Goddess from Barley sack

Baitadi is 83 kms far from nearby Dadeldhura, 200 kms from Dhangadi and about 800 kms from the capital city, Kathmandu. This famous temple is 10 minutes drive and 40 minutes walk from Baitadi headquarter, writes Shyam Bhatta

The temple of Tripurasundari, one of the most famous goddess temples of far Western is situated in the border district of Baitadi, five kilometers from Nepal-India border. Baitadi is 83 km far from nearby Dadeldhura, 200 km from Dhangadi and about 800 km from the capital city, Kathmandu. This famous temple is 10 minutes drive and 40 minutes walk from Baitadi headquarter.

Fair (Jaat in local language) occurs two times in a year i.e. in Kartik & Asar. Visitors from neighboring districts Dadeldhura, Darchula, Doti, Kailali & Kanchanpur & even from many bordering part of India thronged here to observe the fair & worship the goddess.

Specially, children & women who hardly go outdoors take interest in the fair. Fair is celebrated for two days.

First day fair is called Nani Jaat (small fair) & second called Thuli Jaat (big fair). In the far-flung villages where women hardly get time to visit their relatives due to the domestic work, these fairs provide them an opportunity to share their feelings with their relatives, parents and friends.

Most of the villagers looked dazzling and glowing in neat & clean dresses, bangles, ornaments combined with beautiful tika on their foreheads. Shravan to Kartik is the festival season. In this season most of the people get fast & worship the different temples situated here.

There are seven temples of Bhagwati in different parts of Bajhang, Doti & Baitadi in which five are situated in Baitadi district. According to ancient mythology these seven Bhagwati (Ranayanishaini, Ningalashaini, Bodalashaini, Potalashaini, Dilashaini, Shaileshwory & Melaulee) are sisters. In different temples fair occur at different times.

Bhatt, Chand, Thapa, Maunee, Guru & Markand deside whether to worship or not. This meeting is called Chaurathha. First Priest of Tripura was invited from Doti for worshiping when the Bhagwati resided in this holy place. Now a days the caste of Bhatt & Lekhak as a priest worship her.

All the people whose ancestors are of Baitadi but migrated to Dhangadi, Mahendranagar, Kathmandu & other parts of Nepal & India frequently come here once a year to participate in the Bhagwati festival. Most of the Baitadely whether s/he is in high-ranking post of government have full faith and believe in goddess.

They think that high rankers are blessed by Bhagwati. Devotees offer gold chain, ornaments and other valuable and expensive things to goddess for fulfilling their wish & desire.

They also perform Saptah (regularly seven days worship), Navah (regularly nine days worship). It is believed that if one has no children then s/he prays to Bhagwati to get child.

Baitadi is in the Far Western district of Nepal. Lodging and fooding can be easily got here which is cheap and best comparitive to other places. Daily local taxi & bus services are available from market area to Tripurasundari & Nepal India border Jhulaghat where there are possibilities of horse riding, trekking & swimming in the Mahakali River.

If you have special equipment you can enjoy river rafting & rock climbing.

Special views & beautiful heart wining scenes distract the minds of visitors. One can travel either by night bus from Kathmandu to Dadeldhura, Mahendra Nagar & Dhangadi or if he wants to travel by airway, he can take a flight from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj or Dhangadi. Bus & taxi services are available in these towns for Baitadi, You can enjoy the Royal Bardia National Park in terai region while you are travelling from Nepalgunj to Baitadi.

There are many temples in Baitadi. After a kilometter of walk at least a temple can be visited. Just north of the town snow capped Api & Saipal Mountains are resided spreading their natural beauties.

Is Village Volunteer Work Truly Beneficial?

By Sarah Huxley

The three of us arrived as dusk fell upon Paiyunpata, a spirited village community in the mid-western hills near Baglung. We were weary yet excited and expectant. It has been two and a half years since we (three foreigners and three Nepalese) participated in three months development work as SPW volunteers here. Our work here had given each of us a sense of great personal fulfillment. We had re-established the local school library, introduced smokeless stoves, taught environmental awareness classes, trained some of the Aama Saama group in making bamboo furniture, and established a green club in the local school, Tribhuwan high school. Its aim was to encourage extra curricular activities for the school children, such as sports, art and literature (cultural programs), and social and environmental awareness.

The question now was had our development work been successful and sustainable? Development and sustainable are both ambiguous terms, and there are many different interpretations. One possible definition of development is that it improves the needs of people’s daily lives. Sustainable suggests that the changes made will be beneficial for the current and future generations without causing great harm to the environment.

The next morning we visited the library. At first it appeared as we had left it, but then we noticed the students had contributed their own environmental posters and green club action plans. This was a sign that the library was being used, and was meeting the educational needs of the children. Similarly, some families were still using the smokeless stoves we had constructed with them. In some cases however, gas stoves now replaced these. We had also encouraged the use of informal teaching methods when teaching environmental classes by using pictures, and increasing the student’s involvement in lessons. These techniques however, had not been implemented. Largely because the teachers lacked the resources we had used. Our classes on health and sanitation may have encouraged an increase in the number of toilets that were built after we left. Sadly, the bamboo furniture project was the least successful. Out of nine women, only one still makes any bamboo furniture. We discovered that the others had forgotten their skills because they had little extra time. Life for a woman in the village involves much hard work.

The green club now consists of approximately 300 members. This past year they had planted flowers in the school courtyard, which shows their desire to create and conserve the environment. The students have participated in sports, cultural and singing competitions, and they have built an extra water pipe. Their plans for the future are to create some more toilets for the girls, to make some handicrafts and create a program for environmental day. Good intentions certainly are abundant!

