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643

Appendix Five
A Catalogue of Annual Events and Their Distribution Throughout the Lunar Year

In this appendix calendrically determined annual events are placed within the consecutive fortnights of the lunar calendar. The numbers in square brackets represent the sequential numbering of events that is used throughout the book. Events within the solar calendar are designated "solar" and placed within the lunar calendar as they occurred m 1975/76. Events within the Devi cycle, a subset of the lunar cycle, are designated "Devi cycle."

Kachalathwa (October/November)

The year's first two events [1, 2] complete the five-day Swanti sequence, which began three days previously with Kwa Puja [77], Khica Puja [78], and Laksmi Puja [79]. Swanti is the lunar New Year sequence. It is a "focal" sequence concerned with the integration of city households .

1 [1] Mha Puja. The first day of the lunar New Year. Primarily concerns the household and individuals in it. Special focus is worship of self/body. (Major importance.)

2. [2] Kija Puja. Primarily concerns the household and individuals in it. Worship of individuals, with their household roles emphasized. Reconstitution of household with return of married-out women. Defense of members through deception against "moral death." (Major importance.)

In Swanti, the lunar New Year sequence, the household, its boundaries, and the relations of its members are emphasized and put m contrast with a larger moral worldthe larger city and "moral death" as represented by Yamabeyond the household. The household deity emphasized is the benign goddess Laksmi. All city households do the same kinds of things at the same trines in a "parallel" integration .

3.

4.


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6.

7.

8.

9. [3] Jugari Na:mi. Out-of-the-city pilgrimage and mela at a Visnu[*] shrine. (Moderate importance.)

10.

11. [4] Hari Bodhini. This day traditionally commemorates Visnu's[*] awakening from his four-mouths cosmic sleep. There is an out-of-the-city pilgrimage and mela at a Visnu[*] shrine. (Moderate importance.)

This day is the traditional end of the four-month Caturmasa vrata which bad begun on [42] Hart Sayani on the eleventh day of Dillathwa (June/July) in the previous lunar year .

12.

13.

14.

15. [5] Saki Mana. Punhi. Worship of Visnu[*] at city temples. Many households throughout the city eat special food. (Moderate importance.)

Kaulaga (November)

1. [6] Gopinatha jatra. A jatra of Krsna[*] on the pradaksinapatha[*] . (Minor importance.)

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14. [7] Bala Ca:re. An out-of-the-city pilgrimage and mela to the Valley Pasupatinatha shrines by those who have had a death in the family during the previous twelve months. (Moderate importance.)

15. [8] Sukhu(n) Bhisi(n)dya: Jatra. (Begins with preliminary events on the evening of previous day). Jatra of Bhisi(n) God (Bhimasena) on the pradaksinapatha[*] . Special to shopkeepers and merchants for whom Bhisi(n) is a patron deity. They offer blood sacrifices to Bhisi(n). (Moderate importance.)

Thi(n)lathwa (November/December)

1.

2.


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3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15. [9] Ya: Marhi Punhi. Concerns household. Worship of rice representing Laksmi to ask for replenishment of the grain that, having been supplied by the harvest, will now be consumed. (Moderate importance.)

This event is related to the final completion of the rice harvest. It is an event with agricultural implications not included in the Devi cycle .

Thi(n)laga (December)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Pohelathwa (December/January)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.


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10.

11.

12.

13. [10] Ghyo caku sa(n)lhu. Solar cycle. Middle-status and upper-status households make special food offerings to their purohita . Most households have special food and feasts. Focal deity is Visnu[*] . (Moderate importance.)

This is the local version of the calendrical event traditionally associated in South Asia with the winter solstice and the beginning of the ascending bright half of the year .

14.

15. [11] Chyala Punhi. Unusable clay kitchen pots are discarded at the chwasa . Special foods are eaten in some households. (Minor Importance.)

Pohelaga (January)

1.

The thirty-day period of the Swastani Vrata begins here .

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Sillathwa (January/February)

1.

2.

3.

4. [12] Sarasvati Jatra. A jatra of Sarasvati on the pradaksinapatha[*] . (Minor importance.)

5. [13] Sri Pa(n)cami People, particularly students and farmers, worship Sarasvati at her major temple for help in the acquisition of skills. (Moderate importance.)

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.


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12.

13.

14.

15. [14] Madya: Jatra. Jatra of Siva on the pradaksinapatha[*] and other activities devoted to Siva. There is a secondary reference to the Visnu[*] temples m the upper and lower cities. (Moderate importance.)

This is the last day of the period of the Swasthani Vrata. The Madya: Jatra has some thematic connections to it .

Sillaga (February)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14. [15] Sila ca:re. Out-of-the-city Sivaratri mela at the Pasupatinatha shrine complex. Within the city some men sit by fires along the roadside all night chanting the name of Siva and sometimes smoking cannabis. An "anti-structural festival" in which "the borders of the domestic moral realm are represented by means of the ideas and images associated with benign deities." (Moderate importance.)

15.

Cillathwa (February/March)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8. [16] Cir Swaegu. The first day of the Holi period devoted to Krsna[*] . Important elsewhere but of very minor importance in Bhaktapur. (Minor importance).

