Kathmandu 2012
Decorated religious statue |
I arrived in Kathmandu this year on
September 27th, the first day of the Indra Jatra Festival. This is a
Newari Festival; The Newari were the first settlers of Kathmandu Valley. It
began during the Lichhavi period, 300 BC to 12 AD by King Gunakandev. Later in 1786 AD, the last Malla of
Kathmandu, Prak ash Malla started the Kumari Jatra I tribute to the Goddess
Teleju Bhawani. Each of these two
co-coinciding festivals began because of two individual myths (read metro
section of the Kathmandu Post September 28, 2012
This year for the first time, the
Lingo – a tall wooden pole (phallic symbol) that is erected yearly in
remembrance of the Jatra fell on the ground during the first attempt to raise
it. Also, a Singha (lion) statue
related to the Kumari Jatra fell the ground. Both mishaps are considered bad omens for the country.
Meanwhile, on the third day of the
Indra Jatra there is a procession of the Kumari Goddess through Durbur
Square. This procession is
repeated three days in a row. Then
the little goddess is returned to her temple on the edge of the square to be
sequestered there with no companionship her own age and educated only in Sand
script until she is taken out and paraded around the square the next year for
three days at five PM with masses of crowds looking on (I have been told that
the temple keepers ply her with local wine on these days so the crowds will not
be so overwhelming for this sheltered child).
Current Kumari Goddess |
Besides battling the festival
crowds, I had a very enjoyable time with my friends who are the owners of the
wonderful Hotel Ganesh Himal, whose gracious rooms and lovely garden is a real
haven in the middle of the sometimes almost primitive mass of porters, bicycle
rickshaw drivers, honking horns, speeding cycle riders, baggers, and hawkers
who crowd the streets of Thamel and the surrounding area.
Rickshaws ready for customers |
A shop |
Nawari couple |
The power of the mind, even the collective one - with not one but two mishaps everyone will definitely be expecting some major problems now. Rather sad about the young girl goddesses.
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