Vairochana 6

Vol I

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Issue 6

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September - November 2012

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Rs. 200

Special Edition THE GREAT ILLUMINATor

The eye of new awareness

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Kathmandu Metropolitan City in conjunction with

"We're excited to bring our readers the product of this Special collaboration with Kathmandu Metropolitan City" Dear heritage and culture lovers, Kathmandu is one of the oldest cities in the world, rich in living culture and heritage, possessing one of the greatest concentrations of architectural treasures. In 1978 unesco listed the four great ancient monuments as Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square (the seat of ancient royalty), Swoyambhu (the Buddhist stupa located atop a hillock), Pashupatinath (one of thr holiest Hindu temples in the world) and Boudha Stupa (the largest of its kind). As a citizen of Nepal and local resident of Kathmandu, it is our great responsibility to love and conserve these sites for future generations and thus conserve and preserve the pride of the nation and legacy of our ancestors: to the built and living heritage of Kathmandu, let us take an oath today.

Kedar Bahadur Adhikari CEO

Dear heritage and culture lovers, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (kmc) shares a significant portion of the world heritage sites of Kathmandu Valley (kv). Within its jurisdiction lie four of the seven monument zones constituting the KV World heritage site as listed by unesco. Apart from these monument zones, there are many more lesser known sites which are equally or more important from the standpoint of living culture of the people. The importance of heritage to kmc accrues because of its paramount role in defining the visual and cultural environment of the city’s core and hence of the city as a whole. The listing of this heritage value as “unparalleled in the world” in 1978 has further added responsibility to kmc as a repository of the heritage of mankind. Therefore, in this connection, I would like to appeal all the citizens of Nepal and especially Kathmandu residents to support and cooperate with kmc’s efforts towards the conservation of culture and heritage.

Hari Kumar Shrestha Program Manager

Editorial

T

his month’s Vairochana is a tribute to the Kathmandu Durbar Square, a paen to the indomitable spirit of the Kathmandu citizens who built such monuments that

have lasted for many hundreds of, sometimes even a thousand years. These monuments are not just mute buildings but actual

organizations work to maintain the monuments and buildings.

Welcome to Kathmandu. Take a virtual tour through these pages and if so interested, come visit us and go exploring.

There’s nothing like the real thing!

living sites, visited daily by hundreds of Hindu and Buddhist devotees. The Durbar Square also showcases the ancient and intermingled faiths of Buddhism and Hinduism, often working

Acknowledgments

hand-in-hand and in tandem. In the Valley at least, there is no

Special appreciations to Stan-la for helping me finance my

fine line between the two religions as they share monuments,

print publication. I gratefully acknowledge your continuous

temples, stupas, deities, and even a living goddess. The Durbar

financial support, encouragement and backing. I wholeheartedly

Square, then, is a product of both Hindus, Buddhists, and even

thank you for your kindness and generosity.

some Muslims, casting the square as a hallowed, serene place of peace where no religions clash, all beliefs and faiths are encouraged and tolerance finally turns into acceptance.

I would like to express my special thanks to Hari Shrestha ji, Program Manager from KMC who initiated the concept of the 6th issue of “Vairochana” as a souvenir magazine to

Within the Kathmandu Valley are seven UNESCO World

promote the Kathmandu Durbar Square to increase awareness,

Heritage Sites. They are the Kathmandu Durbar Square (known

knowledge and appreciation of this remarkable world

colloquially as Basantapur or the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar

heritage site.

Square), Patan Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square, the stupas of Swoyambhu and Boudha and the Hindu temples of Pashupatinath and Changunarayan. Central among these sites is the Kathmandu Durbar Square, inducted as a World Heritage Site in 1979. A massive complex of temples, palaces, statues and idols, the Kathmandu Durbar Square reflects the ideals of the Kathmandu people, that of tolerance, integration and a strong sense of pride in one’s culture and traditions.

However, just being listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site is not enough. Active efforts on the parts of both the government and the public are desperately needed if this site of great importance is to be preserved. From 2003-2007, UNESCO deemed the Kathmandu Durbar Square ‘endangered,’ causing the government to scramble to enact efforts and laws to keep the Durbar Square intact. Now, there have been improvements and a few

DAO Ktm Regd. 207 – 068 / 069

September - November 2012

Special Edition Publisher & Editor in Chief Pasang Sherpa photography Laxmi Prasad Ngakhushi Cover: The Panch Mukhi Hanuman Temple (five

faced Hanuman) dedicated to Hanuman is in the northeast corner of the Nasal Chowk. It has a unique design of five circular roofs. The temple priest is the only person who can enter the sanctum of the temple.

w w w . v a i r o c h a n a . c o m Vairochana: is a quarterly magazine. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy without written permission. Vairochana is not responsible for statements expressed in signed articles or advertising claims.

Your financial support is needed for Vairochana continuity. Support from private individuals or company would be greatly appreciated. You can also help us by subscribing or by becoming a sponsor of Vairochana future issues.

Please send us your contact details at vairochana.boudha@gmail.com

Nepal at a Glance Area: 147,181 sq.km.

Geographical Location: Situated between China to the

China, Tibet

North and India to the East, West and South.

Bhutan

Capital: Kathmandu

India

Language: Nepali is the national Nepal

language. However, travel-trade people understand and speak English as well.

Religion: Nepal is secular state with a predominance of Hindu and Buddhists population Climate: Nepal has four major seasons, namely

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1. Winter: December-February 2. Spring: March-May 3. Summer: June-August 4. Autumn: September-November Nepal can be visited the whole year round.

People: Nepal has more than 103 ethnic groups and 93 spoken languages.

What to wear: Light weight clothing is recommnded for May through October. Warm garments are required in November March. An umbrella or a raincoat is a must for the rainy season.

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Kathmandu

Durbar Square

A view from atop Basantapur Durbar (Nautalle) over Nasal chowk towards the North.

The Kirtipur tower in the foreground was built in the 18th century; its roof is in the Bengali style.

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Namaste

Kathmandu

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Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves Let me forget about today until tomorrow - Mr Tambourine Man, Bob Dylan

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K

athmandu is a city of contrasts. Both impossibly

to some of the world’s most unique, interesting and

old and ultra-modern, Kathmandu’s chic

diverse monuments. Interwoven through the Kathmandu

boutiques and extravagant malls share space

Valley are the seven World Heritage sites that comprise

with centuries old monuments and temples, each vying

the Valley. The Durbar Squares of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur

for space and attention amidst a burgeoning vibrant

and Lalitpur are replete with Hindu temples, statues and

metropolis. Kathmandu is time out of joint. Attitudes,

monuments while the Buddhist stupas of Swayambhu

cultures, traditions and faiths all mix and intermingle in

and Boudha are awe-inspiring in their girth, their bright

this salad bowl of a city. Beggars, street kids and the

white hemispheres and all-seeing Buddha eyes on

poor jostle alongside socialites with Louis Vuitton bags

all sides. The Pashupatinath and Changu Narayan

and Chanel sunglasses. SUVs roar along streets where

Hindu temples are epitomes of Newari architecture,

rickshaws and packed microbuses negotiate for space.

masterpieces that have survived many centuries despite being built out of brick, mud and timber.

Known variably as the ‘Playground of the Gods’ and as ‘the City of Temples,’ this small valley nestled by

The Valley’s rich heritage comes especially from

expansive green hills of a Himalayan panorama, is home

the Newars, acknowledged masters of architecture.

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Beginning as early as the fifth century, the indigenous Newar craftsmen built structures in a uniquely aesthetic manner, with extremely intricate, detailed carvings and woodwork.

Unique in the world and representative of a syncretic mix of Hinduism and Buddhism, Newar architecture is known the world over for its technicality, intricacy and beauty.

Greatly influenced by the religion and culture of its time, the Kathmandu Valley gave rise to some of the most beautiful structures known to man, inspiring countless artists, both Nepali and foreign. Also unique to Kathmandu is the prevalence of Shamanic and Tantric aspects of both Hinduism and Buddhism. This mystical branch of the two inter-related religions greatly influenced Valley artistry and made it unique from similar sites in India and the rest of South Asia.

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Kathmandu can often seem like a dream, especially on misty mornings when temple bells toll in the distance and the roosters crow as the morning light begins to break. The city wakes early and even in the dim morning light, old men and women are already out and about. As men cycle by with two pitchers of milk on either side, a boy on his own cycle passes, a stack of newspaper behind him that he lobs effortlessly into passing houses. In the languid early mornings of a misty Kathmandu, it is easy to forget your cares, or forget the day even and wait easily for tomorrow. Time slows down, things seem to matter much less and the weight of the world seems lighter even. Like a line out of Bob Dylan song, the city transports you to another dimension, another time.

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Kathmandu THEN M

any hundreds of years ago, Nepal, or the region

The Newars, indigenous to the Kathmandu Valley, are a

that is now Nepal, was an interesting confluence

complex people, varied in phenotype, classes and castes of

of two major cultures: Indians and the Chinese.

their own. Possibly influenced by the Hindu caste system, the

Up came the Indians bringing with them polytheism and the

Newars fashioned their own strict hierarchy, complete with

caste system while down came Chinese bringing a syncretic

priests, doctors, businessmen and traders. It was under the

philosophy. Nepal wasn’t just a passive receiver though.

rule of the Newars that the Kathmandu Valley flourished.

The Shakyamuni Buddha, Arniko the architect, and princess Bhrikuti were all emissaries to India, China and beyond. Nepal was also part of a trade route between Ladakh and Lhasa. Back then, borders were more porous, there were no visas or passports, no border security and clear demarcation of where is what and what is where.

People moved freely, exchanging goods and ideas.

And in the midst of all this was the Kathmandu Valley and its Newars.

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Long before Prithvi Narayan Shah would unite the small disparate kingdoms and fiefdoms into modern Nepal, Kathmandu Valley existed as three separate independent kingdoms, mostly at war with each other, or at the very least, living competitive existence. It was in 1482, after the death of Yakshya Malla, that the Kathmandu Valley split into three parts, one for each son: Kathmandu, Bhadgaon (Bhaktapur) and Patan. Ratna Malla was the first of Yakshya Malla’s

sons to rebel against collegiate rule and seize Kathmandu

mindset. But unlike PB Shelley’s Ozymandias’ kingdom, the

for his own and turn it into an independent kingdom. He

Malla kings of Kathmandu Valley were more successful, or

established the Kathmandu Durbar Square as his personal

rather lucky, at preserving their structures.

palace grounds and worked on developing it as his centre of administration.

The monuments, temples and palaces we see now were mostly built during the reign of the Malla kings, most

As the rival kingdoms of Bhadgaon and Patan began to

importantly King Pratap Malla of Kathmandu, King Jayasthiti

grow, fierce competition developed between the three states.

Malla of Bhadgaon and King Siddhi Narsingh Malla of Patan.

Their rulers were in constant competition, each vying to

The respective Durbar Squares, each a UNESCO World

outdo the other in extravagance. Many monuments and

Heritage Site, extravagantly expanded upon during the reign

temples were built during this time of open competition. The

of these three kings. Wealthy, independent and isolated,

Pyramids in Egypt too were built by Pharoahs each wishing

the three kingdoms exercised their artisans to the fullest,

to outdo the one who came before by building a bigger,

commanding them to build better, more intricate and more

better pyramid that would last longer than the last one. The

adorned. Oblivious to the great changes taking place in India

old kings of Kathmandu Valley seemed to share the same

and China, with the rise of the Qing Empire in China and the

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Mughals in India, the three Valley kingdoms were content in

the Nepali monarchy, Gyanendra Shah. The Malla period

their own little world.

in the Kathmandu Valley was a time of great cultural and artistic renaissance, with Newar craftsmen at the height of

While the Valley took no great pains to stay away from the

their powers. Elaborating on previously built structures and

outside world, it seems the outside world found the hills a

monuments, adding little flairs of their own and also creating

little too daunting, or maybe insignificant, to try and conquer.

extravagances of their very own, these craftsmen were

The Valley was a major trade route between Tibet and India

known the region over for their skill and dexterity. Indeed, the

as Kathmandu had established diplomatic ties with Tibet

intricate carvings above doorways and gates to temples and

very early during the Licchavi period in the early 6th or

palaces provide a glimpse of the manual deftness of

7th century, with the marriage of Princess Bhrikuti to King

their fingers.