9.

10.

11.

12.


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13.

14.

15. [17] Holi Punhi. End of Holi period. An image of Krsna[*] is carried around the pradaksinapatha[*] . (Minor importance.)

Cillaga (March)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

All the annual events to this point, with the equivocal exception of Sukhu(n) Bhisi(n)dya: Jatra, a deity of relatively independent status as the patron deity of one specialized group, have been associated with benign moral deities. The next festivals introduce a long segment of the year when the dangerous and nonmoral deities become of major importance. Pasa Ca:re comes at a time as Anderson (1971, 264) puts it "when typhoid, dysentery, cholera, and smallpox flourish with the advent of hot weather, prior to cleansing monsoon rains. It is a time of uneasiness."

14. [18] Pasa Ca:re. An animal sacrifice is made to Taleju in the Taleju temple. Farmers' guthi s make animal sacrifices. Aga(n) deities are asked for protection against pisaca s, ghoulish evil spirits. Pollution-consuming stone deities in courtyards are cleaned. (Moderate importance.)

15.

Caulathwa (March/April)

1. [19] Cika(n) Buyegu. Farming thar s and some lower thar s rub oil on household members' bodies to protect them against illness. (Minor importance.)

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.


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The following nine-day period is Biska:, the solar New Year sequence. The main deities are Bhairava, Bbadrakali, the Yasi(n) God, the Mandalic[*] Goddesses, and Ganesa[*] , with secondary references to other dangerous deities. This is a "focal" sequence concerned with the division and integration of the city's spatially based units .

11. [20] Bhairava/Bhadrakali Jatra. Continues through the fifth day of Caulaga. Solar . (Major importance.)

12.

13.

14. [21] Raising the Yasi(n) God. Solar . (Major importance.)
[22] Taking the Dangerous Deities outside of their temples. Solar . (Major importance.)
[23] Varaji Jatra. Solar . (Major importance.)

15. [24] Taking down the Yasi(n) God. The beginning of the solar New Year . (Major importance.)
[25] Indrani[*] Jatra. Solar . (Major importance.)

Caulaga (April)

On the first day of this fortnight the fifty-day Dewali period begins during which each phuki has a traditional time and place for its worship of its Digu God lineage deity. We list these collectively as one calendrical event, Dewali [30], as it is for any particular phuki (Major importance.)

1. [26] Mahakali/Mahalaksmi Jatra. Solar . (Major importance.)

2. [27] Brahmani/Mahesvari[*] Jatra. Solar . (Major importance.)

3. [28] Procession to worship the dangerous deities that were taken out on the fourth day. Solar . (Major importance.)
[29] Chuma(n) Gandya: Jatra. A twa: jatra . Solar . (Major importance.)

4. [30] The conclusion of the nine-day Bhairava/Bhadrakali Jatra and of the Biska: sequence. (Major importance.)

5.

6.

7.

8. [31] Cait Dasai(n). In many households animal sacrifices are given to Bhagavati. Sacrifices to Aga(n) deities and dangerous deities are made in temples. The day commemorates Devi's aid to Rama. The emphasis in Bhaktapur is on Devi rather than Rama. (Moderate importance.)

9. [32] Ram Navami. Special worship of Rama in his temples by the temple pujari . Recent worship at Rama temples by devotees. (Minor importance.)

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15. [33] Ma(n) ya khwa: swaegu. Primarily concerns the household. Household members worship mother as a deity. Married-out daughters and absent sons try to return to the natal household for this. Those individuals


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whose mother has died more than one year before this date join other Kathmandu Valley Hindus at a pilgrimage site out of the city. (Moderate importance.)

Bachalathwa (April/May)

1.

2.

3. [34] Aksaya[*] Trtiya[*] . An annual auspicious day in which rites of passage can be performed without considering the proper astrological sait . (Minor importance.)

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15. [35] Candesvari[*] Jatra. A local twa: jatra . (Minor importance.)

Bachalaga (May)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Tachalathwa (May/June)

1.

2.

3.


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4.

5.

On the day before Sithi Nakha, the period for Dewali worship of the lineage Digu deities comes to an end. Sithi Nakha signals the preparation for the ending of the year's relatively uneventful phase, and introduces an anticipatory period of about one month until Bhagasti [40]. It designates a day safely located at the end of the dry period before the onset of the coming monsoon rains. It is the first event related to the rice agricultural cycle in the Devi cycle .

6. [36] Sithi Nakha. Devi cycle . Wells, ponds, and roads must be cleaned in preparation for the coming rains. Beginning of the planting of seed rice. The Nine Durgas must complete their nine-month dance cycle prior to this date. There is worship of the earth as the goddess Prthivi[*] in the Taleju temple and in many homes. (Moderate importance.)
[37] Candi[*] Bhagavati Jatra. A local twa: jatra . (Minor importance.)

7.

8.

9.

10. [38] Dasa Hara. People bathe in the river and worship it to prevent misfortune. (Minor importance.)

11.

12.

13.

14.

