Indigenous Way of Interpreting Religion among the Newars of Nepal....

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Indigenous way of Interpreting Religion

Among

The Newars of Nepal

Sipoy Sarveswar

Sipoy Sarveswar

PhD Research Scholar Department of Anthropology

University of Hyderabad

[email protected] Mobile Number: +91 9490980895

Abstract:

The Present paper will analyse how Newars (particularly Maali caste group of Newars in

Thecho village) interpret the religion in their indigenous way and how it helps them n

fulfilling their social needs. Indeed how the indigenous way of interpreting the religion helps

them to survive and sustain as a community. The present argument will be supported with the

help of a case study of a religious festival which take place once in twelve years called

Navadurga Jatara or Barah Baras Mela. The particular caste group called Maalis among the

Newar interpret the religious festival to achieve a higher status in the social hierarchical

order, and also how the Newars in total, as a caste system interpret this religious event and

help each other to lead their lives as community.

Introduction:

Human beings, unlike other species have a distinguished life style from other animals by the

peculiar concept called culture. Again the culture is not uniform; it varies from society to

society. The cultural variation might be because of the geographical differences where they

exist. The cultural variation is observed based on the type of social institutions adopted by the

community as their culture. The social institutions like Family, Kinship, Marriage, Caste

Religion, Political organization and Economic organization etc., together forms the whole

concept called culture. The variation in the culture can be studied by understanding the

practices involved in theses social institutions. The social institutions are structuralized,

followed and passed on to the next generations in the form of culture for the sustainability of

the society as a whole. The order and tradition of the community is decided by the culture

which has been experienced and passed on to the younger generations for keeping the society

to move on. The definition of E B Taylor will be appropriate here to quote, to understand the

concept called culture.

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“Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals,

law, customs and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of

society” Primitive Cultures (1871).

This definition is making sense from ages to define and understand the concept called

culture. To put it much easier, we can define culture as a ‘way of life’. Before understanding

the nature of each and every cultural aspect one must be wondering what might be the

reasons which lead to formation of these cultural aspects. Here I am focusing on particular

social institution called Religion which is observed in almost all the societies. Although the

form of religion varies, such as animism, animatism, totemism, polytheism and monotheism

it is observed in all the societies.

Paul Radin in his book Primitive Religion: Its Nature and origin (1957), come up

with a hypothesis how the religion might have came into origin, he says “To understand the

beginnings of religion we must try to visualize as accurately as we can the conditions under

which man lived at the dawn of civilization. Manifestly he lived in a variable and essentially

inimical physical environment and possessed a most inadequate technological preparation for

defending himself against this environment. His mentality was still overwhelmingly

dominated by definitely animal characteristics although the life values themselves- the

desires for success, for happiness, and for long life- were naturally already present. His

methods of food production were the simplest kind- the gathering of grubs and berries and

the most elementary type of fishing and hunting. He had not fixed dwellings, living in caves

or natural shelters. No economic security could have existed, and we cannot go far wrong in

assuming that, where economic security does not exist, emotional insecurity and its

correlates, the sense of powerlessness and the feeling of insignificance, are bound to develop.

With fear man was born. Of that there can be little doubt. But this fear did not exist in

vacuum. Rather it was the fear inspired by a specific economic situation. All this naturally led

to a disorientation and disintegration of the ego. The mental correlate for such a condition in

subjectivism, and subjectivism means the dominance of magic and of the most elementary

forms of coercive rites. If the psychoanalysts wish to call this narcissism, there can be no

legitimate objection”.

While discussing about main purpose of religion, Paul Radin rightly argued that

“There is, broadly speaking, only one possible explanation, and that is to regard religion as

one of the most important and distinctive means for maintaining life values. As these vary, so

will the religious unit vary. Religion is thus not a phenomenon apart and distinct from

mundane life nor is it a philosophical inquiry into the nature of being and becoming. It only

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emphasizes and preserves those values accepted by the majority of a group at given time. It is

this close connexion with the whole life of man that we find so characteristically developed

among all primitive cultures and in the early phases of our own civilization. Only when other

values are in the ascendant does religion become divorced from the whole corporate life of

the community.”

Paul Radin viewed religion as a caretaker of the established values in the society

when he wrote “It only emphasizes and preserves those values accepted by the majority of a

group at given time”.