Songtsan Gampo of Tibet. King Jaya Bhimdev Malla, an early Malla ruler of the unified Kathmandu Valley, had also

In the 18th century, after King Prithvi Narayan Shah united

established ties with the Yuan dynasty by sending 80 Newari

the disparate fiefdoms and confederacies and invaded

artisans to China, among whom was the great Araniko (or

Kathmandu Valley, Nepal as we know it today was born.

Anige) who is credited with developing and spreading the

Although a Gorkha king, Prithvi Narayan recognized the

pagoda style of architecture throughout China and

potential of the Valley and moved his capital there,

into Japan.

occupying the Kathmandu Durbar Square as his seat of power. It remained the seat of the monarchy up until the

Rich beyond anything they could legitimately spend in their

late 1800s when the Narayahiti Royal Palace was built.

lifetimes, the kings of the three Valley kingdoms poured

Nevertheless, the Kathmandu Durbar Square has

money into developing their Durbar Squares and devoting

remained the focus of various cultural and social

themselves to god. While a sizeable population of the

processions, celebrations and ceremonies. The last

Valley Newars was Buddhist, the kings were mostly Hindus,

of the Shah kings was crowned at the Durbar Square, the

professing divine right as avatars of Vishnu, a claim that

Kumari still resides there and the Indra Jatra festival takes

survived all the way up to the last Shah king and the end of

place there every year.

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The monuments, temples and palaces we see now were mostly built during the reign of the Malla kings, most importantly King Pratap Malla of Kathmandu, King Jayasthiti Malla of Bhadgaon and King Siddhi Narsingh Malla of Patan. w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

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Kathmandu Now

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A

s the administrative capital of

upon. But this is not a new problem.

that open up to a quiet temple or a

the country, the Kathmandu

For hundreds of years, people have

stately stupa.

Valley, and particularly

settled around the Durbar Square. A

Kathmandu city, has borne the brunt of

veritable city has risen up around the

Pollution was not so much of a problem

modernization. Buildings as monstrous

palaces as earlier, people were more

in the olden days. Now, as cars and

buildings have sprung up, devoid of

eager to crowd around their god-like

motorcycles increasingly throng the

any architectural plan or any sense of

monarchs and obey their every whim

streets and stoves, fires and cooking

aesthetics. These are mere matchboxes

for fear of murderous reprisal. A warren

gas spread noxious fumes into the

of concrete and steel, lifeless and

of alleyways and tall houses packed

air, a visible toll has been taken on

soul-crushing. The Kathmandu Durbar

together like matchsticks in a box form

the centuries old monuments. The

Square has not fared well in the past

an impenetrable maze around parts of

old wood of the temples have grown

few decades. As the price of land

the Durbar Square. Past Basantapur,

streaked and dirty with soot and

continues to skyrocket, much of the

the back roads to Thamel are replete

smoke. Trash accumulates in many

Durbar Square is being encroached

with hidden courtyards and squares

parts of the square and vehicles, both

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private and public, ply through the

Things degenerated to such an extent

Vehicles were also banned inside the

stone paved square as if it were a

that UNESCO threatened to take the

squares between the hours of 9am and

major thoroughfare. A few years ago,

Kathmandu Durbar Square off its World

5pm. Periodic renovation, painting and

the Kathmandu city administration

Heritage Site list. Removal from the list

maintenance has been carried out,

took no notice as street food vendors

would have mean massive cuts to aid, a

although a lot of the major attractions

began to hawk their wares in the tourist

great reduction in the number of tourists

and important cultural heritages remain

hotspot that is the Durbar Square. The

and a devastating blow to Nepali pride.

in a state of neglect and dilapidation.

cooking fumes, the burning gas, the

The major, most visible temples

boiling grease and the discarded waste

Fortunately, the government stepped

get a facelift now and then but even

were all adding to the already fragile

up efforts, banning the food vendors

structures like the Kasthamandap

state of the monuments and temples.

and the night market from the square.

remain in desperate need of upkeep.

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Kal Bhairav Only the ten-foot-tall Kal Bhairav remains standing as stoic

the shadowy apparition of a spectre, he is fear and wrath

as it has ever been, plastered in bright vermillion that could

incarnate, death at its most primal, a breaking away of form

easily be the blood of a thousand sacrificed to this hungry

and matter, free reign to all passions, no longer boxed by the

god. The Kal Bhairav relief is the only structure that is

lie that is Maya. No wonder so many come to pray to him.

consistently worshipped and prayed to. Devotees throng the

With his weapon held aloft, his eyes blazing like a thousand

menacing statue and tourists are often awe-struck by the

suns, Kal Bhairav stares down at all us puny humans,

god’s monstrous visage.

kneeling at his feet, supplicating ourselves so that he will stay away just a little longer, so that the shadow of his mighty

The Kal Bhairav is befitting his name: an incarnation of

form not fall upon us that night as we lay afraid and quaking

death that is not the sinewy skeleton of the grim reaper nor

in our beds, praying, praying for death to take the other door.

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The Kathmandu Durbar Square seems to serve as a synecdoche for the city of Kathmandu, a contrasting symbol. Modern and ancient all at once, concrete jostling for space with brick and centuries old wood. A living goddess sharing space with us humble humans. Shiva and Parvati looking out from their dabali window as young lovers walk hand in hand below their watchful gaze. During day time, the Square is full of people, alive and vibrant, a cacophony of sound. At night, there is only an owl’s baleful gaze, the streets yellow under the jaundiced glow of the streetlamps and the temples ominous and forbidding in the dark, Kal Bhairav looming like a mountain, seemingly grown taller in the gloom. It is only at night that you feel it, the steady throbbing of the city as it sleeps, its heartbeat, its breathing. And from Kathmandu Durbar Square, the heart of the city, you breathe in as the city breathes out, you begin where the city ends, or is it the other way around?

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HANUMAN DHOKA Old Royal Palace

BASANTAPUR DURBAR SQUARE EARLY BEGINNINGS: the LICCHAVI period

T

he oldest available records of the history of

the Durbar Square.

the Kathmandu Durbar Square come from scriptures and inscriptions on monuments.

A piece of early scripture dating back to the

Carbon dating can accurately gauge the age of

Licchavi period was unearthed from under the

these scriptures and give us a rough idea of when

Shwet Bhairav temple and refers to the rebuilding of

they were written. As of yet, there are no concrete

soldier quarters after it was destroyed and soldiers

historical records describing the building of the

had stopped living there. According to ancient

Square. Scriptures attribute the first palace at the

Vaastu, palaces were supposed to be surrounded

site to king Gunakamdev, who ruled the Valley in the

by quarters for soldiers, so from the scripture, an

ninth century. Although actual evidence is scarce,

inference can be made that the palace was probably

scriptural writings point to Gunakamdev as many

in the same area as the soldier quarters that were

old Buddhist and Hindu writings from that period,

being rebuilt.

and later, describe the palace as Gunapo, possibly referring to the king.

The Licchavi kings came over to present Nepal after being driven out of India where they once

However, Gunakamdev’s palace was not the same

had a glorious empire. In the waning days of the

as the current Hanuman Dhoka palace. Despite

Licchavi dynasty, Kathmandu Valley was not a

knowing that he was the first to build a palace in the

major player or a major power. The last Lichhavi

area, historians still cannot ascertain where exactly

kings led a meager existence, not wealthy and not

the palace was as it no longer remains. The Maru

powerful. They managed to build a few palaces and

Ganesh statute and temple date back to the ninth

monuments but nothing on the scale of their efforts

century and the twin lion statues at Makhan tole,

at the height of their powers in India. It is assumed

guarding an entranceway to the Durbar Square too

that Gunakamdev, or one of the Licchavis, also built

date back to the ninth century. The presence of the

Kasthamandap, a structure supposed to have been

lions suggests that maybe Gunakamdev’s palace

built entirely from the wood of a single tree and

was at Makhan. These are the oldest monuments at

where Kathmandu’s name comes from.

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Kasthamandap

(Maru Sattal)

NAMESAKE From the wood of a single tree

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Jal Binayak

Karya Binayak

Surya Binayak

Ashok Binayak

K

asthamandap is one of Kathmandu Durbar Square’s most famous structures. Rising three-stories high, this mighty pagoda is said to house all 33 million Hindu gods and

goddesses. Although said to have been first built in the ninth century during the reign of Gunakamdev, competing claims are made for it being built relatively late in the 16th century by Laxmi Narsingh Malla.

However, as records from as early as the 11th century make mention of the Kasthamandap, it is almost certain that the temple existed well before then. Bolstering the ninth century claim is the Maru Ganesh, which can be accurately traced to the ninth century, since there was then a tradition of building Ganesh temples at the entrance to big palaces and temples. Experts, however, agree that the temple’s look is now different from what it originally was. They believe that while the general outer structure has been preserved, it must have looked considerably different when it was first built. Since then, the country has gone through many political upheavals, not to mention the periodic 100-year earthquake that befalls the Valley. Despite all that, the Kasthamandap temple remains a major attraction.

Although built in the pagoda-style that the Newars spread to other parts of Asia, this temple is unique in that it is much more expansive and wider than most pagodas. Chinese and Japanese pagodas, for the most part, tend to be narrower and higher than the Kasthamandap.

It stands on an elevated platform 21 metres wide and rises over 19 meters. The temple allows entrance from all four sides and has a verandah surrounding it. As the temple is built at the entrance to the Durbar Square, it was meant as a rest stop, or a mandap, for weary travelers and pilgrims. The temple’s massive eaves provide shade and shelter from storms, not to mention the salvation and karma of worshipping all 33 million gods in a single circumambulation. Originally just meant as a mandap, eight fierce Bhairavs guard the temple and the four forms of Ganesh, Karya Binayak, Jal Binayak, Ashok Binayak and Surya Binayak, mark its four sides. w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

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For Buddhists, the Kasthamandap, or

Maru Sattal, is Mahaguru Sang-rgyas gnyis-pa’i bzhugs-khri (the Throne of the second Buddha, the Mahaguru Padmasambhava, Guru Padma). There is literary evidence that points to the existence of a vihara at the site of the Kasthamandap in the 11th century.

It is believed that an E Vihara in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition occupied the Kasthamandap up until the 14th century.

This E Vihara, known as the Bal-yul E-yi

gtsug-lag-khang, is believed to have been the place where the Great Master Padmasambhava taught a Newar girl, Kusali, stories of hell.

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Inside, the temple is more like a welcoming bungalow than a majestic temple. It is relatively open and airy and contains staircases and balconies. A tall pole in the centre of the temple, is believed to cure rheumatism. A statue of Gorakhnath also stands in the centre.

Baba Gorakhnath is the clan deity (kul

deuta) of the Gorkha dynasty Shah kings and there are currently only three statues of Gorakhnath in the Kathmandu Valley, this being one of them. The statue dates to the 15th century and is a major attraction for devotees. Every year a major ceremony is held at Kasthamandap during Indra Jatra where a huge chariot is brought to the temple.

Gorakhnath is known to Buddhists in Tibet as one of the eighty-four Mahasiddhas from the Grub-thob brgyad-bcu tsa bzhi’i lo-rgyus (Legends of the Eighty Four

Mahasiddhas). The sage Jalandhar called upon Gorakhnath to tend to a wounded prince, which Gorakhnath did selflessly for 12 years. His complete dedication to another elevated him to a siddhi and he achieved immortality.

However, of the eighty four mahasiddhas, Gorakhnath is one of two who was unable to attain Mahamudra-Siddhi, the peak of Buddhahood. According to legend, Gorakhnath still resides in the Himalayas, teaching those who would seek him out and who have the karmic eyes to really see and recognize him.

