The Sacred Town of Sankhu The Sacred Town of Sankhu: The Anthropology of Newar Ritual, Religion and Society in Nepal By Bal Gopal Shrestha The Sacred Town of Sankhu: The Anthropology of Newar Ritual, Religion and Society in Nepal, by Bal Gopal Shrestha This book first published 2012 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2012 by Bal Gopal Shrestha Unless otherwise stated all photos are by the author. All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-3770-9, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-3770-5 To my parents, Krishna Maya Karmācārya and Purna Bhakta Ghori Shrestha TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations and Maps ..................................................................... ix List of Tables and Charts ............................................................................ xi Foreword ................................................................................................... xii Preface ...................................................................................................... xiv Acknowledgments .................................................................................... xix Note on Transliteration ........................................................................... xxiv Abbreviations .......................................................................................... xxv Chapter One ................................................................................................. 1 Introduction Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 13 Ritual and Calendars in Nepal Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 21 The Significance of Newar Culture and Society Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 42 The Town of Sankhu: History and Myth Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 61 Sacred Space and Geography of Sankhu Appendix to Chapter Five: Names of the Deities .............................. 102 Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 105 Socio-Economic Position of Sankhu viii Table of Contents Chapter Seven .......................................................................................... 137 Features of Newar Caste and Religion Appendix to Chapter Seven: Nicknames ........................................... 179 Chapter Eight ........................................................................................... 183 Sī guthi, the Funeral Associations in Sankhu Chapter Nine ............................................................................................ 199 Role of Guthi, the Socio-Religious Associations in Sankhu Chapter Ten ............................................................................................. 266 Ritual Cycle: Feasts and Festivals Chapter Eleven ........................................................................................ 328 The Festival of Svanti: The Ritual Renewal in Nepal Chapter Twelve ....................................................................................... 343 The Fast of Mādhava Nārāyaṇa and the Legend of Svasthānī Chapter Thirteen ...................................................................................... 390 The Cult of the Goddess Vajrayoginī and her Sanctuary Appendix to Chapter Thirteen: The Way of Worship of the Goddess Vajrayoginī ................................................................................... 444 Chapter Fourteen ..................................................................................... 446 The Annual Festival of Vajrayoginī Chapter Fifteen ........................................................................................ 507 The Dances of Devī: The Manifestations of the Goddess Vajrayoginī Chapter Sixteen ....................................................................................... 523 Conclusion: Continuity and Change in the Town of Sankhu Notes ........................................................................................................ 532 Bibliography ............................................................................................ 555 Glossary ................................................................................................... 580 Index ........................................................................................................ 593 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS Plate 1 A view of Sankhu from the forest of Vajrayoginī Plate 1a A view of the town of Sankhu from google.earth.com. Plate 2 A tradition carved window in Sankhu Plate 3 A view of Sankhu from the east, Plate 4 An old man in front of the Bhaudhvākā, the gate for brides Plate 5 The people in Sankhu during in the mid-1950s Plate 6 The Dhoṃlā quarter on a sunny winter’s day Plate 7 Sarāvata sataḥ rest house in the Iṃlā quarter Plate 8 A sketch of the Iṃlā Gaṇeśa temple before Plate 9 Mahādeva temple with water channel before it was restored Plate 10 A view of the Mahaādev temple square after the restoration Plate 11 An old man waking around shrines in the town Plate 12 A typical Newar house in the Suntol quarter Plate 13 Terraced fields to the south of the town of Sankhu Plate 14 Faces of young farmers in the town Plate 15 A cast-bound duty: the Jogi playing mvahāliṃ Plate 16 Houses of the Dyolā in the Sankhu Plate 17 Items made ready to give in gift (dāna) Plate 18 The annual secret feast of a Ś́ reṣṭha sī guthi Plate 19 Guthi members singing devotional songs Plate 20 A Brahmin performing a fire sacrifice Plate 21 People with an effigy of a ghost god (bhudyo) Plate 22 People joining the procession of cows Plate 23 Bamboo structures (tāhāsā) Plate 24 Ritual food offering to the deceased Plate 25 A girl smearing the door of her house with cow dung Plate 26 Mandala, a cosmic circle, is drawn for each Plate 27 The worship of the self (Mha pūjā) Plate 28 The ceremony of Kijā pūjā (sisters worshipping brothers) Plate 29 A devotee worshipping the god Mādhav Nārāyaṇa. Plate 30 The sacred river bank of Śālinadī Plate 31 Śalinadī crowded with devotees and participants Plate 32 The participants in the vrata Plate 33 Participants of the vrata walking through the town Plate 34 A Rājopādhyāy priest presiding over Aśvamedha yajña Plate 35 Women vratālu with their items for worship Plate 36 An archival picture of the Mhāsukhvāḥ māju temple Plate 37 The sacred eternal fire at the temple of Mhāsukhvāḥ māju Plate 38 Processional statue of Buddha caitya at its temple x List of Illustrations and Maps Plate 39 A bronze head of the Buddha head Plate 40 Three processional statues of Vajrayoginī at her temple Plate 41 The Statue of a Buddha believed to be the blacksmith queen Plate 42 Front view of the pagoda temple of Vajrayoginī drawing Plate 43. Wall structure of the temple Plate 44 A view from the east Plate 45 Front view of the pagoda temple of Vajrayoginī Plate 46 The gilded tympanum (toraṇa) on the top of the entrance Plate 47 The in shrine Caitya of Jogeśvar Cībhā Plate 48 The cave monastery with the hole of merits Plate 49 Image of Śiva facing upside-down Plate 50 The royal sword representing the reigning king Plate 51 Thousands of people flock to Sankhu to watch the procession Plate 52 Dāphā musicians perform their music Plate 53 The Kānaphaṭā yogis performing cakra pūjā Plate 54 Taking the walk of Duiṃcā: an abandoned tradition. Plate 55 Women carry out burning of 108 lamps (devā) Plate 56 Duiṃ leader blowing trumpets Plate 57 The Vajrācārya priests performing a fire sacrifice on day Plate 58 People are carrying back the heavy palanquin Plate 59 The crown of the goddess Vajrayoginī is in a procession Plate 60 Devī, Bhairava and Canḍī dancers before wearing their masks Plate 61 The Devī dancers, Plate 62 Dancing deities: Devī, Bhairav and Caṇḍī Plate 63 Musician and singers during the Devī dances Plate 64 A Vajrācārya priest blowing a mantra to the Devī dancer Plate 65 Devotees are worshipping the dancers Map 1 Major Newar settlements in the Valley of Kathmandu (west) Map 2 The Hypothetic maṇḍala model of Nepalese towns Map 3 The Valley of Sankhu Map 4 The town of Sankhu: Division of Quarters Map 5 Pradakṣiṇāpatha and main gates Map 6 Major temples and shrines Map 7 I. The top most castes (Brahmin, Vajrācārya and Śākya) Map 8 II. High castes (Syasyaḥ)̣ Map 9 III. Middle ranking castes (Malla, Jyāpu and Kumhā) Map 10 IV. Clean lower castes Map 11 V. and VI. Unclean castes Map 12 Śālinadī and surrounding monuments Map 13 Mādhav Nārāyaṇa procession Map 14 Vajrayoginī Sanctuary Map 15 Vajrayoginī procession LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1 The eras with established and current year Table 2 Names of the months Table 3 Names of both halves of the lunar months Table 4 The twelve full moon days Table 5 Twelve fortnights Table 6 A survey of inscriptions in the town of Sankhu Table 7 Population distributions in different wards of the three VDCs Table 8 Land holding by caste in Sankhu Table 9 Shops in Sankhu by varieties