The colourful festival - Fagu

-By Dhurba K Deep

One of the most colourful festivals next to Shree Panchami which is celebrated every year in the middle of bright fortnight of Fagun (March) is Fagu - so to say Holi. This festival commences when a huge ceremonial pole traditionally trimmed with many multicoloured cotton strips locally known as cheer is duly erected at Basantpur square near the famed temple of Kumari, the living goddess.

This ritualistic pole represents a legendary Kadam tree, the favourite of Lord Krishna. According to a very popular legend, it is on this tree that the blue boy Krishna hung the clothes of his girl friends (Gopinis) which he playfully stole away when they were bathing naked in the lovely river Jamuna.

The installation of this ceremonial pole is heralded with the performance of many interesting traditional rituals amid cheers and applause from the big mass of Fagu enthusiasts. Musicians play various seasonal tunes to mark the occasion. Performers of Fagu rituals sprinkle the red powder over the pole and people around which adds a lot of colour to the ceremony.

The two sister cities of Kathmandu also enthusiastically join the celebration of this festival. In Patan, a miniature tree is erected in front of the famous Krishna temple at Patan Durbar Square. In Bhaktapur, similar kind of tree is erected in front of the golden gate of 55 window palace.

This festival in Nepal is very popular among the teenagers, the cheer for them is the official license to go ahead with their various colour games for one full week.

However, young and old, both participate in this colour game. They usually come in sizeable groups well equipped with different colour powders and balloons filled with coloured waters. These Fagu enthusiasts tour the city just to have fun. Some hurl colours and lola even up to the windows of the private houses from where youthful girls half hidden watch the wild scarlet show going on in the streets. The youth spend almost all day long making festive stops at many neighbourhoods they know on this Holi round. Sometimes these Fagu crowds lure the tourists in joining their colour games.

The zest with which this festival is celebrated is alluded to a part of Rasleela. A very fascinating legend has it that Lord Krishna was very fond of playing Rasaleela (love games with his gopinis). It is said that once Lord Krishna volunteered himself to organise a big spring party to entertain all of his gopinis. The venue he chose for this party was the Brindavan garden where he let all of them enjoy his divine company to their complete satisfaction.

People from various walks of life especially the teenagers fully indulge themselves in this seasonal game. In some places, youth all geared to make the most of this day celebrate Holi by throwing water and colours at each other and also by singing seasonal love songs with foot tapping drum beats. The passersby are not spared even if they are in no mood to join the fun.

Here is a sample the Holi song they sing:

“Don’t be mad young lady!
This is the time for rejoicing
Oh! you look so beautiful - 
I must make you my own

This festivity continues all day long until the cheer is finally lowered in the late afternoon of Fagu Poornima which marks the end of Holi celebration.

This festival is said to have come into being on  the death of the legendary demon Holika who had made many unsuccessful attempts to kill her saintly nephew, Pralhad, a great devotee of Lord Krishna. Holika grabbed her innocent nephew and jumped to the blazing fire only to get killed herself to everybody’s great relief.

The struggle for Mukti

-Maneesh Gopal Pradhan

Mukti (salvation) holds a great significance for all spiritual orientals, especially in the Indian sub-continent - be it Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or of any other religion. To attain salvation is the ultimate aim of all. For salvation people carry out pilgrimages, take ablutions in holy rivers, observe fasts, give away charities, perform yajnas and poojas and many other rituals as mentioned in their scripts.

Muktinath (the provider of salvation) or in the larger sense, Muktichetra (the region of salvation), has been one of such holy sites where thousands of devotees flock for attaining the much sought after Moksha. For centuries this area has been the must reach destination for devout Hindus and Buddhists alike. Lately, due to the opening up of tourism in this area, the spectacular natural magnificence of the region has been able to attract the attention of adventure tourists all over the world. The cultural and religious importance of the area coupled with tourist potential has boosted the hospitality business resulting in growing commercialisation. The influx of pilgrims and tourists and the gains obtained thereafter have had subsequent changes in the morphological structure of various settlements lying along this trial, and similarly in the lifestyle of the inhabitants. Some started getting enormous benefits whereas some could not benefit much. The disparity between the advantaged and not so advantaged communities has given rise to the social conflicts and moreover, it has also rejuvenated the age-old rivalry among various villages. But before coming to this, the brief background of the area seems to be necessary.

Muktinath is located in the western slope of the Damodar (Muktinath) Himal, at the elevation of 3800m directly north of Mt. Dhaulagari, the world’s fifth highest mountain. Muktinath’s fame and religious importance dates back to as early as three thousands years. Some religious texts of Hinduism, such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Purnas have mentioned the religious sanctity of Muktichhetra as a great Tirthasthal, pilgrimage area. When Buddhism penetrated Tibet around 8th AD the animistic population of Mustang Bhot too came under the Buddhist belief system. Before this, the local people used to rear this holy place as chhu-mi-ghyarcha meaning “place of hundred springs”. Probably due to the presence of as many water torrents near the main shrine. They must have considered the sacred complex as a “natural shrine” because of certain miraculous supernatural attributes, particularly natural gas fires, ammonite fossils and other natural features found here that are important to Asian religions.

Once the local population came under Buddhism, they saw it as an incarnation of Buddha. The Buddhist considered the main idol of the Muktinath temple, which the Hindus revere as Lord Vishnu, to be Chenre-shig (Avalokiteshwor in popular parlance). An important feature of Buddhist belief regarding Muktinath is a legend that Padmasambhava, the “precious teacher” and sage who first introduced Buddhism to Tibet, visited here into he 8th century A.D.