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How the city of Kantipur

became

Kathmandu

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As legend goes, the heavenly tree Kalpavriksha had transformed into a human being to watch the Machhindranath procession. A passing tantric recognized the tree and trapped it with a spell. Kalpavriksha pleaded with the tantric to let him go and offered him a boon in return. The sage asked for enough materials to construct a temple and thus, Kalpavriksha provided the tantric with a piece of its body for the construction of Kasthamandap.

K

asthamandap’s religious significance is great but

a temple and thus, Kalpavriksha provided the tantric with

culturally, it is one of the most important legacies

a piece of its body for the construction of Kasthamandap.

Kathmandu has. Said to have been built from

the timber of a single massive tree, Kasthamandap was

Today, Kasthamandap remains relatively well-preserved,

so well-known in the past that the city previously known

still a loci of human hustle and bustle. There are shops

as Kantipur, came to be known as Kasthamandap itself,

around it and hawkers selling every manner of things.

which when passed along by people and shortened,

People rest on the verandah, beggars beg from under

eventually transmuted into Kathmandu. The Valley’s

the eaves and young lovers sit side-by-side demurely.

namesake is this temple and as such, needs great

The walls and supporting poles of this mandap have

preservation and maintenance.

blackened with age and the dirt of a thousand hands.

The tiles on its roof are old and cracked and when the

As legend goes, the heavenly tree Kalpavriksha

wind blows particularly hard, you can almost hear it

had transformed into a human being to watch the

creaking, almost swaying. Kasthamandap holds the hope

Machhindranath procession. A passing tantric recognized

of countless pilgrims and travelers, a conduit for prayers.

the tree and trapped it with a spell. Kalpavriksha pleaded

As Kathmandu’s namesake, it occupies a sentimental

with the tantric to let him go and offered him a boon in

place in most Kathmandu citizens, even those who might

return. The sage asked for enough materials to construct

not know of its religious, cultural or historical significance.

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RELICS FROM THE PAST:

The Durbar Square’s oldest monuments

Maru Ganesh Maru Ganedhyo, Ashok Binayak, Gaju Maru Ganedhyo

32 | w w w . v a i r o c h a n a . c o m

T

he Maru Ganesh is located towards the northeast of Kasthamandap and is a one-story temple reportedly built by Gunakamdev in the eighth or ninth century.

Myth holds that since Lord Ganesh needed to be able to fly, he requested that a gajur, a usual adornment at

the very top of the temple’s steeple, not be placed as it would interfere with his flight. The locals then began to call the temple Gaju Maru, literally meaning ‘lacking a gajur.’

Eventually, the Ganesh itself began to be called Maru Ganesh. The name spread outwards and the nearby tole ( took on the name Maru tole, the Kasthamandap too began to be referred to as Maru Sattal and the stone water spout at the base of the temple is called Maruhiti.

The Maru Ganesh is an important religious and historical structure that even now attracts devotees. Ganesh is the god of good beginnings. He is who you pray to first whenever commencing a ritual or even while starting a new venture. And so, the local ceremonies for Newars, including the thread ceremony (bratabanda) for boys and the cave ceremony (gufa) for girls, take place at the Maru Ganesh.

These ceremonies mark the coming of age of the boys and girls and are effectively considered a send-off into the world of adults. Even the late Shah kings would bring their children to the Ganesh for the infant’s rice-feeding (pasni) ceremony.

King Birendra’s coronation began at the Maru Ganesh while the rice feeding ceremonies of both prince Dipendra and Nirajan took place here.

Despite being built centuries ago, the Maru Ganesh still

the reign of king Prithivi Bir Bikram Shah, the tradition of worshipping at the Maru Ganesh still continued up to the end days of the Nepali monarchy.

As of now, despite being from the ninth century, the statue and temple are in relatively good condition, except for some erosion and rust on the statue. Yearly pujas and ceremonies at the temple make sure that the Ganesh is well-taken care of and not neglected into disrepair. Every Tuesday, a day on which lord Ganesh is especially worshipped, devotees flock to the temple to pay their respects and during Dashain, there are special puja ceremonies carried out here.

Singha Statues at Makhan Tole

draws devotees and holds special significance for locals and

(Mankhya Singha Dhwakha:)

Kathmandu residents alike. Even after the royal palace was

The two Singha (lion) statues outside the Tana Baha, on

moved from Hanuman Dhoka to Narayahiti Durbar during

the way to Hanuman Dhoka, date back to the ninth century and were also reportedly built by Gunakamdev. Since such Singha statues are usually built at the entrance to palaces, it is assumed that the location of the current statues mark the location of Gunakamdev’s old palace. Gunakamdev is supposed to have modeled his city on Manjushree’s khadga (heavy-bladed sword) and marked out 32 entrances. These entrances were supposedly so heavily fortified and effective that no invading army ever gained entrance to the city. As of now, the Singha statues are neglected and badly preserved.

The road that they now guard has become a major thoroughfare for people and vehicles entering and leaving the area and few people recognize the age and historical significance of these unassuming statues that have remained at the guard posts for more than 10 centuries.

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A Monument in Danger: Singha Sattal Salyan Sattal, Shi: Lya Sattal, Simha Sattal

The Singha Sattal and its precarious state 34 | w w w . v a i r o c h a n a . c o m

O

n the south end of Kasthamandap, hemmed in on all sides by shops and commercial buildings, is a small structure, three-stories high but not anything near the Kasthamandap’s grandeur. The

bottom floor of this structure has been converted into an open market with vendors and hawkers calling out their wares. It is a sea of cheap, easily available, badly made goods. Most are Chinese or locally-made. On the second floor, four metal Singha (lion) statues leap out of the four corners, looking out onto the street. The lions give this structure its name, Singha Sattal. A sattal is a large rest house for pilgrims and travelers, similar to a mandap, which is also a resthouse but with a large open area on the ground floor for gatherings.

Said to have been built from the wood leftover from Kasthamandap, the Singha Sattal is also called the Shi: Lya Sattal, literally meaning sattal made from leftover wood. Originally built as a Sattal, it contained no religious idols or any statues and adornments. Even the four leaping Singhas were added in 1929 by one Jogmai Manandhar, after which it began to be called the Singha Sattal. Later, a statue of Krishna was placed inside it for the four Singhas to guard. A Garuda too was added much later, in 1963, when it was discovered under the wreckage of one Dharma Bhakta Manandhar’s house when it burned down.

Despite the Singha Sattal sharing much of Kasthamandap’s history, it shares none of the latter’s legacy. Originally, it was a vibrant site for social, cultural and religious gatherings. Many festivals and pujas were conducted first at the Sattal. Indian singers and jatras from Panauti would often end at or begin from the Sattal. Now, shops and commerce have encroached on even this ancient structure. If it was truly built in the 9th century, its medieval timber can only take the hustle and bustle of modern day Kathmandu for so long. The shops on its ground floor cannot be good for the structure’s integrity and foundation. Not to mention the dirt, pollution and waste that people seem to discard callously on its premises and environs. The shops themselves contribute to the clutter and litter by using much of its space as a storage area and a place of business.

While the Kasthamandap gets a yearly budget for its renovation, the Singha Sattal remains in a fragile state, in danger of one day simply collapsing. Its structural integrity compromised, its cultural significance too has waned.

Only a few years ago, pujas and bhajans, or scripture recitation, were held twice daily, once in the morning and once in the evening, but now even these activities have stopped as the structure has shown signs of strain and weakness. Unless the government acts fast, or allows an external hand to keep up the maintenance and renovation, this oldest of structures will soon waste away into rubble and nothingness.

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Renaissance the

36 | w w w . v a i r o c h a n a . c o m

MALLa

period

Pratap Malla’s constructions are temples to Dakshinkali, five-faced Hanuman, Sundari Chowk, Manmohan chowk, Banshagopal Chowk and Nagpokhari.

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T

he Malla kings first ruled from

palace and renovated and expanded on

Bhadgaon as their areas of influence

Ratna Malla’s Taleju. Mahendra Malla built

were mostly Patan, Bhadgaon,

an ornate expansive Taleju, far outshining

Nuwakot and Banepa. However, after Yaksha

Ratna Malla’s old structure. He consulted with

Malla, king Ratna Malla moved to Kathmandu

artisans, engineers and masons to build a

and established Gunakamdev’s old palace

perfect abode for his goddess. Such was the

as his centre of administration. Ratna Malla

ingenuity and construction of the temple that

is supposed to have built the Taleju mandir,

the massive 1934 earthquake that leveled

as the goddess Taleju was the Malla clan’s

most of Kathmandu was only able to dislodge

deity. In addition to the main Taleju temple,

its steeple ornamentation (gajur).

Ratna Malla is also believed to have built a number of other smaller temples and chowks.

It was only with the coronation of King Pratap

After his death, his sons and grandsons built

Malla that the Kathmandu Durbar Square

smaller temples and monuments but nothing

began its true renaissance. Pratap Malla is

extravagant or warranting historical interest.

an intriguing historical figure. According to

Mahendra Malla, one of Ratna’s descendants,

legend, Pratap Malla once raped a 14-year-old

is supposed to have built the Kantipur royal

girl but was so overcome with guilt and grief

38 | w w w . v a i r o c h a n a . c o m

that he dedicated his life to atoning for his sin,

Pratap Malla’s constructions are temples to

becoming a pious king and a great patron of

Dakshinkali, five-faced Hanuman, Sundari

the arts. He referred to himself as ‘Kabindra’

Chowk, Manmohan chowk, Banshagopal

meaning lord of poets and to exemplify this

Chowk and Nagpokhari. Pratap Malla also

self-bestowed title, he embarked on a number

brought over the fearsome Kal Bhairav relief,

of massive construction and renovation

carved out of a single massive stone and

projects, determined to turn Kathmandu into

placed it prominently in the square.

a cultural centre.

Interestingly, it was also during Pratap Pratap Malla built the Hanuman statue that

Malla’s reign that Nepal had its first contact

gives the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square its

with Europe. Two missionaries, on their

name. Built outside the main entrance to the

way to India from the imperial Chinese

royal palace, the Hanuman statue became so

capital, Peking via Lhasa, passed through

well-known that the palace, earlier referred to

Kathmandu and were welcomed with open

as ‘Gunpo po’ after Gunakamdev, began to be

arms by Pratap Malla. Known to be a tolerant

called Hanuman Dhwakha: Layaku, meaning

king, Pratap Malla allowed the missionaries

Hanuman Dhoka (gate) Palace. Among

to preach the Christian faith and requested w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

| 39

that they stay in Kathmandu. However, the missionaries left

Swayambhu also underwent renovation and additions during

for India and only took with them a flawed and unflattering

Pratap Malla’s rule. He allowed the Tibetans to expand and

picture of Kathmandu as a city of ‘barbarians’ and ‘pagans’

renovate the stupa and he himself built a large vajra in front

with no moral sense or respect for the dead. These racist

of the shrine. A professed admirer of Buddhism, Pratap

descriptions can only be expected from early missionaries

Malla allowed the religion to flourish in Kathmandu through

who believed that the word of Christ was law and that

trade and transactions with Tibet. He instituted the Seto

all other faiths were pagan or unfounded. Despite being

Macchindranath Jatra and the Gai Jatra (Cow Festival).

rebuffed by the Europeans, Pratap Malla, known for his

He also built the Rani Pokhari (Queen’s Pond) at Jamal in

linguistic flair, carved an inscription to the goddess Kalika

Kathmandu in the memory of their son who had died. The

in fifteen different dialects of the time, including Nepali,

square artificial pond has a temple to Shiva in the middle,

Sanskrit, Newari, Tibetan, Persian, Greek, French, Latin

housed in a dome-shaped temple unlike most Hindu temples

and English.

and more reminiscent of Mughal architecture.

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Ratna Malla established the Durbar Square as his centre of administration, Mahendra Malla renovated and expanded on the royal palace and called it Kantipur while Pratap Malla turned it into a cultural centre.