Paul Radin tried to understand the religion in non-economic terms but Marxist always

view religion from the scope of economy to that matter not only religion almost all social

institutions were understood by Marxist in the material terms. Seth D. Kunin in his book

Religion: the Modern Theories discussed about the Marxist point of view in understanding

the religion in this book the first chapter deals with Karl Marx and Cultural Materialism,

author did not forget to mention the famous quote of Karl Marx about the religion “Religion

is the opium of masses”. Author also mentioned that “at a more simplistic level, Marx can be

understood as emphasising the economic component of social experience as the formative

element. The relationship between the economic level and other societal institutions, for

example, art, religion, science and law, is encapsulated in the model of structure and

superstructure. Economics is the underlying structure. It alone of all societal institutions is

not derivative. All other elements are superstructure; they are derived and shaped by the

underlying economic structure. Thus religion cannot be seen as something essential and

separate for economics but rather is derived from and related to its specific economic

structural context”.

Seth D. Kunin also pointed out how different schools of thought in Anthropology

viewed religion to understand the purpose of it in the society. What makes this social

institution which is as old as the society, to play a key role in the contemporary society as

well. While explaining Maalinowski’s work on religion Seth D. Kunin said “Maalinowski

distinguishes between religion, magic and science. He suggests that all three modes of

thought are present in all societies. Science, he suggests, relates to the empirical knowledge

that is necessary for survival. All societies must possess a high degree of empirical

knowledge in order to properly function within their environment. This knowledge arises

from forms of trial and error, which are in effect the same as our model of scientific

experimentation. Magic, while including many elements that make it similar to religion, has a

narrower purview. It is a practical way of thinking that comes into play in those areas that we

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are not able to fully control. Magic is a means through which we can attempt to control the

accidental. Magic is not science or misunderstood empirical knowledge; it is the recognition

of the limits of such knowledge and the attempt to control things that are beyond the limits of

that knowledge. Where magic and science work on the practical sphere, the ranges of

functions associated with religion work on the integrative sphere and are not specifically

concerned with practical ends”.

Religion might have come to existence due to the lack of scientific explanations to the

natural calamities and some natural phenomenon in this universe such as day, night, seasonal

difference, birth and death etc. Human beings’ evolution of brain not only led them to talk,

use their hands for, making, using tools and bi-pedalism but also to think and ask questions.

We need answers for what is happening in and around us. The lack of advancement in

science to explain the universal phenomenon stated above, might have lead to come up with a

social institution called religion and attributing it with the supernatural being and making that

super natural being reasons for the universal occurrences might have given the answers for

those men who seek for it.

Religion is more associated with cognition of the people, which might help humans

psychologically balance themselves. In the crisis situation when a person is experiencing the

stress he or she might simply depend on the religion to ease themselves. It is often made to

believe on the supernatural power is the reasons behind all the sufferings of the person and

pleasing him/her is the only way to get out of the sufferings and the way to reach that

supernatural being is religion.

It will be appropriate here to borrow the definition of religion by Clifford Greetz in

his book The interpretation of cultures: selected essays (1993) in the chapter Religion as a

cultural system. He defines religion as

A system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-

lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order

of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the

moods and motivations seems uniquely realistic. (Clifford Greetz. 1993)

The above definition of Clifford Greetz clearly shows how the religion had been

structuralized and made rigid and unquestionable for several reasons such as preserving the

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order1 or acquiring the power and so on. Religion as a social institution was made used for

political stability, mobilising the people together, to keep going some of the systems without

questioning them and also for doing good for the human well being.

Religionization:

The process, of giving a colour of, religion to any social institution, incident, nature

sometimes humans can be called as ‘Religionization’. During Indian Independence Bal

Gangadhar Tilak mobilized masses together in the name of religion by organizing Ganesh

Pooja and Shivaji Jayanthi to fight against the Britishers, theses practice of organizing the

Ganesh Pooja and Shivaji Jayanthi are still followed nationwide to celebrate the festival2.

Another instance of Religionization of a social institution is Caste System; one of the

mythologies of origin of caste system tells us how the Chaturvarna3 system had come. The

Brahma who is the creator of the world divided his body and giving rise to four varna classes

namely Brahmin, Vaisya, Kashtriya and Sudhra, establishing order and allotted duties to

those varnas. Any caste or human being would not accept the menial jobs which are assigned

to them if they were not religionised in the name of god; the caste system remains

unquestionable by Religionization of it. The people were trained not to question the religion.

