Newa Festivals

Newar religious culture is rich in ceremony and is marked by frequent festivals throughout the  year many festivals are tied to hindu and Buddhist holidays and the harvest cycle.

 Street celebrations include pageants, jatras or processions in which a car or portable shrine is paraded through the streets and sacred masked dances. Other festivals are marked by family feasts and worship. The celebrations are held according to the lunar calendar, so the dates are changeable.

During Swanti (Tihar), Newars celebrate New Year's Day of Nepal Sambat by doing Mha Puja, a ritual in which a mandala is worshipped, that purifies and strengthens one spiritually for the coming year. Mohani (Dashain) is one of the greatest annual celebrations which is observed for several days with feasts and religious services. Another major festival is Sā Pāru (Gai Jatra) when people who have lost a family member in the past year dress up as cows and parade through town.

In Kathmandu, the biggest street festival is Yanyā Punhi (Indra Jatra) when three cars bearing the living goddess Kumari and two other child deities are pulled through the streets and masked dance performances are held. During the festival

of Jana Baha Dyah Jatra, a temple car with an image of Karunamaya is drawn through central Kathmandu for three days. A similar procession is held in Lalitpur known as Bungadyah Jatra which continues for a month and climaxes with Bhoto Jatra, the display of the sacred vest. The biggest outdoor celebration in Bhaktapur is Biska Jatra which is marked by chariot processions and lasts for nine days. Sithi Nakha is another big festival when worship is offered and natural water sources are cleaned. In addition, all Newar towns and villages have their particular festival which is celebrated by holding a chariot or palanquin procession

Lord Shiva and Parvati have town sons: Kumar and Ganesh. Kumar is a smart, slim and beautiful deity. He has a peacock for a ride. Ganesh is an elephant-headed and has a large belly, as he loves to eat sweet balls. He has a small mouse for a ride.

Sithi Nakha – Newari Festival

On the sixth day of bright fortnight of Jyestha in the Vikram calendar, the Newar community celebrates the Sithi Nakha doing various things such as cleaning water well, cooking and eating six different pancakes made out of different beans, and celebrating the festival of Sithi dyo also known as Lord Kumar: another son of Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati at Jaisideval, Kathmandu, and of Goddess Candesvori in Bhaktapur. This day is the last day for holding an annual offering to the tutelary god called ‘Kuldevta’ in other words ‘Dugu Dyo’.  

When they came of age, Lord Shiva and Parvati wanted to bestow a boon of the first offering on one of them. So Lord Shiva called them over to Kailash and said, “You guys have come of age; so, we want to grant one of you a boon of first offering on one condition that you make a round rip to Mount Sumeru; so, make a trip to Mount Sumeru and come first for the boon.”

Kumar having a peacock for a ride immediately took off and flew off to Mount Sumeru whereas Ganesh with a large belly and having a mouse for a ride was helpless to make such a trip.

Following the advice of the intelligent mouse, Ganesh successfully tricked his parents: Lord Shiva and Parvati to grant him the boon of first offering. As advised by the mouse, Ganesh requested the parents to stand together before him; then

he made three rounds of the parents and then prostrated at their feet saying, “You are the Mount Sumeru and parents for me.” The parents without thinking twice bestowed upon Ganesh the boon of first offering.After a long arduous journey to Mount Sumeru and back, Kumar found that his parents had already granted the boon of first offering to his brother Ganesh even though he had not stepped out of his house not to mention making a round trip to Mount Sumeru. So, Kumar disgusted by the unfair dealing of his parents with him protested it. So, Lord Shiva and Parvati made Kumar eligible for having the first offering but not the full size offering.So, Newar people have set up Kumar in the form of an eight-petal lotus carved in stone and set at the main entrance to their houses. They drop a first offering set on a leaf to this eight-petal Kumar on the way to making the first offering to Lord Ganesh.

On the sixth day of the bright fortnight of Jyestha, the Newar community celebrates the festival of Sithi dyo: the Newar name for Lord Kumar at the Jaisideval neighborhood.Four days before the festival of Sithi Nakha, the attendants to the deity bring the idol of Sithi dyo and place it on a platform, strip the garments and ornaments off the idol and give an annual ritual bath to the idol on the platform especially built for this purpose at Jaisideval.

First, the attendant cleans the idol with holy water. Then, he pours cow milk on the idol, then yogurt, ghya (homemade butter), honey, and sugar syrup. These five items together is called ‘panca mitra’ means five items of elixir.Some minor repairs and repainting of the idol are done after the annual ritual bathing. Then the attendant decorates the idol dressed in his finery and decks him out with ornaments, and places it at the public hangout place called ‘Phalca’ for public offerings.

