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Kathmandu Monday January 14, 2002 Magh 01, 2058.
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A festival to kill greed, Samyak Mahadan begins today
By Perina Pathak
KATHMANDU, Jan 13: The four-day festival of Samyak Mahadan got underway
today, with the idols of Dipankar Buddha, Addhi Buddha and Mahamanjushree (also Saraswoti)
being carried from Swayambhu to Hanumandhoka accompanied by music from both traditional
bands as well as the army and police ones.
In the Kathmandu festival takes place every twelve years, but this
year’s Samyak Mahadan is more special since this is the first time in 50 years that
all the festival expenses are being borne by one individual, Ram Kumari Manandhar. But in
Bhaktapur the festival is observed annually.
Every twelve years, it’s the guthis, which conduct the celebrations.
"In every twelve years three guthis—Ithubahal, Laganbahal and Otubahal—take
their turns in organising it," says Babu Raj Buddhacharya, for whom this is the fifth
Samyak Mahadan.
The festival also coincides with the Maghe Sankranti festivities, and the
feast takes place every time at Bhuekhel in Swayambhu.
The preparations for Samyak Mahadan begin a year in advance, and is a hectic
affair. The first day of preparations begin by offering goyda (betel nut) to the deities.
Today the deities were carried from Swayambhu through Bijeshwori, Dallu,
Nardevi, Ason and Indrachowk, to their final destination at Hanumandhoka. Along the route,
the local idols of each of these places are brought out to welcome (lasakusa in Newari)
all the deities, especially that of Dipankar Buddha.
These welcoming deities number around 40, some which are Manakamana,
Bajrajogini, Khadga Jogini, Bijeshwori, Namo Buddha, Palanchowk Bhagawati, Guheshwori and
Nala Karunamai.
The procession is incomplete without the traditional musical instrument of
Paita, which is carried at the tail of the procession. Paita is blown from time to time,
and is believed to be blowing out a mantra (incantation). At the head of the procession,
another player plays the dha baja. Other instruments used among several more are dheme,
khee and kochakhi.
At today’s ceremony, the donator or danpati, Manandhar, was seen
offering prayers to all the deities of god and goddess along the way.
When asked about the reason for organising the celebration single-handedly,
this is what Ram Kumari Manandhar had to say, "Myself and my family are doing this
Samyak Mahadan for world peace and human welfare."
The second day of the festival is deemed the most important when the King
will be attending the ceremony. "The danpati will place the King on a singhasan
(throne) tomorrow and offer puja as he is the incarnation of lord Vishnu," says Prof.
Jagadish Manandhar, Member Secretary of the Samyak Mahadan Main Organising Committee.
Tomorrow, the dieties will trace their way back to Swayambhu. The Samyak
Mahadan is mainly meant for the Shakya and Bajracharya communities, but others too can
partake of the celebrations.
Prof. Manandhar says the dan (offering) to the deities include rice, radish
curry, roti (bread), glow (liquid brewed from molasses), paddy as well as money, and it is
upto the danpati to decide what he wants to offer.
"The donations during Samyak Mahadan should be made with no greed in
mind," says Asha Ram Shakya, Buddhist Scholar. He says during the Lichhavi period,
when Buddhist religion held sway, the dan was given only to the bhikshus during Samyak
Mahadan, but now almost all communities can receive the offerings.
In Buddhist mythology, the tradition of Samyak Mahadan is believed to have
begun during the reign of Sarwananda of Dipawoti shahar (town), says culture expert Hari
Ram Joshi. But historically, he says, the tradition began during the rule of King Bimbasar
of Magadh.
He also says that no one’s sure of the year of origin of Samyak Mahadan.
Says Joshi, "We don’t know about the exact date when the tradition began in
Nepal but the statues of the Samyak idol Dipankar Buddha are mainly of the 3rd century AD,
which indicates that the tradition might have begun in the same century."
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