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Ratna Malla established the Durbar Square as his centre of administration, Mahendra Malla renovated and expanded on the royal palace and called it Kantipur while Pratap Malla turned it into a cultural centre. Pratap Malla made sure that his kingdom was not just a wealthy one but also an important one. His cultural and religious works made sure that people everywhere, mostly Hindus, traveled to Hanuman Dhoka as a pilgrimage or just to savour the sights of the big city, as one would do nowadays with Paris or Angkor Wat. The Durbar Square that we see now is Pratap Malla’s Durbar Square, albeit only a fraction of it. There are currently only 13 chowks in the vicinity when in Pratap Malla’s time there were 36. There were ponds, an elephant stable and numerous temples where the New Road now is. Many monuments and temples were lost to the 1934 earthquake, still more were subsumed by urbanization and the rapid march of progress. After Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher built the first road into New Road, its fate was sealed. What was traditionally a public sphere, slowly began to be transformed into a commercial hub and with that, began the Durbar Square slow march into decline.

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The Kaliyadamana, a manifestation of Lord Krishna destroying Kaliya, a water serpent, in Kalindi Chowk, adjacent to the Mohan Chowk. (9th / 10 th Century)

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Sundari Chowk, built during the reign of King Pratap Malla in 1648 A.D.

44 | w w w . v a i r o c h a n a . c o m

Mohan Chowk, built in 1648 A.D. to the north of Nasal Chowk, was the residential courtyard of the Malla kings.

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| 45

FOREIGN TONGUES A centuries-old stone inscriptions in 15 languages: Prayer to Kali

O

ne of the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Squares most interesting and intriguing pieces of history dates back to Pratap Malla’s time in the seventeenth century. A self-professed master of linguistics, Pratap

Malla had built a massive stone engraving on the outside walls of the Hanuman Dhoka palace. This stone inscription is to the goddess Kalika (Taleju, Durga) and amazingly, is written in 15 different scripts, including Persian, Ranjana, Devanagari, Arabic, Tibetan, Farsi, Latin, English and Greek. While time has taken its toll on the inscription, some words can still be made out and read but the entirety of its meaning has been lost to the sands of time. The English word WINTER can still easily be discerned. The mystery of these inscriptions can be accounted for the fact that it is possible that Pratap Malla spoke, or wrote, 15 languages. However, it is still amazing that even some four hundred years ago, Kathmandu had access to the outer world and there were exchanges happening.

Just like the contingent of Greeks in India and even in Indian armies, this inscriptions tells us something of seventeenth century Kathmandu. We might feel privileged to have been born in a time where different cultures are accessible at the touch of a button but even back then, Kathmandu was attempting to reach out, to learn and adapt from other cultures, traditions and practices.

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The Golden Entranceway

Suvarna Dhoka (Golden gate) T he original gate leading to the Kathmandu royal

karma, Hindu karma is intricately related to the concept of

palace was renovated by one of the earliest Nepali

dharma where both refer to your responsibilities in this world.

prime ministers, Bhimsen Thapa. It is now an

On the other side of the worldly form is a much milder form

intricately carved and studded structure, beautifully coloured

of Krishna, as shepherd and flute-player, surrounded by his

and painted, with two lion statues on either side. Above the

thousand consorts, the Gopinis.

gate is a lattice of sorts, housing three statues, one of them of Pratap Malla, playing a flute, flanked by his wife.

As a god, Krishna was devoted to his Radha but was also intimately involved with many of his Gopinis, the female

The middle of the lattice houses Krishna’s epic form, the

shepherdesses. Krishna as a shepherd is an interesting

ultimate form of Vishnu, of whom Krishna is but an avatar.

addition to Hindu mythology as it points to the Gopalas,

This is the same form that Krishna revealed to Arjun in the

dark-skinned shepherd-kings who were native to the Indian

Mahabharat and the Bhagavad Gita when Arjun displayed

subcontinent before the fairer Aryans came down from the

doubts over the upcoming war with the Kauravs, his cousins.

Caucasus, bringing with them Zoroastrianism and the caste

Krishna’s transformation into the giant, awe-inspiring form

system. It seems Pratap Malla saw himself as a sort of

was to show Arjun that there are many things beyond his

Krishna figure, gallivanting with his harem while also devoted

understanding and that the only he can do as a pious, moral

to his wife and family, not to mention the love of the arts and

man is to fight the good fight, the holy war as that is his duty,

music. He is also drawing a parallel by having both he and

his dharma. Contrary to the pop conception of Buddhist

Krishna playing a flute and flanked by a woman. w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

| 47 | 47

Strength & Loyalty

The Hanuman

I

n the Ramayan, Hanuman, the monkey-god, is prince Ram’s bosom friend and loyal servant. During Ram’s exile in the forest and his wife, Sita’s, subsequent abduction by Raavan, Hanuman is an essential cog in Ram’s journey. When Ram’s brother Laxman is poisoned, Hanuman moves an entire mountain to bring him the cure. Hanuman visits Sita in Raavan’s Lanka and inadvertently burns down the entire city with the tip of his tail on fire. As a god, Hanuman exemplifies strength and perseverance. He is a guardian deity, fierce protector of the good and pious.

In 1672, Pratap Malla erected the stone Hanuman statue just outside the main entrance to his place to ward off enemies and protect the palace. The Mallas, as warrior kings, were loyal Hanuman followers. They greatly believed in Hanuman’s ideals of strength, bravery and heroism and believed that he would watch over their city and palace.

Once a forbidding statue, now it is almost unrecognizable as the years have not been kind. The external carvings that defined Hanuman’s facial and body structure have all but worn away, either through natural erosion or from the touch of a thousand hands plastering the statue with vermillion paste, flowers and food in worship. Hanuman rests under a red cloth umbrella, draped in that same red cloth. His face too is bright with vermillion, unrecognizable to those who don’t know what they are looking at.

NARSINGHA V

ishnu, Vaishnavs believe, has ten principal avatars that greatly affect humankind’s time on earth. In chronological order, they are Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varah (boar), Narsingha (half-man, half-lion), Baman (dwarf), Parsuram (Axe-wielding Ram), Ram (prince of Ayodhya, of the Ramayana), Balaram (Krishna’s elder brother), Krishna (the principal, most widely worshipped avatar), Buddha (Shakyamuni, Siddhartha Gautam) and Kalki (eternity, time). The first four avatars, Matsya, Kurma, Varah and Narsingha, are believed to have existed in the Satya Yug (Age of Truth) long ago when the gods walked the earth. The next three, Baman, Parsuram and Ram, in the Treta Yug (Age of Mankind) and the next two, Balaram and Krishna, in the Dwapar Yug (The Second Age of Mankind) and with the Buddha, we entered the Kali Yug (Age of Sin). Vishnu’s last avatar, Kalki, will appear in this final Yug, when virtue has but been eradicated and vice reigns supreme over man. Kalki will bring about a creative destruction and the world will be born anew once again with the Satya Yug. The Narsingha avatar is Vishnu’s response to the demon Hiranyakashyap, who had been granted a boon by Brahma, the creator in the Hindu Trinity. The demon asked that neither a man nor an animal can kill him, neither during the day nor at night, not with organic or inorganic weapons, neither on earth nor in the air. Vishnu’s Narsingha avatar, half-man, half-lion, came onto Hiranyakashyap at twilight, placed the demon upon his knees and disemboweled him with his claws.

Thus, this avatar represents courage, fealty and protection from one’s enemies.

Pratap Malla built a Narsingha statue on the left wall of the gate to the Hanuman Dhoka Palace in 1673. The statue is usually smeared red with vermillion and displays the fierce avatar disemboweling Hiranyakashyap on his lap with two claws while holding with a chakra in another hand and a mace in yet another.

48 | w w w . v a i r o c h a n a . c o m

SHIVA the ANNIHILATOR

MAHAKALA The

Kal Bhairav, Shwet Bhairav and Akash Bhairav

A

mong the most common deities in the Kathmandu

Valley are the Bhairavs, the tantric manifestation

Kal In the middle of the Kathmandu Durbar Square, past the Shiva-Parvati temple and the Kumari House and the Gaddi Bhaithak, resides the lord of annihilation, Shiva in his most terrifying form as Kal Bhairav. The 12-foot-high statue is an imposing structure to behold, not just in its immensity but its grimacing visage and

of Shiva. There are many,

massive cudgel held aloft, as if ready anytime to strike you down. Framed in an

many forms of Bhairavs

arch, part of the very stone as the Bhairav, the statue is fearsome and menacing.

and each is worshipped by

As Shiva’s most enraged form, the Bhairav forgives no one. There are deeply-

some Newari clan. Although traditionally a trader class,

held beliefs in the Valley that anyone telling a lie in front of the Kal Bhairav would immediately have all the blood drain out of their bodies. It is said that because of this deeply entrenched belief, the Kal Bhairav statue acted as a court back in the

Newars have their own

day. Even up until modern Nepal and the reign of the Rana prime ministers, many

internal caste system

state and Army officials took their oaths in front of this statue.

and thus, accordingly,

Although dating back to the eighth century, this Bhairav stone relief was long lost

different varnas (castes)

and only discovered by Pratap Malla in the seventeenth century. Legend goes

worship different Bhairavs

that Pratap Malla found the Bhairav in a field and established him in the Durbar

representing their own

Square as a principle deity. This tantric Shiva served as a complement to the Malla’s clan goddess, Taleju, who is the embodiment of Shakti, female power.

desires and needs. There

In this giant statue, the biggest full Bhairav statue in all of Nepal, Kal Bhairav is

is usually a Bhairav statue

trampling upon a lowly human who represents ignorance. Kal Bhairav, as the

at every temple or at least

bringer of death and annihilation, represents the knowledge that comes with the

every courtyard. There are

end to maya (or samsara).

Bhairavs also in Buddhist

Kal Bhairav is also called the Six-Armed Mahakala or the head of Mahakala.

viharas and bahals as the

Vajrayana Buddhists believe that Mahakala is the principal protector of the

Bhairav is worshipped as Mahakala by Buddhists too.

Karmapas. Located behind the relief of Kal Bhairav is a latticed wooden screen, which is part of the Hanuman Dhoka palace wall. Within this screen is a likeness of Mahakala said to have been fashioned by Lord Karmapa himself. w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

| 49

Shwet Bhairav Although nothing close to the Kal Bhairav’s age, this

Hidden throughout the entire year behind closed curtains,

Shwet Bhairav was built in 1794 by Rana Bahadur Shah to

this massive face of another Shiva incarnation is revealed

add colour and culture to the Indra Jatra festival. Enraptured

only during Indra Jatra. The rest of the year, it is a Buddhist

with the Kathmandu Valley, like his father Prithvi Narayan,

monk who prays and presents offerings to the god.

Rana Bahadur wanted to adopt the local customs and culture and leave his mark in the same manner that

During the Jatra, a pipe is lead out of the face’s massive

previous kings had. Noticing the prevalence of Bhairavs in

mouth and locally brewed alcohol (chyang and raksi) are

the Valley, he decided to build a Bhairav of his own. This

continually poured out of it. Devotees climb onto others’

intricate, jewel-studded, awe-inspiring visage of the Shwet

shoulders in order to drink directly from the spout, believing

Bhirav’s grimace is a lasting legacy of Prithvi Narayan’s

the liquor to be the prasad of the god, with the power to

infatuation with the Newar Kathmandu Valley.

guard against all future diseases and illnesses.

50 | w w w . v a i r o c h a n a . c o m

Akash Bhairav During the Mahabharat, there was a Kirat king named

The Akash Bhairav is the god of the sky and epitomizes

Yalamber. Now Yalamber had such a boon that whichever

freedom and the wide never-expanding expanse of the sky. It

side he took in the great war between the Pandavs and

is also a locally held belief that upon praying to this Bhairav,

the Kauravs would emerge victorious. Krishna, charioteer

any dispute or quarrel will be resolved. Every year, the statue

to Arjun of the Pandavs, recognized Yalamber on the side

is brought out into the courtyard during Indra Jatra and

of the Kauravs and promptly engineered a plot that ended

blessed by the Kumari. Various festival and religious rites

with Yalamber losing his head. Krishna held the head while

are performed at the temple but only by the Jyapus (Newar

the war continued, now with Yalamber out of the picture.

farmers), as the Akash Bhairav is their clan deity.