The Hindu attributions attached t this area undoubtedly predates those of Buddhism. However, because of their belief and high respect to the shrine, the Buddhist folk of neighboring areas might have gradually ventured to the sacred complex. It was, therefore natural that the local Buddhists began to take care of the sacred complex, built Gompas and Chortens, added colourful prayer flags and erected prayer wheels. But now as the accessibility has improved, Hindu pilgrims are also flocking here from various parts of Nepal and India. The sacred area of Muktinath has now become a symbol of melting pot of two religions and a unique amalgamation of two cultures.

Before dwelling into the social intricacies of the area it is necessary to outline the regional context of this region. The Muktinath area falls under the Barha Gaun region of Mustang. The Barha Gaun is a collection of nineteen villages bounded by Paanch Gaun and Thak area to the south and Lo-Manthang, the kingdom of the Mustangi Raja to the north. This region was traditionally divided into twelve administrative regions. Hence, the region was named Barha Gaun meaning a group of twelve villages. This region was for a long time ruled by a branch of the Mustangi Rajas, they were responsible for building the fortified palaces in such sites as kagbeni, Dzharkot and Dzong, probably around late 16th century. Among these nineteen villages, even though all equally consider the Muktinath area as a holy place, three villages namely Dzharkot, Khinga and Purang have more direct and close relationship with the area and play an important role in any activity there. These three villages are more attached traditionally to the Muktinath Complex, than any others.

Dzharkot is around an hour’s journey from the Muktinath Complex; Khinga is another hour or so from Dzharkot whereas Purang lies just around a ten minute walk from the complex. With the increase in flow of tourists and pilgrims, a new settlement, Ranipauwal sprung up some 30 years back. This settlement, along the main trekking trial, is the outgrowth of Purang.

The past of these settlements, Dzharkot seems to be much more advanced, well off and strong. The presence of the colourful monastery in Dzharkot, which clearly dominates the skyline, indubitably shows its dominance as such monumental monasteries are not found in the other two villages. However, at present due to the ever-increasing tourist influx, Ranipauwa is enjoying a much more glamorous stature. Although, Dzharkot also is getting some advantage of the growing tourist business, Ranipauwa being the final destination of all trekkers and pilgrims, seems to enjoy the commercial supremacy. Dzharkot has  to remain content with the overflow from Rainbowa during the peak seasons; Khinga is even deprived of that.

Commercially, Ranipauwa or Purang is at an advantage, but socio-culturally, Dzharkot and Khinga seem to have an upper hand. As the local parable goes, ages ago some shepherds of Khinga and Dzharkot, while grazing their sheep, discovered the burning flame and the statue of Muktinath. Since they were the first discoverers, these two villages claimed the customary rights of the place. This right is till today strictly respected and followed. as per this right, the Gompas including the main Muktinath temple is looked after by the Jhumas (nuns) of these two villages under the spiritual leadership of the Head Lama of Sakya Rigdol Funchhokling Gompa of Dzharkot. The whole income of the complex, including the money donated by the devotees goes to these two villages. Purang, even though the closest village to the complex, is devoid of the right, hence the villagers have their own grievances. The differential privilege has resulted to inter village conflicts.

At present the total land registered under the Muktinath Complex is 500 ropanies, out of which around 20%, consisting of various temples and Gompas, is walled. The portion within this wall falls funder the ownership of Dzharkot and Khinga, whereas, the outer portion falls under the scrutiny of Purang as per their traditional values. The people of Purang are willing to allow development activities in and around the temple complex, as the betterment of the area will further increase tourists and commercial activity which will have a direct benefit on them. But they fear that if during the development activity the whole 500 ropani area is considered as the temple complex and extend the walls, the portion which is at present under their scrutiny might go to the other two villages. On the other hand, the people of Dzharkot and Khinga are not keen in any development activities in and around the temple complex as it does not directly benefit them and moreover they are afraid that the new set up might lead to the loss of the customary rights that they have been enjoying for several decades. This lose - lose situation resulting due the stalemate condition, has created an environment of tension among the villages whenever any question of improvement of the Muktinath Complex arises.

In this ancestral conflict of ownership, recently, one more contender, the Muktinath Vikash Samiti, has made its entrance. Muktinath Vikash Samti is headed by the CDO of the Mustang district and claims that the holy Muktinath Complex being a national heritage, should be looked after by a central agency in close coordination with the district administration. So, it placed a donation box inside the complex and has been handling this money, which the people of Dzharkot and Khinga, especially the Jhumas, are vehemently opposing. The people of Dzharkot and Khinga take this as an interference in their rights, and justify their involvement as religious and customary. Moreover they also claim that the management of the money lacks transparency. The people of Dzharkot and Khinga are even more infuriated with the district administration’s recent decision to stop the construction of the Jhuma house inside the temple complex. The district administration, on the other hand claims that it has taken this decision as per the direction of the Department of Archaeology. Due to the differences with the district administration, the local populace seem to oppose any initiation brought forward by the administration. The people of Purang have their own complains and claim that this right should be theirs as the temple complex falls under their village.

Development activities, of this sacred religious center for both Hindus and Buddhists is thus getting entangled in many complications. Firstly, there is a clash of interests among the three villages-Purang, Dzharkot and Khinga. Secondly, there is  the clash of interests between those who are directly benefiting from the tourist and commercial activities and those devoid of it. Thirdly, there is the debate whether the complex is a national heritage or local heritage and thus should be managed centrally or locally. This tug of war for Muktichetra, has been the biggest hindrance for any development activities inside the temple complex. Now the point to ponder is when this sacred area itself will get Mukti from all these conflicts and be able to provide Mukti to thousands of devoted pilgrims who visit it.