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Chapter Fourteen The Events of the Solar Cycle
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The Raising Up of the Main Yasi(n) God—The Ending of the Old Year

The erection of the Yasi(n) God pole[26] is one of the foci of the festival sequence (see fig. 26). The yasi(n) draws to itself, as we will see, diverse legends and meanings. These are, superficially at least, almost entirely separate from the Bhairava/Bhadrakali story, although there is a very tangential reference in some of the yasi(n) stories to Bhairava. The falling of the yasi(n) will indicate the coming to an end of the old year, and the beginning of the new. It marks a focal point not only in time, but in space for people throughout the city who, if at all possible, come to witness its raising and its bringing down.

In contrast to other points that are given a focal and central meaning in other events—such as the palace area, Ta:marhi Square, and the Tripurasundari pitha —Yasi(n) Field is in a vaguely defined boundary area. Not far to its east is the area where the Po(n) untouchables live in an area that is clearly outside of the symbolic city (map 4). The position of Yasi(n) Field; the peculiarity of the second Yasi(n) in the potters' area, which seems disconnected from other events and whose existence has no present doctrinal[27] or legendary explanation; the presence of additional, secondary god-houses for Bhairava and Bhadrakali[*] ; and, for some observers, the struggle between the upper and lower city halves, have led to some attempts at historical rather than structural and functional explanations for these phenomena (e.g., Kölver 1980, 168; Guts-chow 1984). Such explanation takes these features as indications of residues of old, separate, and antagonistic communities, and witnesses of the locations of now forgotten centers of ancient once unamalgamated towns.[28]

As we have noted, the very tall tree, perhaps forty feet in height, which will be the Yasi(n) God has been divested of all its limbs, except for the branches at the summit, which represent the god's hair. A straight segment of another tree is attached at right angles some feet below the top of the trunk, giving it a cruciate form. This is said to be the yasi(n) 's arms, which, it will be recalled, differentiate it terminologically from the smaller yasi(n) . Some small branches and leaves are attached to the ends of the crosspiece to represent the god's hands and fingers. The yasi(n) 's form, then, is given an anthropomorphic inter-


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Figure 26.
Biska:. A stage in the raising of the Yasi(n) God to mark the solar
New Year.


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pretation, in keeping with its designation as a deity, the Yasi(n) God. Toward the juncture of the crossbranch and the main trunk two long strips of cloth are tied, one at each side. These are pata , banners,[29] of the sort that are sometimes tied to the pinnacles of religious structures and which, like many other aspects of the Yasi(n) God, are given more than one interpretation. Thus, in an echo of the later developments in the Bhairava/Bhadrakali plot, they are said to represent Siva and Sakti, and when they move in the wind, this represents their sexual intercourse. The two banners are also related to a legend about the saving of Bhaktapur from two snakes by a Tantric magician who came to a bad end through the weakness of his wife, a story that we will recount below. Sometimes the banners are said to represent the snakes; sometimes the Tantric Acaju and his wife. A bundle of eight ropes is also tied onto the upper part of the trunk. In one interpretation the eight ropes represent the eight Matrkas at Bhaktapur's borders, and the yasi(n) represents Bhairava. When the ropes flutter in the wind, this represents the intercourse between Bhairava and the Matrka[*] .[30]

The stories about the snakes come in different versions, borrowing freely and heavily from widespread and well-known Hindu folk tales. Some versions are quite long and detailed, and are popular local stories recounted by traditional Brahman storytellers in the city. We will paraphrase (and shorten) the two major variants of the stories.

The first version is in itself a cluster of unrelated stories, which rather clumsily gives a legendary warrant to miscellaneous aspects of Biska:. In the first version of the story, it happened that a long time ago there was a king in Bhaktapur whose daughter married. On her wedding night she and her groom went to their room, "had a friendly talk," and then had sexual intercourse. After that they slept deeply. As they were sleeping a pair of snakes came out of the princess's nose.[31] The snakes grew bigger and bigger. They then bit the prince, who died. The snakes, shrinking to their original size, crawled back into the princess's nose. The princess, who was unaware of the snakes that she harbored, awoke and was distressed to see her dead husband. The king was also sad, and arranged for a funeral procession and cremation. This occurrence was repeated with many new husbands over the years.[32] The local people, therefore, had to arrange for many expensive royal funeral processions and cremations, and they formed a special guthi to take care of them.