However, Yalamber was so disgusted with Krishna’s immoral

Archaeologists and historians believe that while many parts

shenanigans during the war that he left the battlefield and

of the Akash Bhairav statue were built in the 17th century,

came to Kathmandu, where he has resided since as the

the body of the statue is much older, dating back to the 14th

Akash Bhairav.

century or older. w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

| 51

Taleju Mandir

Taleju Bhawani, Tawa Deg:

L

ocated centrally inside the Hanuman Dhoka palace grounds, in the Trishul chowk, is the majestic Taleju temple. The temple, dedicated to the goddess Taleju, stands on a 12-level plinth and rises more than 35 metres above ground as a large three-story pagoda. The temple is divided into an inner and outer courtyard with 12 miniatures temples outside the eighth plinth, which rises up like a wall. On the inside of the wall are four more temples with intricate carvings and beautiful entrances.

In front of the temple is a Garud statue, dating back to the 10th century.

The temple itself was built in 1563 by King Mahendra Malla. Originally the clan deity of the Kirat kings of medieval Nepal and India, the goddess Taleju was brought to the Kathmandu Valley by a king in exile. King Harisingha Dev and his wife, Devaldevi, sought refuge in Bhaktapur where they established themselves as a family of influence. After the king died, the crafty queen married her son to Bhaktapur’s Malla king and slowly instituted the Malla clan’s adoption of her personal deity. Under her direction, a massive Taleju temple was built in Bhaktapur and later, in Kathmandu by Mahendra Malla.

As the Mallas were warrior-kings who claimed direct descendance from Vishnu, goddess Taleju too was a warrior-goddess who demanded seasonal sacrifice. The Kathmandu temple itself was built in the shape of her titular weapon, the Taleju Yantra. It is said that when looked at from Bhaktapur, the shape of the weapon can be ascertained.

The pujas that are conducted at the temple often take on tantric (mystical) aspects, as blood and sacrifice is usually involved. Every year, in the Nepali month of Mangsir, the trishul (Shiva’s trident) in the Trishul chowk is worshipped and sacrificed to. During Dasain, the goddess Taleju is brought to Mul Chowk, the main courtyard of the palace complex, and ritually worshipped and feted. On the ninth day of Dasain, the Taleju temple is opened to all. There are usually goat sacrifices to the goddess but the temple also sees a fair number of pujas as compared to other temples in the area.

52 | w w w . v a i r o c h a n a . c o m

Living divinity The

KUMARI w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

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54 | w w w . v a i r o c h a n a . c o m

T

he Kumari, the prepubescent living goddess, is

the house has lasted for hundreds of years now, with

the virgin embodiment of Taleju (Durga), wrathful

renovation conducted only once in 1966. The house is a

manifestation of Shakti. The Kumari is a Hindu

low three-story structure, wide and expansive, riddled with

goddess but is always chosen from among the Buddhist

many intricately carved windows. Two stone lions guard the

Shakya clan. According to tradition, the goddess Durga

entrance to the house and inside, the walls are draped in

resides in a pure girl who has never bled. Priests look for

massive images of Ganesh, Bhairav and Macchendranath.

a young girl from among the Shakyas who has had no

This is where the Kumari resides and besides her

injuries as of yet and satisfies certain criteria. She is then

appointed handlers and priests, she is not allowed to

placed in a dark room where it is said the spirit of Bhairav

interact with any other male, except for on procession days

visits her and attempts to scare her. If the girl indeed

where she receives offerings from devotees. In addition to

possesses Durga’s spirit then she emerges unafraid, if

the Kumari Jatra, she is also led on a procession on 13

not the search for a Kumari continues. Naturally, upon

different occasions, including Bada Dashain, the Pachali

puberty and first menstruation, the spirit of Durga leaves

Bhairav jatra, Changu Narayan jatra, Ghode jatra and

the Kumari girl and she goes back to becoming a normal

Chaite Dashain.

Shakya girl. She is then allowed to get married and lead a normal life, as past Kumaris have done. However, men are

For Buddhists, the Kumari House is mKha’-`gro-ma’i pho-

often reluctant to marry an ex-Kumari as they believe that

brang (the Dakini’s Palace). The Kumari is considered a

marrying a goddess will only bring misfortune upon them.

living Dakini and sometimes, also as an aspect of Tara.

The Dakini is a very important tantric Buddhist figure who

The three cities of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan

is central to attaining enlightenment. Common in Vajrayana

have their own Kumaris with Kathmandu’s being the most

and Tibetan Buddhism, the Dakini is generally wrathful and

prominent one. The Kumari Jatra dates back to the time

quick to anger but represents spirituality and inspiration.

of Jaya Prakash Malla, a descendant of Pratap Malla,

She is an embodiment of loose energy in space, without

who instituted and made prominent the jatra in 1740. On

form or figure, simply a movement that floats in the limitless

the jatra day, the Kumari is placed in a dolly and paraded

expanse of the sky. The Kathmandu Kumari is worshipped

around the Durbar Square where various dignitaries,

by Buddhists as the Dakini Vajrayogini, whose image

the head of state and thousands of devotees pay their

adorns the walls of the Kumari House.

respects. When Nepal was still a Hindu monarchy, the Kumari was believed to have special connection with the

Unique to the Kathmandu Valley, the Kumari is a living

Shah kings. It is said that during the second Jana Andolan

embodiment of a goddess but she is much more than

(People’s Uprising) that removed King Gyanendra and

just that. The Kumari is a central focus to the relationship

effectively ended the Shah monarchy, the Kathmandu

between the Hindus and the Buddhists. She is one of

Kumari went through an intense period of nervousness,

the many overlaps but as revered as she is in the Valley,

wanderings, mood swings and irrational behavior. The

the Kumari is especially important. Jaya Prakash Malla

Shah kings had always made it a point to appear for the

is said to have instituted the Kumari Jatra after a dream

Kumari jatra and pay their respects. After the end of the

where the goddess Taleju Bhawani (essentially Durga)

monarchy, that honour fell to the President, although there

appeared to him and said that she would take possession

was controversy over the head of state visiting a Hindu/

of a young girl from the Shakya clan. As Taleju Bhawani

Buddhist festival when the country is ostensibly supposed

was the Malla clan deity, Jaya Prakash Malla immediately

to be secular.

instituted the festival and ordered that the Kumari house be built. Whatever the reasons for the beginning, the Kumari

The Kumari House, located centrally in the square, was

and the Kumari Jatra have now becomes fixtures of the

also built by Jaya Prakash Malla, the last Malla king, in

Valley, characterizing its cultural uniqueness and its famed

just six months in 1757. Despite the speedy construction,

religious tolerance.

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The EPITOME of

Newari Architecture

in KATHMANDU Maju Dega: Occupying the centre of the Durbar Square, right in front of the Kumari House and the Gaddi Baithak, is this imposing temple to Shiva. Rising nine plinths above ground and with three-tiled roofs in the pagoda style, the Maju Dega: is considered one of the most important, and eye-catching monuments in the Durbar Square. Its height and location alone allow the temple to dominate the skyline and attract the most visitors. The temple is a beauty to behold as many of its doors, windows and wooden struts are carved with intricate images of gods and goddesses. Inside is a Shiva statue, carved completely out of black ebony rock. Built in 1690 by the Queen mother Riddhi Laxmi, she was the one who placed the Shiva statue inside the temple and consecrated it to him.

Outside the temple, directly in front of it, is a smaller white temple, cylindrical and in the shikhara style of temples from Northern India, known locally as the Kamdev temple.

Although the temple is actually to Lakulish, a great Shiva devotee who helped spread Shaivism, it is known more popularly as the Kamdev temple. It was tradition to build a smaller shrine to Lakulish whenever a Shiva temple was built, as he had such a great role in propagating the faith of Shiva.

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Krishna Mandir (Chyasin Dega) This unique monument lies due west of the Kal Bhairav temple. Among the triangular temples that abound in the Durbar Square, this temple to Vansyagopal (Krishna playing the flute) is an octagon that rises six levels above ground, with three tiled roofs.

The ground floor is supported by pillars going all round the temple and creates an open-air pati (resting spot) for pilgrims, devotees or just wanderers.

Built in 1649 by Pratap Malla, this temple was meant as a monument to his two queens, Rupmati and Rajmati, who had just passed away. The temple houses the statues of Vanyagopal, Satyabhama, Rukmani and various Gopinis. There are daily pujas held at the Krishna Mandir, as devotees of Krishna abound in the Valley.

After the Guthi Sansthan, a religious governmental organization that looks after the monuments and their religious heritage, stopped providing a budget for the pujaris (priests) at the temple, local Shresthas have taken up the maintenance and upkeep of the temple.

Trailokya Mohan Mandir (Dashavatar Dega) This temple to Vishnu is a popular fixture of the Durbar Square. Located centrally to the north of the Kumari House, this temple rises above a six-stage plinth and is a threeroofed pagoda marvel. The struts of each roof are carved with different images of Vishnu. The temple itself is a monument to Vishnu and his ten avatars, all of whom are carved in various places around the temple.

There is also a big statue of a kneeling Garuda directly in front of the temple.

During Indra Jatra, the Trailokya Mohan becomes a central attraction, especially at night, as masked actors dress up as the ten avatars of Vishnu and perform a dance-play. The practice of showing the ten avatars of Vishnu is said to have been introduced by Jaya Prakash Malla in the 18th century.

While accounts clash as to who built the temple and when, it is fairly certain that it was built in the 17th century by someone from the Malla clan. The temple is often attributed to the Queen Mother, Riddhi Laxmi, who built the temple in 1690 but it is also attributed to King Parthivendra Malla, who built the temple in 1680 as a monument to the memory of his 18-year old brother Nripendra Malla, who had just passed away. Its importance hasn’t waned yet as daily pujas are held at the temple by the Rajopadhyay Bhramins.

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Itum Bahal

and the WHITE TARA

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The Licchavi period, there were many vihars and Buddhist bahals (courtyards) in the Valley, especially in Patan. Dating back to the 14th century is one of the oldest surviving bahal in Kathmandu, the Itum Bahal.

P

ratap Malla was an especially tolerant king. While Hindu himself and a fierce devotee of the goddess Taleju, he was welcoming of other religions too. Buddhism flourished under Pratap Malla with hundreds of

vihars (Buddhist monasteries) in the Valley and in Kathmandu itself. Nowadays, the various vihars have fallen into disrepair and Buddhism, surprisingly, is more dislocated than it was before. In the Malla days, Buddhism and Hinduism flourished side-by-side and in tandem. Pratap Malla even allowed two European Christian missionaries to preach the faith of Christ in his kingdom.

Even before Pratap Malla, Buddhism played a central role in the city and its culture. Strong cultural and economic ties to Tibet meant that Tibetan Buddhism greatly informed Buddhism in the Valley. Even during the Licchavi period, there were many vihars and Buddhist bahals (courtyards) in the Valley, especially in Patan.

Dating back to the 13th century, although its foundations are said to be from the Licchavi period during the early 7th or 8th centuries, the Itum Bahal, also called the Kesh Chandra Maha Vihar, is one of the oldest surviving Buddhist bahals in Kathmandu, the Itum Bahal. This is the largest Buddhist bahal in the Valley and w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

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is a long, rectangular haven of tranquility in between the chaos of Kathmandu. Sheltered from all sides by buildings, the bahal provides welcome respite from the rat-race that Kathmandu, a burgeoning metropolis, can sometimes only become.

In the middle of the bahal sits a small, white painted stupa. To one side of the stupa is a Bodhi tree, that has burst up from underneath the stones of the chaitya, as it is often said: flowers crack concrete.

The tree is large and leafy, its canopy spread wide across the bahal.

There is no wind to shake its gentle leaves and so, there is no sound from the tree, except one felt when under the tree, shaded by its branches and mind, empty of thought, tracing patterns in between the leaves. In the autumn, after the harvest, the courtyard is often decorated in swirling patterns of grain. Maybe they are just laid out to dry and shaped by some unknown hand, or maybe they are meant as statements of some kind of tranquility in that spiral.