So, once any institution is Religionized that will automatically remains unquestionable. The

Egypt rulers ‘Pharaoh’4 claim themselves as the descendants of god and call themselves as

1 The ‘order’, at that time, that people might have thought only way to keep the society and culture going.

2 Tilak sought to widen the popularity of the nationalist movement (which at that time was largely confined to

the upper classes) by introducing Hindu religious symbolism and by invoking popular traditions of the Maratha struggle against Muslim rule. He thus organized two important festivals, Ganesh and Shivaji, in 1893 and 1895, respectively. Ganesha is the elephant-headed god worshipped by all Hindus. Shivaji, the first Hindu hero to fight against Muslim power in India, was the founder of the Maratha state, which in the course of time overthrew Muslim power in India. But, though this symbolism made the nationalist movement more popular, it also made it more communal and thus alarmed the Muslim (Source: "Bal Gangadhar Tilak." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 30 Jul. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/595729/Bal-Gangadhar-Tilak>.) 3 "varna." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web.

30 Jul. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/623520/varna>.

4In official documents, the full title of the Egyptian king consisted of five names, each preceded by one of the

following titles: Horus, Two Ladies, Golden Horus, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, and Son of Re. The last name was given to him at birth, the others at coronation.

The Egyptians believed their pharaoh to be the mediator between the gods and the world of men. After death the pharaoh became divine, identified with Osiris, the father of Horus and god of the dead, and passed on his sacred powers and position to the new pharaoh, his son. The pharaoh’s divine status was portrayed in allegorical terms: his uraeus (the snake on his crown) spat flames at his enemies; he was able to trample thousands of the enemy on the battlefield; and he was all-powerful, knowing everything and controlling

nature and fertility. (Source: "pharaoh." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

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sons of sun god; they Religionized the position of kingship, so that nobody will dare to

question the authority of the ruler to rule the people. In the broader sense we can understand

this Religionization process as a politics. The process of Religionization can also be

understood as small section of a group tries to control and get more benefits out of the limited

resources by acquiring power and making use of the religion, which has a great impact to

control the minds of the people.

The essence of religion is frequently misunderstood and which lead to several riots

and massacres. Wars are waged in the name of religion to show the supremacy of the ones

religion on the other, failing to recognise other’s religion is as equal to their’ religion.

Branding some religious practices as barbaric and claiming some religions are civilized, led

to much social unrest in the history of religion.

As discussed earlier in the paper, the religion is more cognitive in nature and every

community or society will have their own reasons for practising a particular cultural aspect.

Similarly any social institution can be interpreted and followed and passed on to the next

generations as a part of their culture. The indigenous knowledge of the people will make

them to come up with such interpretations which will benefit them to maintain order or to

make the next generations to keep following the culture. The indigenous knowledge can also

be called as Local Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge and Folk Knowledge these are indeed

referring to Indigenous Knowledge.

The most widely accepted definition of Indigenous Knowledge is given by Berkes,

who refers to the term as traditional Ecological Knowledge. According to him, “Traditional

Ecological Knowledge is a cumulative body of knowledge and beliefs, handed down through

generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including

humans) with one another and with their environment. Further, Traditional Ecological

Knowledge is an attribute of societies with historical continuity in resource use practices; by

and large, these are non-industrial or less technologically advanced societies, many of them

indigenous or tribal.”

The knowledge which is particular to the community and particular to that specific

environment which helps the people to understand, interpret, follow, make necessary

corrections if needed and to pass on to the next generations can also be called as indigenous

Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 30 Jul. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/455117/pharaoh>.)

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knowledge. In the present paper I tried to argue that the religion had been interpreted in

indigenous way to meet some of the social demands and help the Maali caste group to

achieve higher status in the hierarchical ladder in due course of time.

The religion can be made used by a particular section of the people to get social

benefits and indeed they manage to convince other members of the community by

Religionizing the practices and in due course of time, achieve the required social benefits.

The fieldwork5 among the Newars of Thecho village in Lalitpur District in Nepal gave some

insights of how a particular section (Caste group) of the people called Maalis6 made used a

religious event called Barah Baras Mela or Navadurga Jatara (festival is discussed in detail

later) for achieving the higher status than the current status or equal status on par with the

Maharjans7.

Before discussing the main theme of the paper it will be appropriate to give a brief

introduction about the Newars of Nepal.

The Newars of Thecho Village in Nepal:

The Newar of Nepal is considered as janjati, which means natives or original

inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley. Earlier, the Kathmandu valley, which includes major

towns Kathmandu, Patan, Bhakatpur were only called as Nepal. So, we can say the Newar are

the original inhabitants of the Nepal (different hypothesis were put forward by different

scholars, but there is no evidence to prove this hypothesis regarding their origin). Some of the

theories say that they speak a Tibeto-Burman language, which is different from the other

habitants of the Nepal, like Gurkhas, who speak an Indo-Aryan language. According to the

2001 Nepal census, the 12, 45, 232 Newars in the country are the nation’s sixth largest ethnic

group, representing 5.48% of the population. Newar practice both Hinduism and Buddhism.