One day a prince came to a forest. He met an old woman there, at a river that flowed among the trees. He asked her what she was doing there, and she said that she had come to meet him to advise him to marry the princess. He asked what he should do and whether he would


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have a happy marriage with the princess. The old woman told him about the snakes, and told him to stay awake and kill them with his sword. "Then you will have a beautiful wife, wealth, and a kingdom." She told him to go to the eastern part of the forest and that he would find a sword at a place where three rivers met. The story then recounts his meeting and marriage with the princess. "After the marriage they went to sleep in their room. The young man had great courage. It was a very difficult thing to do. They had a good conversation, then they had sexual intercourse and the princess went to sleep, but the young man did not sleep. He was very cautious. He remembered what the old woman had said." When the snakes appeared, he killed them. But before they died, the snakes said to him "You are a lucky and a great man. We have killed many princes and now we are going to die. That may be good or it may be bad. Please do a memorial for us every year." The story recounts the surprise and happiness in the city the next day at the prince's survival.

The prince established a festival on the last day of the solar month of Caitra. He erected a yasi(n) ), and attached the two patas to it to represent the two supernatural snakes or nagas . The festival is called bisket (the Nepali language version of the name), bi meaning "snake," and syat meaning "he killed." The old woman whom the prince met in the forest was really Bhadrakali[*] , which is why the festival is dedicated to her. In the forest where they met there were many tall trees and it is a tree taken every year from this forest which incarnates the Yasi(n) God. The tirtha , the place where the prince found the sword, is at the river Hanumante just at the Bhadrakali[*] (Vaisnavi[*] ) pitha . Because it was Bhadrakali[*] who helped the prince, it was decided to erect the pole in sight of Bhadrakali's pitha , which is just to the south of Yasi(n) Field.

Now the appearance of Bhadrakali[*] allows another piece of the story to be attached. One day, after the Bhadrakali[*] Jatra had been established, Bhairava came from Kasi (Benares) to see it. This particular Bhairava was called "Kasi Bhairavanatha," the chief of the Bhairavas. A local Tantric practitioner recognized Bhairava in the crowd and tried to trap him by means of a powerful mantra . But Bhairava tried to escape by sinking into the ground. When all of his body except his head had disappeared below the ground, Bhadrakali[*] recognized him and said, "That is my husband, we must keep him here. At least cut off and keep his head." That was done. The head was placed in the Bhairava temple in Ta:marhi Square, and the body was returned to Benares (where there is an important headless representation of Bhairava).


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Thus, in memory of the meeting of Bhadrakali[*] and Bhairava, temples throughout Bhaktapur organized jatras for their gods and goddesses.[33]

There is another and different tale told about the Yasi(n) God. This one contains a theme that is echoed in the legends about the origin of the Nine Durgas (chap. 15). This theme concerns a man of great magical power whose power is lost through some error of his wife's, an error that is a sign of her weakness of character. If the story of the prince and the snakes is taken to mean in part that women are dangerous for domesticity until their dangerous "phallic" attributes have been brought under control by male action, then this story suggests that that control is always precarious. In a popular local version[34] told by Brahman storytellers, the protagonist in a long story is Sesar[*] Acaju, a Karmacarya priest with exceptional Tantric powers, who was the guru of a Licchavi king of Bhaktapur, Siva Deva.[35] The story tells how the priest protected Bhaktapur from an attack by the Kiratas by turning himself into one thousand tigers and chasing off the Kirati army. "But after I have chased off the Kiratas, I will return to you in the form of a tiger," said Sesar[*] Acaju to the king. "Don't be afraid. You must throw rice on me, and I will become a man again. The acaju gave the king some grains of husked rice to which the proper Tantric power had been added. He chased away the Kiratas, returned to the king, and was turned back into a man. The king welcomed him gratefully to his palace. The tale continues:

Sesar[*] Acaju returned to his own house. His wife was very happy to see him, she respected and loved him very much. One day Sesar[*] Acaju talked with his wife of his feats. His wife said, "Can you turn yourself into a python (aji[n]gar )?" Sesar[*] said, "Yes, I can." His wife said, "I am very curious to see you as a python." Sesar[*] Acaju agreed with her wish, and said "I will show you myself as a python, but don't be afraid." He gave her some magical polished rice (kiga: ) [given special power by a mantra] and said "I am going to become a python. You can see me as a python for as long as you like, but then you must throw the rice at me and I will become a man again." He showed himself to her as a python but she became frightened and forgot about the rice. She ran away. The python followed her in order to get the rice. While his wife, Nararupa, was running away in her fear she put her hand to her mouth and happening to swallow some of the rice she was carrying she also turned into a python.

