she offers a plateful of festive food. Some dogs patiently wait for the foods but other don’t. Some dogs might fight with each other claiming the large share of the foods.

We believe that dogs are the gatekeepers of Yamaraj. So, we please the dogs in this world anticipating dogs will give an easy access to the world of Yamaraj when we go to the world of dead.

Once we are in the world of Yamaraj he will decide what to do next with us. He sends lucky ones back to earth as humans again and the unlucky ones, too back to earth as animals depending on the good or bad deeds they did on earth in their previous lives. If they are regular persons neither good nor bad ones then they need to pass through 84 lakhs (8,400,000) lives on earth before getting back to human lives again. So, in order to complete so many lives they need to get in and out of the world of Yamaraj as soon as possible. This is possible pleasing the dogs on guard at the entrance to Yamaraj.

The third day is the day of cow. We believe cow is the incarnation of Goddess of Wealth called Laksmi. On the morning of the day, again a woman prepares a tray of puja as she did for dog but she prepares a large festive feed for cow on a large wicker plate. Then, she performs puja to cow as she did to dog, and then she offers the festive feed on a large wicker plate called ‘nanglo’ to a cow. While the cow is enjoying her festive feed the woman crawls below the belly of the cow several times.

During the day, women of every house clean up the treasury room. They need to please the real Goddess of wealth Laksmi that we believe she is visiting us on the night of this day. They smear a circular area at the main entrance to the house with the mixture of red clay and cow dung. Then they smear about a half-foot wide path to the treasury room with the mixture as a roadmap for the goddess to visit the treasury. Oil lamps are placed on both sides of the path to make sure that the goddess would not miss landing on the correct path to the treasury. Every house is illuminated with electric lamps or paraffin lamps or oil lamps to please the goddess.

Goddess Laksmi also finds all doors and windows are decorated with the garlands of marigolds. Nepalis spend millions of rupees on buying marigold garlands for decorating the doors and windows of their homes. Previously, Nepal imports a large quantity of such garlands from the neighboring states of India but recently Nepalis also cultivate marigold targeting on the requirement for celebrating the festival.

On the evening of the third day, women and girls go from one house to another singing ‘bhailo’ songs. They sing that ‘Baliraja’ has sent them. Each household presents them with the gifts of cash or materials. In the rural areas, they get grains rather than cash. Traditionally, women and girls use those gifts for performing the brother worship on the last day of the festival.

The day of Goddess Laksmi is the day for the Nevah business community to close the annual account. The day also is the New Year eve. They complete the balance sheet of the year. Whatever cash they have in hand take it to the treasury room, and set it at the paper portrait of Goddess Laksmi. Then, they make offerings of puja to the goddess on the night of this day. Then, they stop any dealings of money for the day.

Next day is the New Year day. The Nevah community makes short offerings to the Goddess Laksmi on the morning, and takes the cash placed at the portrait of the goddess as the blessing from Her. Then, all the family members sit around the goddess, and eat the ‘samahaya:’ the goddess-blessed food. Then, they go on celebrating the New Year.

This year, Nepal celebrates 1134^th year following the Nepal Samvat calendar. Previously, Nepal had another calendar. A rich man called Sankhadhar Sakhava used all his savings for paying the debts of all the citizens of the then Nepal, and introduced a new calendar called Nepal Samvat. He paid off the debt of all citizens, as none should be indebted in introducing a new calendar. It happened 1134 years ago. So, this day also is celebrated as the day of Sankhadhar Sakhava. Nepalis strictly follow the Nepal Samvat calendar for celebrating all the festivals.

The first day of the lunar bright fortnight (kartik sukla pachaya) of Kartik (October-November) is the New Year day. On this day, the Nevah community celebrates body worship called ‘Mha puja’. Other farmer communities make offerings to bullocks appreciating their contribution to the farm work.

A Hindu myth explains why bullocks need to work for humans. Lord Shiva keeps a bull as a companion. One day, Lord Shiva said to a bull, “Go to a human world, and tell them to wash three times, and eat a single meal a day.” The bull travels from the cosmic abode called ‘kailash’ of Lord Shiva to the human world. Due to the distractions on the way to the human world, the bull gets confused. The bull tells the humans, “Wash once a day, and eat three meals a day.”

