NATIONAL 2 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Harvest Of Festivals

The richness of tradition helps Nepalis confront adversity and enter the next annual cycle

By AKSHAY SHARMA

Nepalis are sometimes faulted for their active participation in a plethora of festivals, a cultural treasure trove few nations possess. However, this preoccupation with tradition is perhaps what helps Nepalis endure the present and expect a better tomorrow.

"Even though the nation has suffered a series of tragic incidents this year, the variety of Nepalese culture surely helps us put them behind us," says sociologist Tilak Prasad Cholagain of Tri Chandra College.

The festival season has picked up with the advent Hari Sayani Ekadashi. With the onset of Chatur Masa, Nepalis plant tulsi saplings to purify the ambience and engage in fasts. Then follow Guru Purnima, in honour of the teacher, and Ghantakarna Ekadasi, also commonly known as Gathemangal, the equivalent of Halloween. Nepalese wear rings made of four metals to get out of the way of witches that circle pipal trees.

On Nag Panchami, people across the nation paste a paper poster of a serpent in their houses to seek the protection of the Goddess of Serpents.

Rakshya Bandhan, also known as Janai Purnima, is a festival when a Brahmin ties a sacred thread around a person's right wrist. The thread is worn until Laxmi Puja when it is tied to the tail of a cow. This, tradition holds, makes it easier for the dead to go to heaven. The people feast themselves on kwati (an assortment of beans) and prepare themselves for the advent of winter.

Then comes Gai Jatra, the festival of cows. As Desmond Doig writes in his book "Kingdom Of Gods: "The festival of sacred cows, that honors the recently dead, which may appear a strange reason for celebration but then again what a charming way to be remembered. There is lamentation and consoling prayer, mostly among the elderly and old, and the seriousness of the ritual, but the mood of Gai Jatra is predominantly festive, as if in frolic the finality of death itself is being mocked."

Yamaraj (the God of Death) decides who goes to heaven and who to hell. The gates of heaven are supposed to be opened once a year as cows are believed to push the gates open with their horns.

Legend has it that King Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu thought of this idea to console his wife, in grief over the death of their son, that death is inevitable. As Doig points out, "All must follow the route dictated by tradition and all must pass below the window of the audience in the old royal palace (Basantapur): the window at which the Malla King and their queen sat to watch the revelry. It is believed that that the procession provided palace observers with convenient census of death, but I know of no similar festival indicates the number of births in the city."

Krishna Janamastami commemorates Lord Krishna's birthday. On that day, the Krishna temple in Patan is packed with people singing praises of the lord

Teej is festival special to women, married and single. On the eve of Teej, they cook all kinds of dishes and eat them at midnight, celebrate by singing and dancing. They are not supposed to eat on Teej. "It's a kind of family gathering where importance is attached to married women," says Rajiv Malla of Bhaktapur.

Goddess Parvati went on a fast to attract Lord Shiva. In keeping with that tradition, married women fast for their husband's long life, prosperity. The unmarried pray for the perfect husband. Dress in red and wearing ornaments, women light oil lamps and stay up all night. The festival culminates in Rishi Panchami two days later.

Then comes the 10-day Dashain festival, which marks the victory of good over evil. The five-day Tihar festival that comes three weeks later sets aside special days for crows, dogs and cows. On Laxmi Puja, Nepalis hold prayer vigils for the Goddess of Prosperity and beseech the deity for their own wellbeing. On Bhai Tika, the last day of Tihar, sisters hold rituals and pray for the safety and prosperity of brothers.

"This year was probably the most difficult for Nepalis," says Babu Kazi Shrestha of New Road, referring to the tragedy that struck the royal palace on June 1. "But the wheel of life has to - and will - continue,"

Says Dr Rishi Keshab Raj Regmi, the head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Tribhuvan University: "Although Nepal may be economically weak, we certainly know how to live a life of cultural and spiritual richness. Festivals give us the strength to swallow the bitterness that each year brings and start a new cycle.