The story goes on to say how the two great snakes moved through


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Bhaktapur trying to find the proper kiga: to change them back into human form. They went to a Tantric temple in the hope that people with Tantric knowledge there could help them, but they had no luck. They then went to the palace in the hope that the king might help. The king did not know who they were, but he announced to the people that the two serpents (referred to at this point as naga and nagini , as supernatural serpents) had come for asylum, and therefore should not be harmed. But the snakes, not understanding this, were in despair and so commited suicide in front of the palace. And now a great famine came to Bhaktapur. The people consulted an astrologer, a Josi, who told them that the death of the naga and nagini was its cause. The king wished to do something to overcome the difficulties and went to seek Sesar[*] Acaju. But his house was empty and the door was unlocked. The king found the trail of naga there, and he followed it to the place where the naga and nagini had killed themselves. He thus finally came to understand the true nature of Sesar[*] and Nararupa's suicides. The king felt great sorrow. He remembered Sesar's[*] good qualities. He wanted the people to know about and remember Sesar[*] Acaju's great contributions to the city. Therefore the king organized the jatra of Sesar[*] and his wife Nararupa, which is called "Biska:." The two patas on the yasi(n) represent the two nagas .

The yasi(n) has been prepared and is lying in Yasi(n) Field. Earlier in the day ceremonies for installing divinity or "life" into it took place, and an Acaju administered to it as a newborn (or reborn) deity the entire set of samskaras , or life-cycle rites, necessary to bring the newborn god to his maturity. The arrival of the two chariots, that of Bhairava and Bhadrakali[*] , signals the time when people may begin the attempt to raise the yasi(n) . At the point where the yasi(n) will be erected there is a permanent hole, surrounded by a wall about five feet high, with an opening to the west. The pole is first put through the opening, and maneuvered into the hole. After the pole is raised, the edges of the hole and the wall will support it.[36] The yasi(n) is very difficult to manipulate and raise. Scores of people come to cooperate in its raising, pulling on the ropes and pushing with their hands and with long poles. When, on the next day, the erect yasi(n) is rocked back and forth in preparation for its lowering as a sign of the beginning of the new solar year, it is said that the god is being rocked to sleep, as he is very tired from having stood up all year. The erection of the yasi(n) is to represent that old year—and it is only its taking down that marks a sharply transitional time. Now, at the approach of the transitional


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point between two solar years, the Yasi(n) Field and the Yasi(n) God have become the focus of attention of the whole city, which has participated in and watched the erection of the pole in a coordinated cooperative act.[37] When the Yasi(n) God has been raised, young men climb the ropes attached to it representing the Astamatrkas[*] , and present an offering of small coins at the knots where the ropes are attached to the pole.

Now the two chariots are pulled in front of the standing Yasi(n) God. In Yasi(n) Field there is a temple, the Cyasi Ma(n)dap, which is only used during this phase of Biska:, that has a small window in its north side. The Bhairava chariot, facing east, is placed parallel to the Cyasi Ma(n)dap, and aligned so that the window of the Ma(n)dap is at its right side and exactly in line with the side opening of the chariot. This exact ordering is said to facilitate the movement of the Bhairava image, which is always placed into the chariot from its left side, and removed from its right side. The Bhadrakali[*] chariot is placed at the other side, the southeastern side of the field, and lined up with similar precision alongside the Bhadrakali[*]pitha . Now most of the riders of the Bhairava chariot, who had remained there during the raising of the yasi(n) , descend and circumambulate the Bhairava chariot, and take a flower as prasada . They then circumambulate the Bhadrakali[*] chariot and take prasada there. Finally they circumambulate the Yasi(n) and the Cyasi Ma(n)dap at the same time. Then this group, including the king and his Guru-Purohit and most of the officials, return with music, sukunda , and umbrella first to Ga:hiti and then, after the others leave them there, the king, Guru-Purohit, and the two Maha(n) charioteers return to Laeku and the Taleju temple.