According to the 2001 Nepal Census, 84.13% of Newars are Hindus and 15.31% are

Buddhists. Out of the three main cities (Patan, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu) of Kathmandu

valley, which are historically Newar, Patan is dominated by Buddhist Newars; Bhaktapur is

primarily Hindu whereas Kathmandu is mixed.

5 The present paper is written based on the field work carried out by me (for partial fulfilment of my MPhil

degree) among the Newars in a village called Thecho, located in the Lalitpur district in the Bagmati zone of central Nepal. 6 Maali literally means gardeners or horticulturalist; they are ranked second in the social hierarchical order

among the Newars of Thecho. 7 Maharjans are one among the four jayapu communities who are peasants and land owning caste group. They

occupy the first position as there were no Brahmins in this village. They are numerically, economically sound in this village.

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Newars live in a caste divided society. In his article Elements of Newar Social

Structure (1956), Christoph Von Fürer-Haimendorf mentions about the inter-caste

relationship among the Newars. Similar to the caste system in India, the Newar caste system

is also hierarchical in nature. Haimendorf pointed out that the Buddhist Newars and Hindu

Newars were differentiated only on the basis of who is serving as the family priest for them,

but in the course of time there is no such differentiation observed among the Newars. The

people are unable to separate Hinduism from Buddhism.

Until Prithvi Naryan Shah unified the whole of Nepal, the Newars were a separate

kingdom. They were mainly traders and mediators between Tibet and India. As the

availability of salt is very less, they used to supply salt for the other people in the valley and

to the adjacent communities who are living outside the valley. They are artisans. The major

art and architecture of Nepal is that of the Newars. Their bronze sculptures are renowned

worldwide. A majority of the Newars reside in the Kathmandu valley.

Newars of Thecho village follow the religion of Hinduism and Buddhism. Majority of

the people identify themselves as the followers of Hinduism whereas we can find the small

Buddha Stupa like structure at the beginning of almost all streets. Buddha is considered one

of the Hindu gods and Buddha will be praised in their hymns and songs reciting for the gods.

Very less people call themselves as followers of Buddhism. In Hinduism we can find Newars

worship both the great tradition gods/goddesses and little tradition gods/goddesses. The great

tradition gods like Shiva, Vishnu, Ram and other major gods and goddesses are worshipped.

Coming to little tradition Newars give importance to the female goddess worship which

varies from region to region and from village to village and within village. These goddesses

are considered as village protectors and in Thecho the village has been divided into two parts

upper part (choye) and lower part (koye) based on geographical settlement. Upper part consist

temple of Balkumari and lower part consist temple of Brahmayini and Nava Durga. The

Balkumari and Brahmayini temples and the properties associated with the temples were

managed by the Maharjans of Thecho village where the Navadurga temple is maintained and

the related festivals are organised by the Maali caste group of Thecho village. The houses in

the lower part and upper part are constructed in and around the temple structures placing

temples at the middle of households. Not only the households but also the culture of Newars

revolve around these temples (it is discussed in detail in the later phase of this paper)

Among the Newars in the Kathmandu valley we can find the castes like, Joshi (pandit,

astrologer); Bajrachari (gold smith, who also perform the marriage); Shrestha; Sakya; Jayapu

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(farming community who holds the land) who are again subdivided into Maharjan, Singh,

Dangol, Kayasth and Awale; Maali (horticulturalist); Nau (barber); Nakarmi (black smith);

Tamarkar (Bronze smith); Thuladhar; Chitrakar (Painter); Kasai or Kadki (butcher); Kusli or

Kapali (drum beaters); Salmi (oil extractor); Damyi (dyers of clothes); Jogi (temple cleaners);

Pore (cleaners of plates after feast). In case of Thecho village the castes groups such as

Maharjan, Maali, Kadki, Nau, Damyi and Kapali are commonly residing together.

The Maharjans are considered as the higher in the social hierarchical order as the

Brahmins are not residing in the Thecho. Maalis caste group comes next to Maharjans in the

social hierarchical order. The social hierarchical status of a caste group is decided by several

criteria such as economical strength, numerical strength and based on who organizes the

religious and village festivals for the existing goddesses in the village. Almost all the

religious festivals at the village level are organized by the Maharjans of the Thecho village.