To the west of the bahal is a smaller bahal, the Kesendra Bahal, which is the oldest part of the Itum Bahal. Inside the Kesendra Bahal

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are small Bodhisatva statues and brass plaques depicting Guru Mapa.

Guru Mapa, the demon, is said to have terrorized the city, feeding off of children and those who wandered too far. Eventually the businessman, Kesendra, struck a deal with him that every year the residents of the city would hold a feast with much buffalo meat. And so, every year, even now, a buffalo is sacrificed to Guru Mapa during Holi and taken to Tundikhel where Guru Mapa is said to reside. The brass plaques high on the walls depict Guru Mapa feeding off of children and then being placated by a huge pot of food. On one of the temple walls is inscribed

Mahasantasvetadharmacakratara.

In the Kesendra Bahal are three Taras in the central pagoda temple: White, or Talking Tara, Green, or Arya, Tara and Yellow Tara or Vasundhara. Of these three, the White Tara has a legend associated with it which claims that she flew here to Kathmandu from Tibet. White Tara is the goddess of compassion and every year, during the Seto Macchendranath Jatra, the White Tara is also taken out and repainted, along with the statute of Avalokiteswor from the Jana Bahal.

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Jana Bahal

and Avalokiteswor

T

he Jana Bahal is home to the Seto Macchendranath,

Jamal. Jamal was then placed in Jana Bahal where he came

whose jatra (festival) is one of the biggest Kathmandu

to be worshipped as the Padmapani Avalokiteswor.

street festivals and takes place in March/April to

welcome the rains. Seto Macchendranath is worshipped

The Jana Bahal is similar to Itum Bahal in its air of tranquility.

as Karunamaya (lord of compassion) by Hindus and as

However, while Itum Bahal was quiet and secluded, Jana

the Padmapani Avalokiteswor by Buddhists. This one jatra

Bahal is the exact opposite: it is a buzzing hub of devotees,

is expresses yet another instance of the close kinship

praying, making offerings, lighting incense, counting prayer

that Hindus and Buddhists share in Kathmandu. One god

beads and circumambulating. The majority of devotees are

is worshipped by both as separate aspects and a jatra is

Hindu with vermillion powder and offerings of flowers and

taken out every year, a syncretic mix of both Hindu and

fruit. There are also Buddhist visitors, saffron-clad monks,

Buddhist traditions in the best possible manner. The Seto

quietly praying or circling the temple. Sadly, the temple itself

Macchendranath jatra is a celebration of culture, kinship and

is encased in wire-mesh to prevent theft. Similar ancient

a faith that transcends boundaries and in all-encompassing

statues have been stolen by idol thieves and sold abroad

in its reach.

for thousands of dollars. While these idols would be safe in a museum, to take them out of their neighbourhood and

Legend goes that the Seto Macchendranath is one of the

place them in a sterile room would violate their very purpose.

Four Exalted Brothers. The fourth brother: Phags-pa Jamali

The authorities then are left with little else to do but drastic

was originally in Lhasa but was supposedly stolen during a

measures like encasing an important temple in wire-mesh

raid by the King Gunakamdev. While Jamali remained lost for

that is only opened once a year during the jatra. The first

many years after disappearing from Lhasa, he reappeared

floor of the pagoda temple houses gilded images of the 108

during the time of Yakshya Malla, who found him in a well in

forms of Avalokiteswar.

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The Seto Macchendranath is a rath jatra (chariot festival)

keeping in mind the fact that it is going to be moved and

where every year, during late March or early April, the

navigated around labyrinthine alleyways by people pulling on

image of Avalokiteswar is brought forth from his resting

ropes. In the entire chariot, no iron nails are used. Instead,

place in Jana Bahal to a raised platform in the main Durbar

the wood is held together with vine. The chariot is pulled

Square where he is bathed with holy water from the Bhacha

from Jamal, all around the old city of Kathmandu, including

Khusi river, milk, and honey by a select group of Shakya

Ason and the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square.

priests. He is then meticulously repainted, alongside the White Tara too. Simultaneously, a huge chariot

Once the festival is done, Avalokiteswor goes back into his temple, behind his gilded cage and quietly awaits the

is built near Rani Pokhari at Jamal. This massive

next year. Outside, women in red and monks in saffron

chariot is triangular in shape and towers over

circle the temple religiously. They pause and bow their

much else. Every year, this chariot is built from

heads sometimes. There are pigeons galore, feeding

scratch by two Newar Jyapu (farmer) clans, the

on pellets of rice, discarded bananas and all manner

Thane and the Kwane, using eight different types

of offerings. They are not afraid of humans, only

of wood to make around a 100 separate pieces that are then put together according to certain Vaastu. The tower is constructed so that it yields and sways and isn’t simply a static piece of wooden machinery. It is built

scattering when someone, usually a child, actually lunges at them. Incense fills the air, assailing the nostrils with sandalwood and jasmine, even as tendrils of smoke make their way spiraling up into the night sky. For now, Seto Macchendranath or Avalokiteswor rests. Until next year.

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MODERN TIMES: the SHAH dynasty & beyond

A

fter Pratap Malla, the city of Kathmandu did not

Prithvi Narayan conquered an empty throne as king Jaya

see much improvement. The Durbar Square was

Prakash had already fled to Bhaktapur after a betrayal by

already a cultural centre through the efforts of

his Pradhan courtiers. Prithvi Narayan, not an honourable

Pratap Malla and did not really require the contributions of

fellow apparently, promptly had the Pradhans executed after

his descendants. His sons and grandsons only made small

gaining control of the city. From Kathmandu, he conquered

additions and it was not until the last Kathmandu king Jaya

Patan and Bhadgaon soon enough as the three kingdoms

Prakash Mall that significant improvements were made,

had fallen into petty squabbles and rivalries and were weak

including the Kumari House and the Indra Jatra.

and ripe for the taking. Upon seeing and recognizing the cultural import of the Kathmandu Valley, Prithvi Narayan decided to make Kathmandu his capital city and name his

On 25 September 1768, during Indra Jatra, Prithvi Narayan

new kingdom, Nepal, after the traditional name, Nepa: for

Shah invaded Kathmandu. Drunk and reveling in the

the Kathmandu Valley. Fascinated with Newari customs

festival, the citizens of Kathmandu were unable to put

and traditions, he adopted them all and attempted, in his

up a fight and surrendered quietly to the Gorkha army.

own way, to perpetuate and participate in their uniqueness.

However, accounts differ. Contrary to the history that is

The monuments and temples he built since the capture of

always written by victors, conflicting accounts claim that

Kathmandu exemplify this ideal.

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Nautalle Durbar (trans. lit. Nine-storied temple, also known as Gunpo po)

The Nautalle durbar is a palace cum temple built in the traditional pagoda style with nine roofs. This imposing structure is said to have been built by the founder of modern Nepal, King Prithvi Narayan Shah in 1769. However, a palace must have existed here long before Prithvi Narayan Shah as historical records point to Gunakamdev’s palace being here and Pratap Malla’s Hanuman statue is at the palace’s entrance. It is surmised that the palace must have been destroyed and then rebuilt by Prithvi Narayan after his invasion and subsequent victory of the Kathmandu Valley. There are inscriptions above the outer entrance and the inner entrance to the temple that name Prithvi Narayan Shah as builder, along with his wife Narendra Laxmi and sons Pratap Singh Shah and Bahadur Shah.

Also known as Basantapur, which literally means ‘place of spring,’ this palace was the only pagoda-style residential palace in Valley. The king was a great admirer of the Kathmandu Valley and its art and architecture. All the monuments that he erected, he intended them to display uniquely Nepali, or Newari, styles of art and thus encouraged the Newars builders to keep up their centuries-old traditions of art The tall temple is one of the first structures you see upon entering the main courtyard of the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square. It is an imposing monument, intricate in its carvings and build and awe-inspiring in its height and structural mastery. Inside is a museum that visitors are allowed into. Each of the nine roofs have a small window looking out onto the courtyard and from the ninth roof, the ground seems impossibly far-off. In recent times though, the roof and the windows have been used to tragic effect with multiple suicide leaps from it.

Around five years ago, a woman, clutching her child, leapt from the ninth floor window to her death on the cold stone floor below. Given this propensity, the government has now installed metal bars on the windows, obscuring the view but preventing against any more tragic leaps.

An odd anecdote about Prithvi Narayan Shah concerns the Nautalle Durbar and is considered a black part of his other illustrious history. Prithvi Narayan Shah is considered the single greatest king that Nepal has ever had, with the vision and foresight to unite the disparate warring kingdoms into a sizeable, formidable force. Despite being a Gorkha king, he also had prescience to locate his capital to Kathmandu and not Gorkha, Kathmandu being the cultural and religious hub that it was. The anecdote relates how, upon conquering the Valley, King Prithvi called over all the previous officers and administrators of the Malla monarchy to the palace on a pretext and gathered them all on the top floor of the nine-story building. Then, he set fire to the bottom rungs and watched as the former courtiers either burned to death or leapt to their death from the roof in order to escape being burned alive. This cruel anecdote casts a shadow on our revered founder of the nation, but things must be understood from a medieval, feudal paradigm. Our standards of human rights, prisoner rights and war rules did not apply at that time when anything and everything was truly fair in war. w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

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for whom the bell tolls

Big Bell

O

ften times, the city of Kathmandu will reverberate with a huge gong, a sound that emanates from the heart of the city and then spreads outwards like ripples in a pond. This gong

signals puja to the goddess Taleju and usually means a sacrifice or two. It also tolls during the Dashain festival, as Durga is the principle goddess of the festival and there are many sacrifices to her then.

This big bell is located to the east of the Shwet Bhairav temple and is itself supported by two stone pillars with a tiled roof. Built during the reign of King Rana Bahadur Shah, this bell was his answer to two competing bells from Bhaktapur and Lalitpur. King Ranajit Malla of Bhaktapur built the first big bell but was outdone by King Vishnu Malla of Lalitpur who built an even bigger bell. Not to be outdone, many years later, after the Malla dynasty had fallen and the Shahs had taken over, King Rana Bahadur built his own bell, the biggest one of them all. As the bell is so humongous and requires a lot of effort on the bell-ringer’s part, an urban legend says that whosoever wanted the bell rung as an offering to the gods was required to pay the bell-ringer a carafe of milk.

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Massacre:

The Kot killings &

the rise of the Rana aristocracy

I

nside the Hanuman Dhoka palace grounds is a small

murder at Bhandarkhal, the palace storehouse grounds.

courtyard, called the Kot, lined with bricks and surrounded

Jung Bahadur then exiled the queen to India and established

by buildings. There are locked gates on either side, and

a puppet regime, ruled de facto by him and later, his sons

two cannons in the middle. For all purposes, it is a small,

and brothers. The Rana oligarchy would rule Nepal from the

peaceful, quiet courtyard, away from the maddening crowd,

shadows for a hundred years, setting back the country ages

an oasis amidst the modern concrete desert. Now, 60-odd

and severely limiting the common people’s options.

years later, it is hard to imagine this square as the sight of one of the most horrific massacres in Nepali history.

Despite their despotic rule of Nepal, the Ranas were on good terms with British India and the Chinese Qing dynasty.

On 14 September 1846, Jung Bahadur Rana, an up-and-

Many of the Rana prime ministers were awarded British and

coming courtier in King Rajendra Bikram Shah’s court, called

Indian titles and were looked upon favourably. It is assumed

together a mass meeting of all the palace courtiers and

that this favour was one of the reasons that the British never

nobles to the Kot, the palace’s armoury grounds. The queen,

really expanded into Nepal or tried to annex it to India. Even

who had been growing increasingly distanced from the king,

the Qing dynasty named all of the Rana prime ministers

had colluded with Jung Bahadur for the meting. After a few

Tung-ling-ping-ma-kuo-kang-wang or Truly Valiant Prince

minutes, Jung Bahadur and the queen left on a pretext. The

and Commander of foot and horse. However, the Ranas

courtiers, then, smelling a rat attempted to leave but found

ruled Nepal with an iron hand and it would only be a 100

their way barred by locked gates and armed men. Jung

years later that a mass uprising, the first fight for democracy,

Bahadur’s brothers and men, all armed to the teeth, began

would erupt, led by King Tribhuvan Shah. And it was this one

to systematically massacre the courtiers present. At the Kot

innocuous courtyard, this Kot, which saw its bricks run red

Massacre (Kot Parwa), as it is now known, the official death

with blood and bore witness to the beginning of the

count was 40 people. In one fell swoop, Jung Bahadur had

Rana regime.

eliminated his competition and lodged himself firmly in the political woodwork.