Certain priests and officials attached to the Bhairava temple, an Acaju and some assistants, had remained on the Bhairava chariot. Now they descend and take the jatra Bhairava and bring him to the Cyasi Ma(n)dap, where he joins the "true" Bhairava image and the Jaki Gwa that had been brought there on the first day of the sequence. Now there are offerings and sacrifices by many people at the temple to the jatra image, and to the enwrapped Jaki Gwa. The true image remains hidden from sight.

The Bhadrakali[*]jatra image is removed from her chariot by her priest. She is brought to an open building, a phalca , near the Bhadrakali[*]pitha , which adjoins Yasi(n) Field, where she will be kept during the night. Up until this point the two dangerous deities have been near each other, but there has been no direct contact.

That evening there are large feasts in people's houses, and guests and extended family are invited.


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Taking Out the Gods: The VarahiJatra After the Yasi(n) God has been raised, the jatra images of certain deities throughout the city are taken from their god-houses and special rooms in temples and placed either on the cheli , the open ground floors of the god-houses, or on nearby phalca , open rest houses, each conventionally associated with a particular god-house. They will be left outside of their god-houses and temples for the next four days, to be brought in again on the eighth day of the cycle. The deities so brought out include all the Mandalic[*] Goddesses (except Vaisnavi[*] , who is represented by Bhadrakali[*] ), other dangerous goddess figures—particularly the ones identified as Bhagavati, some minor Bhairavas, and the major Ganesas[*] . These are, in short, the major dangerous city deities, and Ganesa[*] , who is as much of a Tantric god as he is an ordinary one.[38] Blood sacrifices are routinely offered to these deities during this period, certain of whom become the foci for important local areal jatras that are considered major events, and which draw people from all over the city. Varahi is the focus for this night. The next day, the fifth, will belong again to Bhairava and Bhadrakali[*] . The sixth and seventh days, which echo some of the activities of the fifth day, have Mahakali and Mahalaksmi[*] as the central actors (on the sixth day) and Brahmani and Mahesvari (on the seventh). The eighth day centers around a form of Ganesa[*] , Chuma(n) Ganesa[*] . Seven of the nine Mandalic[*] Goddesses (if we take Bhadrakali[*] to represent Vaisnavi[*] ) are foci of jatras of city-wide interest (even though their movements are restricted to some limited area of the city), the remaining two, Kumari and Tripurasundari, have festivals in their own mandalic[*] areas at the same time as the mass of other deities who have been brought out of their god-houses and are not otherwise emphasized.[39]

The remainder of the deities who have been taken outside have small jatras of only local and sometimes very limited importance.[40] On the evening of this day many people make sacrifices at their local Ganesa[*] shrines and at one or another local temple or shrine of a dangerous deity. Over the next four days the areas in which the various local areal jatras take place are sites for household feasts and sacrifices to the particular local deity who has been "brought outside."

Although there are now, as we have noted, activities at many Tantric temples and shrines, the city's focus is now at the god-house of the Mandalic[*] Goddess, Varahi. After the yasi(n) has been raised, a procession of some thirty or forty people who are members of the Varahi mandalic[*] area, and who belong to the Varahi guthi (which supervises and arranges Varahi ceremonies) or the Varahi bhajana , or music group, bring clumps of dry reeds, called ti or ti(n)pwa , to the cheli of the


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Varahi god-house where her jatra image had been placed. Taking some fire from a votive oil lamp that had been set in front of the image, the reeds are set afire as an offering to Varahi. Then the image of Varahi, placed in a palanquin, is carried, followed by many hundreds of people, across the river to the Varahi pitha . As the procession moves toward the river through the mandalic[*] area it stops many times in front of houses, and householders make animal sacrifices to the goddess in front of their houses. When the procession reaches the river it stops and the Varahi Acaju touches the palanquin with river water, and then offers some water to the jatra image. The people accompanying the jatra drink river water, wash their faces with it, and splash each other with it. This water is prasada from Varahi. Now the procession continues to the Varahi pitha , where the jatra image is placed on the pitha stone.[41] The goddess is worshiped by means of an animal sacrifice. Now the procession takes her back to the open cheli of her god-house.


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Chapter Fourteen The Events of the Solar Cycle
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