Maalis are competing and trying to imitate the Maharjans to achieve the social status equal to

Maharjans. As a result of imitating the Maharjans in organizing the village festivals Maalis

managed to organize one village festival called Navadurga Jatara or Barah Baras Mela (A

yearlong festival) which takes place once in twelve years.

In Thecho village Maharjans can be considered as ‘Dominant Caste’. The definition

of dominant caste had been given by M. N. Srinivas (1955) as “A caste may be said to be

“dominant” when it preponderates numerically over the other caste, and when it also wields

preponderant economic and political power. A large and powerful caste group can be more

easily dominant if its position in the local caste hierarchy is not too low”. The Maharjans

fulfils the required criteria of dominant caste as explained by the M. N. Srinivas. Maharjans

are role model for the lower castes (including Maalis) to elevate their caste status in the

Thecho village.

Colin Rosser (1979) in his article ‘Newar caste system’ rightly pointed out that social

mobility is a dynamic process. In the era of globalization, this mobility becomes rapid. Social

mobility can be divided into the individual mobility and group mobility. Individual mobility

is not that easy. Individual mobility takes place only in terms of class but not in caste. This is

because, a person’s life, from birth to death, revolves around his or her caste. The practice of

endogamy and permanent membership are ascribed to person at the time of his or her birth

and thus makes the mobility tough for an individual. On the other hand, group mobility is

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possible. But social mobility is process which has to be gradual and it will take a long time to

achieve the desired status in the caste hierarchy.

To understand the Barah Baras Mela completely we need to understand the Guthi

organizations among the Newars of Thecho as the Guthi organization has very less

importance while dealing with the theme of this paper, I am just giving a diagrammatical

representation to make it clear about the Guthi organization. The following plates give us a

broad understanding about the Guthi organization in Thecho village among the Newars.

Plate 1. Represents the basic criteria for Guthi organization

Plate 2. Represents the whole Thecho village’s social structure and its Guthi organizations

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Plate 3. Represents the Raj Guthi and Gao Guthi organization among the Newars of Thecho

village8

8 For further details of the Guthi organization among the Newars of Nepal see also unpublished works of

Declan Quigley, his PhD Thesis, titled ‘The Social Structure of a Newar Trading Community, East Central Nepal’ submitted to Faculty of Economics, University of London in 1984 and also unpublished work of Sipoy Sarveswar MPhil Thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology, University of Hyderabad in 2011

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Barah Baras Mela for Navadurga:

Navadurga guthi is one of the raj guthi. Among three raj guthis in Thecho, Navadurga guthi

is occupied by the people belonging to the Maali caste group. Maali caste people belong to

two guthis, kona guthi and Navadurga guthi. Navadurga guthi is formed by the kona guthi

members. We can call Navadurga guthi as internal part of the Kona guthi but the

responsibility of organization and maintenance of Navaduga temple lies on Navadurga

guthiyars only.

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The Navadurga guthi has 34 guthiyars and their main function is to organize the

Barah Baras Mela. Once in every twelve years, they organize this Barah Baras Mela. During

the year of Barah Baras Mela, the villagers are not supposed to celebrate any life cycle

ceremonies like brath bandh, Barah kuni, vivah, janku etc except the death rituals. Whereas

the village festivals like Gao Jatara for Brahmayini, Balkumari and indra Jatara can take

place.

As we discussed earlier, the status of a caste will be determined based on whether that

caste can organize the village festival. Except this Navadurga Jatara all the village festivals

are organized by the Maharjans. While enquiring about how Maalis got the opportunity to

organize this Navadurga Jatara or Barah Baras Mela the people of Thecho told about a myth

which goes like this;

Myth:

“In ancient days the Navadurga Jatara (Barah Baras Mela) had been organized by the nhesa

guthi of Maharjans. During this festival, the Navadurga was brought out and when she comes

out from Navadurga mandir (temple) they sacrifice animals. They had to perform human

sacrifice also at the end of the yearlong festival. But there was nobody who met the criteria

for sacrifice within the Thecho village. So the nhesa guthiyar sacrificed his son-in-law, who

had come to visit his in-laws house during the Jatara. After learning the sacrifice of her

husband to Navadurga, the angry daughter of the nhesa guthiyar, cursed the nhesa guthi

members that, they would lose the privilege of organizing the Barah Baras Mela and that

they would have to wash the legs of people from the lower castes.

As a result, the privilege of organizing the Barah Baras Mela had been passed on to

the Maalis from the Maharjans. For this, the members from kuna guthi formed another guthi

called the Navadurga guthi and they have organized this festival ever since.”