The bull returns back to ‘kailash’ and then reports to Lord Shiva. “Did you correctly tell the humans what they have to do?” asked Lord Shiva. “Yes, I did,” said the bull. “What did you say, tell me,” said Lord Shiva. “I told them to wash once a day, and eat three meals a day,” replied the bull. “Oh, no, no, you have done a great mistake. They cannot have enough food to eat three meals a day. So, you go and help humans in the farming to produce enough food,” said Lord Shiva to the bull.

The Nevah community performs ‘body worship’ called ‘Mha puja’ on the first day of the lunar bright fortnight (kartik sukla pachaya) of Kartik (October-November). On this day, they perform ‘puja’ to any animals, and equipment including a stone mortar and pestle at the home. They also put together a brand new large wicker tray called ‘nanglo’ and a new broom, and make offerings to them. Other times, they never keep a ‘nanglo’ and a broom together. Probably, they have done so from the hygienic point of view. A ‘nanglo’ is for winnowing food grains whereas a broom is for sweeping floor.

For performing ‘Mha puja’ on the New Year day, a woman smears an area of about a half-meter wide and the length enough for the members of the family to sit in a row with the mixture of cow dung and red clay in a room big enough to accommodate all family members. Then, someone makes a circle of holy water one each for the life-giving god called ‘Janmaraj’ at the top of the row, for the life-taking god called ‘Yamaraj’ at the end of the row, and in between one each for the members of the family. The circles of holy water represent ponds.

Some members of a family draw a circle of rice flower with eight rays coming out of the circle within each circle of water. This drawing represents an eight-petal lotus blooming in a pond. Then they draw circles of one grain or another within each other circles. Finally, someone puts the print of the central finger made of the mixture of oil and amber powder at the center of the innermost circle in each drawing. This drawing represents the vertical view of a human sitting on a lotus growing in a pond.

Each family member sits at his/her drawing called ‘man-nha’ following the family protocol. Men wear or not wear a headgear called ‘topis’ depending on the tradition, women wraps in shawls but their right hands coming out of the shawls. Then, each member makes offerings of puja to self. A person usually woman serving the performers of ‘Mha puja’ offers the mixture of different pieces of flower, fruits, and bread made of rice flour by a grain-measuring pot on the head of each member three times. She applies a tika on the forehead of every performer of ‘Mha-puja.’ Then, she offers the fruits, nuts and ‘jajanka’ on a tray to each member. Finally, she makes offering of ‘khen sagan’ means a boiled peeled and fried egg with a fried fish on her left hand and a brass bowl of home-brewed liquor on her right hand and then she crosses her hands and offers them to each member performing ‘Mha-puja’. Thereafter, ‘Mha puja’ ends.

On the evening of this day, men in groups go from one house to another singing ‘deusi’ songs. Each household presents the ‘deusi’ singers with cash or kinds. Traditionally, they use the money or any kind of gifts they received by singing ‘deusi’ songs for buying gifts to the sisters when they perform brother worship.

The last day of the five-day festival is the day of ‘brother worship.’ Either sisters go to brothers or brothers go to sisters depending on the tradition of each ethnic group to perform ‘brother worship’.

Sisters wish brothers long lives. Sisters wish brothers to be as evergreen as ‘makhamali’ flowers, as hard as hazel and walnut nuts, and as fresh as oil. They put five ‘tikas’ of five different colors vertically on the foreheads of brothers. The five colors are red, yellow, green, blue, and white. They represent five life-supporting elements such as water, air, heat, earth (food), and ether (mind). Applying five ‘tikas’ on the brothers’ foreheads means offerings lives to brothers. Nobody even the life-taking god Yamaraj can take the lives of the brothers after sisters put the ‘tikas’ on the foreheads.

Thereafter, sisters offer a plateful of dry fruits, nuts, and sweets to brothers. Brothers in turn present sisters with gifts of material or cash. Thus, brothers and sisters show profound love for each other.

Men and women not having the siblings of opposite sex go to Jamalesvor Mahadev at the center of pond called ‘ranipokhari’ in Kathmandu for making offerings, and earning the merits of performing ‘brother worship’. The small temple is opened to the public on the day of ‘brother worship’ once a year.

November 7, 2013