Local people and some people from other villages also come to make offerings to Sithi dyo. The main items of offerings are six different pancakes made out of six different beans and pancakes made out of rice flour in addition to the items of the regular offerings.

Then, on the day called Sithi Nakha, attendants bring fully decorated Sithi dyo to the public place for receiving the public offerings. In the evening, devotees carry Sithi dyo on a portable shrine on shoulder poles and take him to Goddess Taleju at the palace square for the annual audience with the Goddess. However, none of musical bands accompanies Sithi dyo traveling back and forth between the palace square and the shrine to Sithi dyo. This is another unique thing of the festival of Sithi dyo (Lord Kumar), as none of the divinity travels without a musical band in Nepal.

Unlike any other attendants to gods and goddesses, an attendant to Lord Kumar is a woman.

Lord Kumar is the son of Lord Shiva but believed to be born of Ganga, as he was left on the bank of Ganga. Six Rishi (holy men) spouses together called ‘Krttikas’ found him. Baby Kumar was so beautiful, every one of the Rishi women wanted to suckle him. So, he developed another five more heads. So, Lord Kumar is a six-headed god. He is also known as Karttikeya deriving the name from ‘Krttikas’.

Lord Kumar is also known as the Chief of the Divine Army, and also the Divine Warrior. He killed the demon called Taraksura according to the holy scripts called ‘puranas’.

In Bhaktapur, the Newar community at the neighborhood called Caskhel celebrates the festival of Goddess Candesvori on this day. From the early morning devotees come to the three-tiered temple to Goddess Candesvori and make offerings to the goddess. In the evening, devotees carry the goddess on a portable shrine for her outings at the neighborhood.

On this day, the Newar community cleans water wells. They believe that the rulers of water wells Nagas leave the wells for other destinations, as the water  

level goes down almost to the bottom because of the driest period of the year and the monsoon rains have not come, yet.

This is the last day for performing an annul offering to the guardian deity called ‘Kuldevta’ or ‘Dugu dyo’ for anybody missing the annual offering in the traditionally given period. The annual offering to ‘Kuldevta’ starts off on the third day called ‘acche tritiya’ of the bright fortnight of Vaisaka (April-May) and ends on the sixth day of Jyestha (May-June) in the Nepalese calendar. This period of making an annual offering to ‘Kuldevta’ is a little more than a month. Thereafter, any family missing this day for making offerings to ‘Kuldevta’ needs to wait for another year to hold a ‘Kuldevta’ puja means offering to Kuldevta. 

The Newar community holds an annual offering to the guardian deity ‘Kuldevta’ for the blessing from the guardian deity for the protection against evil spirits and misfortunes for a year. So, the Newar community tries not to miss the annual offering to the guardian deity. Every community has its own guardian deity. Each community keeps it secrete. So, the deity is depicted in a triangular hole of about two inches cut into a flagstone or in a metallic sheet.Thus, the Sithi Nakha is an important day for the Newar community that revels this day as the day of Sithi dyo, Goddess Candesvori and cleaning water sources particularly the water wells.

 

Tantrik Buddist Dance

The Nepal Valley full to the brim with Buddhist culture established by Adi Buddhas like Dipankara is a land of glory graced by Swayambhu Mahachaitya, the self-emanating light, a vast array of Chaityas, temples, Jinalaya (monasteries), home of saints and sages. Nepal is a country with a long tradition of Sravakayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism since the ancient times to the present day accompanied by a continuous flow of rituals, cultural activities in the form of fairs, pilgrimages observed with piety and devotion. The august presence of Swayambhu Mahachaitya and a magnificent chain of monasteries have rendered the cultural tradition a meaning and a purpose.

It is this Swayambhu Mahachaitya which was the pivot of meditation, yogic practice and Buddhist rituals in the past. There is Sangha in each Vihar. Worship is done in each Agama. People carry on Buddhist ritual activities through meditation, yoga, and worship, praying for the attainment of Nirvana and Bodhisattvahood. People dedicate their lives to public welfare in every possible way in order to attain Nirvana. There is a tradition of doing welfare of the people by becoming siddhas and Bodhisattvas. Besides this, Vajrayana is practiced and Chachas are sung and chacha dances are performed to explain the meanings of various concepts of Vajrayana philosophy in a simple and delicate manner. By keeping each tradition alive, our ancestors living in bahas and bahis had living. The cultural history of Nepal bears witness to this fact. This very chacha tradition is still alive among the Vajracharyas and Shakya. This is the main reason why Manjushri and Swayambhu Mahachaitya, the Builders of Nepal's glorious past, can never be forgotten. Both will continue to be objects of veneration and piety in the distant future.