In order to understand the above myth we have to know about the words of Richard

Cavendish in his book An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Mythology (1984) “Myths are

imaginative traditions about the nature, history and destiny of the world, the gods, man and

society. They are treated here as a concepts which deserve serious attention, for what they

mean to those who believe in them and as statements about fundaments issues of life. One of

the disadvantages of the old- fashioned derogatory use of the word myth, to mean a foolish

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story of the false idea, is the implication that myths are trivial. The reality is the reverse. It is

the things which people regard as important that find a place in their mythology”.

The above myth does not have any historical evidences it has been considered as a

oral history and getting passed on from generation to generation. Some of the people in

Thecho opine it might not also happen. But as a social scientist when we tried to understand

the myth, we try to interlink the myth with the social demand of a caste group to organize a

village festival to claim its higher status in the social hierarchical order might have forced

Maalis to come up with such myth and in the due course of time even Maharjans might have

started to agree with Maalis. As M.N. Srinivas explains while discussing the Sanskritization

(1952) process after a period of time even the upper caste (which acts a role model for the

lower caste) will also accepts the higher status of the lower caste which is imitating them for

generations. The whole process can be analysed and understood as a process of

Sanskritization.

Navadurga??:

For in-depth understanding of the Navadurga festival I asked villagers what are the

forms of the Navadurga9, most of the villagers answered it is single goddess and it does not

have any forms. They call a bronze idol as the Navadurga and they are 11 masked dancers

who participate in this Barah Baras Mela. The Navadurgas, they say, are:

1. Navadurga (this is a Bronze idol carried by one of the Navadurga guthiyars)

2. Shimba (male lion who is one of the protectors of the temple)

3. Thimba (female lioness who is another protector of the temple)

4. Bairava (form of Shiva who is dressed in black)

5. Karke (Kali dressed in red)

6. Barayi devi

7. Man man Maijun

8. Balkumari (wears white and red dotted clothes)

9. Ganesh (wears black clothes)

10. Maskoi (Brahmayini)

11. Omekva

12. Maha dev (lord Shiva)

9 As the name in Sanskrit represents, it is supposed to be nine forms of Durga according to Hindu Mythology.

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There is a mixture of male gods and female goddesses which, according to the name,

is supposed to be only female goddesses. Villagers do not have a clue about the myth or any

oral history about the Navadurga or the gods and goddesses (Mask Dancers). Some villagers

said that the Mask dancers who are considered as the gods and goddesses during this festival

are trying to please the goddess Navadurga.

Some elder members of the village say that Navadurga was earlier known as gao dev,

which means village god. When the government was taking the census, some 200 years ago,

the property under this guthi was noted down as Navadurga guthi. From then onwards, the

gao dev guthi has been known as Navadurga guthi. There are some old scriptures that talk

about the gao dev (village god). But, the name has now been changed from gao dev to

Navadurga.

The Barah Baras Mela takes place for eight months to one year. Earlier, the Mela

used to took place for one whole year. Now-a-days, they celebrate it for just eight months.

The goddess has to come out of the mandir (temple), once in a month, on an auspicious day.

A night before the day of the pooja, the men dress up like gods and goddesses and follow the

utsava moorthy of Navadurga, carried by one of the Navadurga guthiyars. The moorthy will

be placed in a specially made bronze house and they then dance according to drumbeats. The

dance is performed by all the members as a group and individually too. The men dress up like

gods and goddesses in a hut made of green leaves and wood. Earlier, the Navadurga had to

come from the forest and stay in the village for a night and then go back to the forest. But in

due course, they started constructing a hut which looks like the forest. The leaves and wood

was brought from the forest. This hut is built just behind the Navadurga temple and the guthi

office, in the seventh ward. The sixth ward is fully occupied by the people of the Maali jat.

The seventh ward lies next to the sixth ward and fifth ward.

Some men dress up and the other men blow pipes which are very long and they play

the drums (earlier this was performed by people from the Kapali jat. But they are not ready to

perform this particular task, so any one who is interested, can play the music). Around 6-10

people blow the pipes and this is the indication for the villagers that the Navadurga is coming

out of the temple and nobody is supposed to come in the way. The men, who play music,

march forward, followed by a person, who is dressed in white with a big turban. He carries

the Navadurga and is followed by men dressed up like gods and goddesses. Their faces are

covered with a mask know as the mookut (mask of a god or goddess made of fur. They wear

16

big ornaments which are made up of bronze). Each god wears a specially coloured dress and

they have swords in their hands. As they are unable to see the road, men from the same guthi

assist them by holding their hands and guiding them through the path.