After the massacre, Jung Bahadur almost immediately made himself prime minister and gave himself a title “Shree 3” to the king’s royal “Shree 5.” Suspicious of Jung Bahadur’s intentions, the queen then hatched a plot with the remaining Basnet noblemen to assassinate Jung Bahadur. But Jung Bahadur being the sly, murderous fox that he was, learned of the plot and had the conspirators executed at yet another mass

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A monument out of place:

The European Gaddi Baithak

I

n the middle of Mul Chowk, the main chowk, of the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square, near the Kumari House and the Nautalle Durbar, is a building that is extremely incongruous with its location. With its neoclassical rectangular design and its ornate Roman columns, the Gaddi Baithak looks like the epitome of Western architecture. Surrounded on all sides by triangular pagodas with conical roofs, this one building looks essentially out of place at the square.

Built in 1907 by the then Rana prime minister Chandra Shumsher Rana, the Gaddi Baithak, was originally intended as an entertaining space for kings to receive other heads of state or important dignitaries and diplomats. Obsessed with everything Western and especially the British, Chandra Shumsher dictated that this Baithak (drawing room) be built in

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the Western style. Its name refers to an ornate royal Gaddi (seat, couch) that is supposed to have been present in the Baithak. Even after the royal palace had moved to Narayahiti, the Baithak was still used to receive ambassadors and diplomats. However, that trend has stopped now.

Earlier, during Indra Jatra, the king and the royal family, along with the prime minister, foreigners and ministers, would sit on the balcony of the Gaddi Baithak and watch the Kumari procession. They would pay their respects to the living goddess from the balcony itself. Now, with the monarchy at an end, that honour has fallen to the President, who, although commands a newly secular nation, cannot seem to let go of age-old traditions that don’t do much to hurt anyone’s sentiments.

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RainbowMarket The Pote Bazaar & Indra Chowk

W

hen evening turns to dusk, the area around the Akash Bhairav temple, known as Indra Chowk, turns into a cornucopia of colours. Red, yellow and green hues bounce off of yellow car headlight and create a veritable rainbow of colours. There is a great hustle of shoppers, the great majority of whom are women, and shopkeepers hawking their wares. For the duration of the night, the surrounding temples and monuments are forgotten, or at least eclipsed, by these radiant shops that spring up under the cover of darkness.

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The Indra Chowk is where the Itum Bahal and the Jana Bahal are located. This is where Indra Jatra passes through and the place where it gets the most number of devotees as people hang out of windows seven stories high and take pictures off of roofs of the chariots going by. Thus, this is a central place of worship for Hindus and Buddhists. The Indra Chowk, although some way from the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square, is part of the old city and was very much involved in the old palace complexes and the city that rose around it. Although the Chowk has a number of temples and monuments, it is mainly a trading area, a bazaar where all kinds of wares are hawked, by all kinds of people. A maze of alleyways lead into and out of it and for the first time visitor, the Indra Chowk can be a dizzying experience, fast, confusing and labyrinthine.

This area, known as the Pote Bajaar, is a

suitable for inhabitation by those people who wrote

smorgasboard of beads of all shapes, sizes and hues.

backwards (i.e. right to left), and so, the king dictated

Pote are traditional beads strung along a piece of

that the newly arrived Muslims be settled there. The

thread and worn by Bahun and Chettri women during

Kashmiri Muslims brought with them various styles

festivals and important occasions. Soon-to-be brides

of bead-making and examples of exotic beads and

and their parents frequent the shops, searching for

designs. While adapting to the local Newari culture,

pote, the Nepali version of the Indian mangalsutra,

the Muslims changed and modified their designs and

while others look over bangles, sindoor boxes, cheap

began to sell the beads. Since then, pote has become

jewellery and hundreds upon hundreds of beaded

a major fixture for women of all ages to wear on

necklaces to choose from. These beads, either locally

important occasions.

made or imported from Europe, mainly the Czech republic, comes in every shape and size and for all

For centuries, these businessmen have plied their

occasions. From the religious to the fashionable, these

trade through the generations, passing down their

pote are markers of Nepali culture and style.

shops and stalls. Their methods and goods have changed with the times as the shops don’t just

According to folklore, the Pote Bazaar arose out of a

offer pote but also imitation jewellery, bangles and

settlement of Muslim immigrants from Kashmir during

metalwork. It is quite a sight to behold, especially at

the reign of Pratap Malla. The area where the Bazaar is

night. The area seems to come alive, as if injected

now was previously vacant as some argue that it was

with energy by the myriad lights and reflections, the

a cremation ground. Upon consulting with priests and

hustle of a bustling market and the end of one more

astrologers, Pratap Malla was told the area was only

successful day.

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All hail the Rain God:

Indra Jatra

Seven days of Pomp & Street Celebration September 27 – 3 October 2012

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I

ndra Jatra is Kathmandu’s biggest and most extravagant festival. Every year, sometime in September (according to the lunar calendar), a massive eightday long festival is held, dedicated to the rain god, Indra. Each day is marked with different events, festivals, pujas and exhibitions. Thousands turn out for the jatra and it is a massive celebration of religion, divinity, culture and tradition.

Indra Jatra & Kumari Festival Route

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Indra Jatra, known to Newars as Yenya, begins with the Yosin Thanegu, the erection of a 36-foot high linga (pole) in the middle of the Durbar Square, from which Indra’s banner is unfurled. This symbolic act begins the Indra Jatra and preparation start all over the city. Shops start to put up Bhairav masks and devotees begin to throng the Kal, Shwet and Akash Bhairavs in the Durbar Square.

Although the festival is dedicated to Indra, many other gods, including Shiva as Bhairav, Taleju as Kumari and Ganesh, are also worshipped. On the very first day, families who’ve recently lost a family member lead an evening procession holding lighted incense sticks and butter lamps through old Kathmandu. Along the route, the families visit other family members and relatives and offer the lamps to them as a sign of respect. This offering is known as Mata Biye and the entire procession is called Upaku Wanegu.

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One of the days of the Indra Jatra is the Kumari Jatra, the most popular and widely attended festival in Kathmandu. The living goddess Kumari is taken out of her home and placed in a chariot that is then pulled all over the city of Kathmandu, followed by devotees and worshippers. Along with the Kumari, there are two other chariots to Bhairav and Ganesh, that are also pulled. This portion of the jatra is attended by the head of state, many religious organizations and groups and most Nepali Hindus and Buddhists in the Valley.

The chariots are pulled for a total of three days, beginning in the south of the city and slowly making their way to central Kathmandu. On the first day of the Kumari Jatra, Samaya-baji, food blessed by the Kumari, is distributed to devotees at Jaisidewal and at Hanuman Dhoka the next day.

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Once the Kumari chariot returns to Maru tole after journeying around the southern part of the city on the day of the Kumari Jatra, another part of the jatra begins, which is the Dakin procession. According to legend, when Indra once came to Kathmandu to search for an elusive flower for his mother, he was captured by the residents of Kathmandu and put on display at Maru as a magical being. After long being kept at Maru tole, Indra’s mother, Basundhara, came to Kathmandu looking for her son. She wandered through the alleys of Kathmandu, wailing and crying out for her son. When the residents heard her cries, they realized just whom they had captured and put on display.

Terrified, they immediately released Indra, the king of gods and the god of the rain. But Indra, instead of being angered, was mollified by Basundhara, who granted that since the people of Kathmandu had released her son, they would receive a plentiful bounty. The Dakin procession, thus, reenacts Basundhara’s journey through the streets of Kathmandu, looking for her son. A man dresses up as Basundhara, wearing a white mask, complete with jewelry and proper garments, and is led around old Kathmandu by devotees and is accompanied by a band.

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In addition to the numerous processions and chariots, all of Indra Jatra is a massive celebration from beginning to end. From the very first day, there are plays and skits put on at the Kathmandu Durbar Square. The ten avatars of Vishnu are displayed regularly in front of the

Trailokya Mohan temple and a statue Indra with outstretched arms, to go along with the legend, is put on display at Maru tole, near Kasthamandap.

The Shwet Bhairav also comes alive as a pipe inserted out of the grimacing visage spouts homemade liquor for devotees to partake in.

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During the nights of the Indra Jatra, there are massive dances.

Masked Lakheys, demons dance through the streets of Kathmandu, leading a procession of similarly-attired revelers. They accost passersby and dance their madcap dance. They are like Puck, from a Midsummer Night’s Dream, mischievous demons that remind one of life’s unpredictability and randomness. At night, the Kathmandu Durbar Square becomes an open air theatre for the duration of the Indra Jatra, with numerous separate dances and ceremonies. There are Lakheys, Bhairavs and the Pulukisi (masked elephant dancers), each surrounded by a sizeable crowd of onlookers.

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Pulu Kisi, a wicker representation of an elephant, runs around town re-enacting Indra’s elephant searching frantically for its master.

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Since its institution in the 18th century by Jaya Prakash Malla, the Indra Jatra has come to represent Kathmandu at its finest. The revelry and celebration that goes into the Jatra is aweinspiring to behold. It is a great bond-builder and a festival that never fails to bring together the disparate Kathmandu communities. Although mainly a Newar festival, the Indra Jatra is celebrated by all, even the ex-Shah kings. This year, the Indra Jatra festival will begin on 27 September and will continue through 3 October.

The Kumari Jatra and the chariot processions will be held on 29 September.

Masked dances of deities and demons

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Freak street high: Jhocchen & the Hippies

T

he 60s were a time of peace, free love and experimentation and even far-off Kathmandu was unable to remain untouched. Lured by tales of Shangri-La and a heavenly mountain paradise filled with limitless hashish, the friendliest, uncorrupted people you could find, a place far away from all the drudgery of the ‘man,’ hippies flocked to Kathmandu as the final destination of the overland hippie route that started in Europe. Kathmandu didn’t begin to get its fair share of hippies until the 70s but when they came, they came in droves.

Kathmandu, which had very rarely seen foreigners, was soon overrun by the long-haired beatniks. The locals, eager to keep up, began to open up marijuana depots and hashish junctions.

Marijuana, one of Shiva’s favoured prasads (offering), was no threat to Nepalis. They knew it, had smoked it and didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. When the foreigners came, with their love-lust of the cannabis plant, Nepalis were more than willing to oblige. An area by the Kathmandu Durbar Square, towards the south, known as Jhocchen tole was transformed into Freak Street, an area replete with hash shops, cheap lodges and guesthouses, jam-packed with flower children.

Now, with the free love days behind us, hippie culture has largely abandoned Freak Street. Although it still retains its slightly pejorative name, there aren’t many long-haired hippies around and Freak Street seems to have lost much of clientele.

Although a few shops still bear signs for marijuana and hash, there is none available for the discerning tourist. Although there are still a number of cheap guesthouses and food joints, it is by no means an unpopular spot for tourists. Besides a few tattoo parlours, shops that sell trinkets, masks and memorabilia, there isn’t much left to connect Freak Street to hippies. A small cake shop, the Snowman Cake Shop, run by a grouchy old man and his son, has been around since the hippie days. The old man, maybe not so grouchy then, sold bhang (hash) lassies and hash cakes and cookies. With marijuana being made illegal in the late 70s, he doesn’t lace his confectionaries any more but the cakes are still just as good.

Sometimes you will see a saffron-clad white-skinned person, walking around in chappals (slippers) and loose-fitting harem pants, their hair in dreadlocks and you will think to yourself, ah, a hippie. There aren’t as many of them anymore in Kathmandu.

