The Preliminary Preparations

1. The yasi(n).

A few days prior to the start of the sequence a group of men from the Sa:mi thar^[9] go to a forest in the hills, about a two hours walk east of Bhaktapur.^[10] They select a tree for the large yasi(n) by releasing a goat and waiting to see which tree it rubs its head against. The goat is then sacrificed to the tree, and the tree is cut down. The trunk is cleared, except for selected branches at the top that will represent the Yasi(n) God's hair. A second smaller tree is also selected for a secondary yasi(n) , and its limbs are cut off. Ropes are attached to the shorn trees and they are then dragged along the river bed toward Bhaktapur by men chanting a rhythmic work chant to coordinate their efforts. Each evening at sundown the trees are left, the men returning the next day to begin dragging them again. They will finally, after two or three days, be dragged into Bhaktapur, respectively to the field, the Yasi(n) Khya:, where the large yasi(n) will be raised, and to the location in the potters' quarter where the smaller one will be raised.

2. Bhairava and Bhadrakali^[*] .

Eight days prior to the solar New Year's Day, and thus three days before the festival sequence is to begin, the jatra image of the dangerous goddess Bhadrakali^[*] is taken from the inner room of her god-house and brought to a front room where non-initiates may enter. The god-house of Bhadrakali^[*] is the house that also houses the mandalic^[*] goddess Vaisnavi^[*] , and it is only during the Biska: festival that the goddess of this location is exclusively thought of as Bhadrakali^[*] ,^[11] who is in her form, legend and consort quite distinct from the other goddess.^[12] Vaisnavi^[*] , although a dangerous deity, is a beautiful form of the Goddess. For this particular festival she is trans-

formed into the terrible form of the Goddess as Bhadrakali^[*] , and the jatra image represents this form, with its frightening face, fangs, and multiple arms. Our informants do not know why Bhadrakali^[*] is associated with Vaisnavi^[*] rather than another deity. The image of her coprotagonist, Bhairava, is also brought down from its ordinary hiding place in the main Bhairava temple into the public area of the temple, on the first day of the sequence.

During the days prior to the festival the chariot that will carry the public jatra image of Bhairava will have been refurbished.^[13] This is the responsibility of several craft guthis , including those of the painters, carpenters, and the Sa:mi, the traditional oil pressers, who have several important support functions in this festival.

3. The representation of Royalty.

On the day before the beginning of the festival an official of the central government's Guthi Samsthan comes to Bhaktapur from Kathmandu. Accompanied by musicians, he walks around the city festival route carrying an ancient sword representing "the king,"^[14] which will be used in later stages of the festivals.