Mask Dancers:

The dancers who wear masks and dress up like gods have got this role through

inheritance. Their fore fathers did it to preserve the tradition. It is their responsibility to take

up the duties of the masked dancers. These duties can be inherited in two circumstances. It is

either inherited by the younger brother of a mask dancer who dies. If not, it is inherited by his

son. If the person becomes too old and can no longer perform his duties well, then could ask

his family members or his sons to take up the responsibility.

The masked dancers are not supposed to consume rice or food item prepared with

rice, on the day the dance is performed. They are not supposed to sleep in their homes and to

show their face once they wear the mookut (but everybody knows personally who is playing

the role of the God). They will sleep in the hut built by them for the year. They are not

supposed to wear any footwear. The role of the masked dancer is a very privileged position.

On other days they are considered as equals, despite the high social status that they hold, the

masked dancers, on any normal day, are just like the other people of the community. They

spend time with their friends and play cards with them too.

When the Navadurga comes out from the mandir (temple), all the villagers stand in

the street, to see the procession. They stand in front of their houses and when the procession

comes, they come forward and place the hands of the masked dancers on their heads. The

procession is led by men who belong to the Navadurga guthi. They wear white colour clothes

and a big turban. They have a special drum for the Navadurga which is oval in shape and is

played with both the hands. It is decorated with the horn of a sheep. The procession goes on

for half an hour around the streets of Brahmayini temple, but it does not visit the people

belonging to the caste of the Maalis and not even in the Kasais. After the procession, the

moorthy (idol) is kept under the bronze house, which is a temple like structure situated in

front of the Brahmayini mandir. The courtyard in front of the Brahmayini mandir is made

ready with green bamboo sticks erected on the four sides and a red cloth is tied to protect the

Goddess Navadurga and other dancers from the sun and the rain. The green bamboo sticks

with leaves represent the forest.

17

On the same night they dance for three hours and at the end of the dance, when the

Navadurga is taken back to the temple, the villagers sacrifice animals like chicken and male

goats. The animal is held by a few people and is sacrificed. The villager who is sacrificing the

animal, requests one of the masked dancers to offer blood. Then the masked dancer drinks the

blood of the animal sacrificed. This ritual of animal sacrifice concludes the celebrations. The

masked dancers go back to the hut. This short period of dance is an announcement to the

villagers that, there will be celebrations the whole of the next day. The next day they perform

various kinds of dance from six in the morning to nine in the night. All the gods dance

together in the beginning and then, individually, in front of the utsava moorthy to the music.

In between the performances, if any of the dancers want to have some tea, they are taken

inside the hut which is about 200 metres away from dancing arena. All the villagers are

usually present to see the dance.

Plate 4. The mask dancers of the Navadurga Jatara.

At around noon, the villagers bring offerings which they want to offer to the

Navadurga. A big leaf plate, which is decorated with money on the sides, is placed in front of

the bronze idol. The villagers, dressed up in traditional attire, come in a line with their

offerings. The offerings generally consists of beaten rice, dried fish, fruits, pumpkins,

different varieties of grains, popped rice, and cooked meat, fruits, biscuits and eggs. They

bring the offerings in buckets and they offer half of what they have brought to goddess, and

the remaining will be taken back to their homes. The food is dumped in a heap in front of the

goddess. After the offerings, the food is taken back to the guthi office and the items are all

18

separated. In the evening, the dancing resumes. It will continue up to about 10 O clock in the

night. When the dance concludes a buffalo is sacrificed and the goddess is taken inside. The

guthi members will share the offerings given by villagers to Navadurga. The meat of buffalo

sacrificed on the last day will also be shared among the guthiyars.

Sharing during the Navadurga Barah Baras Mela:

There are totally 34 members in the Navadurga guthi. During Barah Baras Mela they

have to organize feast for all the guthiyars of all the guthi in Thecho and Sunakoti10

. The rest

of the guthi members, who are not guthiyars, can also participate in the feast. The Navadurga

guthi members have to contribute the equal share for organizing this feast. In both the

villages that is in Thecho and Sunakoti.

The total members attending the feast are 2,100 in Thecho 600 in Sunakoti. (The

people has to sit in the straight line if any construction, house or something comes in between

they will break it and continue the line). For organizing this feast the Navadurga guthiyars

contributed 15,000 each so the total is 15,000X34= 5, 10,000. Each member has to pay this,

even if one does not, have he has to borrow it and contribute his part for organizing the feast.

And in return those who had participated in the feast have to pay 6 patis of the grain (paddy)

for the Navadurga guthi. If they do not have grains they have to pay 600 rupees.