The tourists that we receive now aren’t as extroverted about their affiliations and philosophies. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Inside the Snowman cafe, though, peek in and you are apt to see at least one holdover from the sixties, bent over their JS Krishnamurti book , finger tangled in their dreadlocks, sipping a cup of hot, thick milk tea and taking a bite off of a rich, dark 88 |chocolate w w w . v acake. irochana.com

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City of dreams K athmandu, Kathmandu Beneath me, Kathmandu.

Oh how I long for nauseous embrace, with your curls like thick black smoke, eyes glittering with greed, arms like claustrophobic narrow lanes, legs like the Bagmati, filthy and rotten.

Your body violated and fed upon, Your mouth gaping crimson and white, Your face pockmarked and dead.

I miss your cool, damp love.

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W

hen each day is done, Kathmandu goes to sleep quiet and early. In the evening dusk, the Durbar Square looks surreal and otherworldy, as it also does during dawn. Maybe it is the quality of that time or maybe it is the space. A line out of a TS Eliot poem: “Because I know that time is always time, and place is always and only place, And what is actual is actual only for one time, and only for one place, I rejoice that things are as they are…” and Kathmandu seems like a dream.

Because I know that time is always time and place is always and only place…

The Durbar Square’s silent monoliths stand now as they have stood for centuries. It takes an earthquake to move them, and sometimes destroy them. While the world passes by with its cars and trucks and cell phones and computers, these buildings are content to stay the same and never to change. They couldn’t even if they wanted to. All they can do is await the cruel whip of time, which claims all of us in the end. Maybe they will stand a millennia but that is already asking too much. Maybe they will stand another decade. Or maybe, just maybe, time will pass all around these temples and leave them unbroken and still majestic. w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

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And what is actual is actual only for one time, and only for one place…

All the romanticism aside, the Durbar Square could have existed in Kathmandu and only because of a long list of coincidences. Three kingdoms jostling each other in a small valley for one, and Pratap Malla for another. The Durbar Squares showcases what is unique to Kathmandu, its intermingling and intermixing. This is not a traditional democracy or metropolis where one is thrust into a mass of people and turns immediately into just a face in the crowd. Kathmandu has never been and will never be a melting pot. It allows each culture, each tradition, to pursue its own ends. Kathmandu is not just about tolerance, for anyone can simply tolerate, but it is about acceptance. To tolerate one doesn’t have to appreciate but acceptance requires an appreciation, however begrudging. In the past, Buddhists and Hindus alike have found similarities in each other and differences too, but celebrated those differences and shared those similarities. This is what makes us of Kathmandu, and to a larger extent, Nepali. That we are willing to accept with open arms those who are not like us, to celebrate not just sameness but difference. Our difference is not based on intelligence or an evaluation but rather on understanding. This, as Jacques Derrida might have said, is difference.

I rejoice that things are as they are…

This teeming hub of a city is sometimes difficult to adjust to, difficult to deal with. There are an infinity of problems, each worse than the last. As a third-world country, we face what any other poor, underdeveloped country faces.

But it is disheartening to see the once beautiful city slowly transforming into a mindless, shapeless city of blocks and rectangles. We are moving away from our triangles and circles, from building monuments that look like they do because they serve an aesthetic or a religious or a cultural purpose. The fact that things don’t mean much anymore, is a tragedy. But still, there is beauty to be found. In the recesses of the night and the early morning, between old alleyways and doorways that force you to stoop to enter, among fresh-faced children playing football in a centuries-old courtyard with a centuries-old brick wall as a goal post. There is still beauty and there is still wonder. If one only knows how and where to look for it.

In the distant echo of temple bells, and the whisper that the wind carries, there is a message borne from out of time and another, far-off, distant place that might not yet exist: look, look everywhere, look around, not just with your eyes but with your ears and the tips of your fingers and with your heart, look, ‘look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair.’

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Nepali Carnivals

an Anthropological Account text & images by GĂŠrard Toffin

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n every country, the study of carnival performances brings out significant aspects of culture, religion and politics. During these events, what is kept concealed or avoided in everyday life suddenly rises to the surface. Men, women, and their social groupings are transformed. As everyone knows, the concept originated in Europe. Evidence shows that the carnival belongs to an old Christian tradition which dates back to the Middle Ages and that it is related to the Easter cycle. In the common repertoire of knowledge, it typically includes a parade, frightening masks, extravagant costumes and make-up, and colourful effigies. As a rule, ritual activities tend to focus on comic situations. Carnival is associated with fun, eating meat, dancing, clowning about, and sometimes violence. On such occasions, political leaders are caricaturized and mocked. The social world is turned upside down. This is the reason why in the past the authorities often banned carnivals. These festivals have undergone drastic changes over the centuries and have extended to Africa and South America since the colonization period. Some authors are convinced that the origin of this celebration dates back to the ancient pagan Roman Empire.

As far as South Asia is concerned, the

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Hindu Holi festival immediately comes to mind when discussing these performances.

This old Indian and Nepali festival, which celebrates the end of the winter season and the beginning of spring, is still performed with fervour nowadays. Although it has its own religious logic within the Hindu culture, it shares a number of features with Western carnivals. The event is full of joy, excitement and entertainment. It includes music, dancing by both men and women, a public bonfire (symbolizing evil), throwing red powder at each other, and folk songs. People spray coloured water using pieces of bamboo or plastic syringes, or they throw water balloons, lolā, at one another. Because of this, women are afraid to go out into the street.

In Nepal, as in various places in India, intoxicant bhāng is mixed with food and drinks. Social rules, especially between men and women, are slackened. No one expects polite behaviour, and ritual or nonritual reversals of power are sometimes enacted. In some regions of India, women beat their brothers-in-law with their sari in mock rage. Groups of young boys and men circumabulate villages covered in red powder, joyfully playing traditional musical instruments.

Among the Newars of the Kathmandu

Valley and of other regions of Nepal, the Sā Pāru (Gāi Jātrā), the “festival of the cow”, is undoubtedly the most typical carnival. It is a very popular event, performed in cities as well as in villages.

That day, the first of the dark fortnight of Bhādra (August-September), Newar Hindu families who have lost one of their relatives over the last year have to send a cow or a boy disguised as a cow to tour the old city. These cow figures help the deceased relative on their journey to svarga, heaven.

In Kathmandu, this funeral ritual takes the form of a colourful parade. In Bhaktapur and Panauti, bereaved families send tall structures made of bamboo and baskets called tāhāsā, “big cows”, covered by the dead person’s clothes. Male stick-dances (ghimtāghisim) are also organized all over the town. In villages, farming communities add to the processions several farces about rice cultivation, i.e. transplanting paddy or ploughing the field with cows and a swing plough (an implement which is normally forbidden among Newars).

Today, homosexuals have started their own rally called “Gay jātrā” which makes its way across the capital! In Kathmandu, the parade is attributed to Pratap Malla (1641-74): the king, so it is said, launched it to console his queen after the death of their son. From the Sā Pāru day onward,

Nepalese organize satirical performances (khyālah) ridiculing and befooling politicians and notables.

Newar Buddhists, who represent a significant minority of the Newar community, do not take part in the Sā Pāru celebration. They consider that this festival (they call it Dhanlyā) commemorates the attempt by Māra, the ruler of desire and death, to disturb the Buddha from his meditation under his bodhi tree. Elderly Buddhists refer to this entire Hindu masquerade event as mār, from the name Māra. Instead, they circumambulate the former bāhāhs monasteries in their own localities and offer rice to their neighbours sitting in their doorways. In Lalitpur, they go around the four Ashok stupas of the town offering roasted wheat flour, sāttu, to Buddhist deities.

More interestingly, the following day

Newar Buddhists from the city of Lalitpur celebrate a festive event of their own, the Matayā (or Matyāh), the Festival of Lights. On that day, Buddhist bereaved families take part in a huge march through all the Buddhist bāhās and caityas of the city. Women offer a lamp to each of these cultic monuments on behalf of the dead person, a thoroughly Buddhist practice.

This festival also celebrates the abovementioned Buddha’s defeat of Māra and his attainment of enlightenment. The procession starts very early in the morning and ends late in the afternoon. It is accompanied by masquerades, young boys

dressed in extravagant attire, and wearing burlesque masks. Very often, Hindus also join in the festival. Shiva himself is present in the procession, but, subjugated by a bodhisattva, he is portrayed as a devotee of Buddha.

This joyful march is associated with groups of devotees playing buffalo-horns, called neku (or nyaku) in Newari. A legend, inspired by an old Buddhist tale called Shringa Bheri, is mentioned in relation to the blowing of these musical instruments (baggi vanegu). It narrates the story of two lovers, the death of the husband, his rebirth as a buffalo as a consequence of his sinful deeds, the daily attention of the widow to that particular buffalo, the death of the animal and the erection of a caitya using his bones, etc. Blowing horns recalls this story and procures great merit for the musicians. This festival is said to have been created by the Thakuri king

Gunakama Deva. The committee that organizes the musical procession is an integral part of the Matayā working group.

Here we face an astonishing combination of Hindu and Buddhist features. Each religious community celebrates its own festival on a particular day according to its own traditions, mythology and concepts. Newar culture is not totally consensual; it is made up of diverse voices. And yet, these two events share a number of elements. More characteristically, in both cases, a postfunerary ceremony is associated with ludic elements. The combination of death and

comics is an outstanding feature that bears some resemblance to European carnivals.

Another interesting aspect of Matayā in Lalitpur is that the celebration is organized in turn by the city’s different wards. Some sources mention ten specific tols, Buddhist and Hindu. In this manner, the festival fosters social cohesion and reaffirms the unity of the Newar urban community.

These two processional celebrations, Sā Pāru and Matayā, possess definite carnival characteristics and express deep levels of cultural significance. They address religion’s centrality to a wide range of settings and debates. In common anthropological jargon, they belong to the category of “anti-structural festivals”, even if, in the end, the social order is re-established. The comic and satirical plays enacted over these festive days in fact last the whole month of Bhādra and are performed until the beginning of the Indra Jātrā festival, another very important event that takes place a month later. In Bhaktapur, singers from peasant communities (gāyām or gāyāmcā) sing satirical songs in Newari in different parts of the city, as if they were professional Gāine (Ghandarva) singers. Images of Indra, his arms outstretched on both sides, which are exhibited during Indra Jātrā, can be seen as a satire of the deity. According to local legend, Indra is thus represented as a thief who steals cucumber or marigold flower. A mock posture for the king of the Hindu gods! Despite this, in a highly ambiguous manner, these images are worshipped with devotion.

Gérard Toffin, Director of Research at the National Centre for Scientific Research, is a member of the Centre for Himalayan Studies, France. He started his research on Nepal in 1970, after a post as Cultural Attaché at the French Embassy, Kathmandu. An expert on Nepali culture and society, he has published a number of books on the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley and on Nepali religion. His recent books include La fête-spectacle: Théâtre et rite au Népal (Éd. de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris, 2010), Newar Society: City, Village and Periphery (Himal Books, 2007, 2008), and in collaboration with Joanna PfaffCzarnecka, The Politics of Belonging in the Himalayas: Local Attachments and Boundary Dynamics (Sage, 2011).

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Tsering Art Sch ool STUDENT SPONSORSHIP APPEAL The school relies on sponsorship for the school fees of the poorer students, in particular the young Tibetan refugees and students from poor Nepalese, Indian and Bhutanese families.

The sponsorship program has enabled many students from impoverished backgrounds to complete the course and helps give them a future in being able to earn a living from fulfilling commissions for devotees. The training also gives them a firm ethical basis in the Buddhist teachings. A sponsor will be given one thangka from the student they sponsor over the six year course.

Additional monies provided by a sponsor can be used as pocket money for the student to purchase necessary items such as art materials, clothes, toiletries and medicine.

A separate fund is established for one-off donations that are put towards medical supplies and school fees for the poorer students that haven’t been covered by sponsorship to date.

THE BASIC SCHOOL FEES IN NEPALI RUPEES ARE: Boarding students: 45,500 Nrs per year (at an average rate of 76 Rs to the dollar in 2011 is about USD $600 per annum) Day students: 13,000 per year (c $175 USD per annum)

Tsering Art School Shechen Monastery

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