Upon asking Narayansir the green club teacher, what benefits the club provided, he replied the students were now able to meet and synergise with other children from three nearby green clubs. The students also participate in more extra-cirricular activities, and develop their inter-personal skills when making future plans in meetings. It ultimately provides a sense of community and unity.

The club does however have some problems. The students need more training in how to run it and its administration. It is also going to be full of younger, inexperienced children as the older grade 10 members leave after their exams. This however is an opportunity for the older children to teach the younger ones what they have learnt. Money is perhaps the biggest challenge for the green club, as most projects inevitably require it. When we left the members were asked to give five rupees a month however this was not possible for them. Now each member gives ten rupees per year. Ultimately the green club would like to provide a water tank for the school yet funding is insufficient. Sadly the social section is no longer running as the students have much schoolwork and household chores to do.

The green club has provided for the wider community. Last year for example, at Teeze festival the students carried a banner throughout the village advocating environmental awareness. This year they plan to encourage equality for women. The students are also encouraged to carry on the green club ethos outside of the school and into the future. This was demonstrated by a student creating his own flower garden after becoming a member.

So it seems that two and a half years on the work we did has been sustained to some degree. So what are the reasons for this? The students are kept motivated by their desire to win prizes at competitions, and their sense of identity as a group. This sense of unity and identity as a group we also shared as six volunteers, and as welcome friends of a larger village community. Our strong relationships were cemented by empathy and an openness to all ideas, thus enabling us to overcome challenges. The ultimate strength of our work lay in becoming a member of a community, which encouraged co-operation, generosity and partnership. These attributes of community life we were taught by the people themselves and our Nepali counterparts. It was through the help and kindness of our counterparts that we were able to create solid relationships with the village community. I look forward to returning to see my friends and the village in the years to come, and I hope that our projects remain sustainable.

Heritage tour
Nawadurga TEMPLE

By Razen Manandhar

In the southern end of the Pashupatinath temple complex, there is a small but distinct looking temple along the holy Bagmati river. In the series of white-washed Rana-period temples, this small temple with and gold-plated roofs secures its own significance in the terms of beauty and traditional architecture. There is a small area surrounded half by open rest houses and half by high walls at Rajrajeshwori Ghat. The rest houses in the stone-paved courtyard are now used by the relatives of dead persons for two-week-long mourning rituals. There lies the 395 years old temple of Nawadurga, often interpreted as Rajrajeshwori temple.

The courtyard itself is rich with many ancient artefacts, including a Licchivi Siva-Parbvati relief. The Rajrajeshwari Ghat itself is known for ancient masterpieces like that of 4th century Buddha image and a sleeping Vishnu, made on the cylindrical platform of the river bank. A huge Licchivi Shiva-linga is kept ignored inclined just outside the temple courtyard.

The single-floor temple is not different from a small residential house in structure. Only the heavily decorated roofs and walls make it distinct . The north-facing entrance is covered with gold-plated metal and so are the two big windows on either sides, a window on "the upper floor" and the wall. It seems the whole of the front facade is covered with metal. There is an attractive golden torana above the entrance but, unfortunately, the main idols of it have been plucked out, making it as pale as a king without a crown. Still, a small idol on the entrance depicts that the main deity of the temple is Goddess Chamunda, sitting on five human skulls, as that of Naradevi. Two lions guard the temple at the entrance, standing on stone pedestals. The gilded-door is always locked with a artistic padlock, also a product of the local technology. And it seems entering the temple is not very frequent and people may even sacrifice animals at the main entrance.

Two dozen painted struts support the inclined roof. They have images of Bhairavs and various aspects of Bhagawati, standing on their respective "vehicles" like lions, swans, peacocks etc. The bottom figures are more interesting and are in fact a unique example of this kind in the Kathmandu Valley. People in strange attire are presented on the bottom of each strut, taking part in various social activities. Including those are engaged in sexual acts, a woman bearing child, an artist carving wooden struts, playing musical instruments and many others. Some of them are specially important as the one below the image of Kumar is two women playing musical instruments. In Nepali tradition, women are not seen playing instruments and here a woman is presented playing violin, which is only a recent introduction for Nepal. But the struts are not properly maintained. Some ruled by hermit hives; several others have cracks and cobweb in such ancient monuments have been ordinary in Kathmandu Valley.

Besides, there are head figures of divine creatures (probably of Indra) , painted in two colours on either side of the artistic window below the roof, that looks like first floor. There are also series of wind-bells around the roof, but they seldom has chance to face the riverside breeze due to the red fringes, which curtail the bells. A couple of mirrors are kept there that might help the pilgrims place the holy tika on right place, but they disturb the beauty of the ancient monument.

One can find a series of equal sized idols, kept in a row in standing position if you peep into the temple through the lattices in the windows. Each one is about 60 cm tall and clad in heavy glistening dresses and old ornaments. They are made of clay and it seems that the idols have not been repainted for a long time. Making clay idols has been an ancient tradition of the Kathmandu Valley. In most of the clay idols — as those of Rato Machhindranath, Seto Machhindranath and Jayabageshwori — have holy jar filled with water inside them. Experts claim this tradition could be older than the tradition of chiceling stone idols of in stones.

Despite its archaeologic and religious value, the tourist guides often do not take the tourists to this unique shrine. From the government’s side too, this alien temple has not been able to draw the attention for its proper conservation and security of its priceless monument. It is a matter of sheer shame that a monument located at World Heritage List Site has to suffer from art theft.

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