8 mane11

= 1 pati

4 kilos = 1 pati

24 kilo grams = 6 pati

20X 4 = 80 k.gms = one moori

Each member got eight mooris of grain which means 80X8= 640 kilograms of paddy,

from that they will get 320 kilograms of rice. The cost of rice is 18 rupees and 320X 18=

5760 rupees worth grains they got and they money from Thecho is 2,10,000 and from

Sunakoti is 1,23,000 the total is 3,33,000 which is again shared among the 34 members so

each person will get 9794.1 rupees. The money in the form of grains and money in the form

of cash for every person is 9794+5760 = 15,554. So the amount which they spent to organize

10

Sunakoti is an adjacent village which lies to the north of Thecho, as the Sunakoti does not have the enough population who can take up Navadurga Jatara in the Sunakoti the maalis and Maharajans of the Sunakoti participate in the Thecho village’s Navadurga Jatara. 11

Mane is a measuring jar

19

the feast is equal to the amount which they got. Delayed reciprocity can be observed. This is

a year long process of the exchange between the villagers and other villagers. They share

their crops and profits with each other. The social system makes them care about each others

with sharing their crop and money. One of the villagers said “we are not supposed to

calculate the money we spent and we got, it is our dharma (duty), niyam (rule) to organize

feast. We have to follow our dharma and niyam”.

The villagers who attend the feast represent their respective guthis. They will pay the

grains or money to their respective naiki or to palas of guthis. They will indeed give it to the

Navadurga guthi naikis. Navadurga guthiyars will wait until every share comes from all

guthis in Thecho and Sunakoti and one day the all 34 guthiyars will share the grains and

money.

One of the villager pointed out that “If we are not paying back after participating in

the feast, the Navadurga guthiyars are not going to ask but it is our moral responsibility to

pay back, we have to pay that is what our father teaches us”.

As the Newars are the trading community, there will be ups and downs in the

business. Therefore, in order to help each other and to share their earning with the society

such type of the cultural habits is adopted by the Newars. The basic need of any human being

is food. That has been taken care by such cultural practices of the Newars. One might raise a

question saying that it is happening only once in twelve years how can one say that the basic

needs are getting fulfilled by social system or culture of the Newars. To answer this question

we need to understand the basic logic behind such sharing among the Newars. Irrespective of

their castes and class they are supposed to participate in the feast and return the grains or

money, which is bringing the people together and which keeps the opportunity open to

interact and help each other in the hard timings of each person. The social organization of the

Newars is such that people give more importance the fellow human being rather than the

material needs. The social status of the individual or family has been analysed based on the

ability of a person to organize the feast or share his resources with others. If one is not able to

do that is not considered as socially low. As two (Thecho and Sunakoti) villages are

participating in the social phenomena of the Navadurga Jatara the social networking of the

villagers are maintained high.

Plate 5. Navadurga guthi members sharing grains and other materials which they got in

return for organizing feast for the guthiyars in Thecho and Sunakoti.

20

A neat account will be maintained on how much they spent how many people

participated in the feast, and how much they got back either in the form of grains or in the

form of money. As one of the guthiyars mentioned “the main morality of businessmen is to

not to cheat others for the sake of his business but to maintain neat accounts of what

happened with the money and being true to his business and other fellow beings. We are

traders and we follow our dharma”.

Conclusion:

Navadurga Jatara among the Newars is being a good example how a social institution

(Religion) has been interpreted in the indigenous way for achieving social demands and to

live as a community in toto. The indigenous way of interpreting the social institution can be

observed in almost all the societies and their cultures. Every society has their own stories and

myth about their cultural practices as their justification for practicing it. As every community

differs with their interpretation which indeed depends on the history of the culture and

geography of the society, we can observe different cultures in different societies in this world.

Although the religion has several functions in the societies I tried to view it from the point of

view of, how it helps a caste group to claim their higher social status in the social hierarchical

order. In the above mentioned Navadurga Jatara we can observe how the Maalis came up

with the myth which allows them to gain the privilege of organizing the village festival and

also to claim their social status. The lack of knowledge among the people about Navadurga is

adding strength to understand the interpretation of this particular village festival as a medium

21

for the Maali caste group to climb up and claim their higher social status than the other lower

castes by organizing the village festival.

In all communities the interpretation is common and this phenomenon can be

observed and studied empirically. The religion has its own advantages from avoiding people

to raise questions about the belief system. So, the Maalis had Religionized the myth and

practices which favours them in achieving the higher social status.

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