15. [39] Panauti Jatra. Out-of-the-city pilgrimage to attend a focal festival at another Valley town. Focal deities are Brahmani and Bhadrakali[*] . (Moderate importance.)

Tachalaga (June)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Bhagasti marks the time by which the rains should have begun and replanting of rice seedlings into the paddy fields begins .

8. [40] Bhagasti. Devi cycle . The Nine Durgas disappear. The masks are cremated and the ashes placed in the river. (Moderate importance.)

In the period between Bhagasti and Gatha Muga: Ca:re [45] the rains should be under way and the rice fields and irrigation ponds flooded. The Gatha magically take calvaria from human victims. Conventionalized obscenity is used in the fields and public areas of the city .

9.

10.


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11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Dillathwa (June/July)

1.

2. [41] Jagana God Jatra. A jatra of an avatar of Visnu[*] on the pradaksinapatha[*] . (Minor importance.)

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11. [42] Hari Sayani. The beginning of Visnu's[*] four-month cosmic sleep. People may perform special worship or vrata s directed to Visnu[*] starting on this day. (Minor importance.)

This is the beginning of the four-month Caturmasa period of Visnu's[*] sleep, which ends on Hari Bodhini [4] in the next lunar year .

12. [43] Tulasi Piye. Individuals plant tulasi seedlings representing Visnu[*] . The plants are omens about the length of the person's life, and their dried leaves are used in death ceremonies. (Minor importance.)

13.

14.

15. [44] Guru Puja. A few families worship their family guru s on this full-moon day. (Minor importance.)

Dillaga (July)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.


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The following day marks the period by which the transplanting of rice into the flooded paddy fields should be completed. The Gathas have by now taken their calvaria from human victims. The period of licensed obscenity will cease on the following day .

14. [45] Gatha Muga: Ca:re. Devi cycle . Demonic figures are chased out of the city's neighborhoods and then out of the city and cremated. (Major importance.)

15.

Gu(n)lathwa (July/August)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5. [46] Naga Pa(n)cami. Worship and propitiation of dangerous naga s (supernatural serpents) for the protection of the house and household. (Moderate importance.)

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

The four lunar fortnights beginning with Gunhi Punhi contain thirty-one of the year's seventy-nine annual events. This period is a quiet one for farming work. The rice transplanting has been completed, and the harvesting will not begin until the last days of the period .

15. [47] Gunhi Punhi. Purification and renewal ceremonies by the Rajopadhyaya Brahmans. Farmers worship frogs inadvertently killed during farming work. Introductory events anticipating the carnival of the next day. (Moderate importance.)

Gu(n)laga (August)

1. [48] Saparu. A procession, the Cow Jatra, is held representing all people who have died in Bhaktapur during the past year to enable them with the help of the "Cow Goddess" to enter Yama's kingdom to be rewarded or punished according to their karma . Interspersed with the procession is a carnival. The procession moves around the pradaksinapatha[*] . (Major importance.)

The events of this day constitute the city's major public festival of its dead and its most extensive antistructural festival .

2

3.


654

4.

5.

6.

7.

8. [49] Krsna[*] Janmastami. A Krsna[*] image is carried in a procession around the pradaksinapatha[*] . Visits by Krsna[*] devotees to his city shrines. (Minor importance.)

9. [50] Sitala Puja. Visits by household members to the shrine of the goddess Sitala, traditionally for protection against smallpox. (Minor importance.)

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15. [51] Gokarna[*] Au(n)si. Primarily concerns the household. Household members worship their father as a deity. Married-out daughters and absent sons try to return to the natal household for this. Those individuals whose father has died more than one year before this date Iota other Kathmandu Valley Hindus at a pilgrimage site out of the city. (Moderate importance.)

Ya(n)lathwa (August/September)

1.

2. [52] Surya Vinayaka Jatra. A jatra of a Ganesa[*] image—brought from an important shrine at a neighboring village—on Bhaktapur's pradaksinapatha[*] . (Minor importance.)
[53] Varahi Jatra. The jatra image of the Mandalic[*] Goddess Varahi is taken around the pradaksinapatha[*] . (Minor importance.)

3. [54] Dattatreya Jatra. Pradaksinapatha[*] . (Minor importance.)
[55] Bhairava Jatra. Pradaksinapatha[*] . (Minor importance.)

On this day Tij is celebrated by Bhaktapur's non-Newar Hindu neighbors, but not by Bhaktapur .

4. [56] Catha Ganesa[*] . Household worship of Ganesa[*] and avoidance of the dangerous seeing of the crescent moon on this day. (Minor importance.)

5. [57] Rsi[*] Pa(n)cami. Household worship of Rsis[*] , particularly by women. (Minor importance.)

6.

7. [58] Uma/Mahesvara. Worship in households of a manifestation of Parvati and Siva as an affectionate conjugal couple. (Minor importance.)

8.

9.

10.

11.

The following eight days are the integrated focal sequence of Indra Jatra in Kathmandu. Certain of the otherwise independent events ([59], [61], [62], and [65]) in Bhaktapur during this period have thematic echoes of Kathmandu's sequence, but are not, for Bhaktapur, a connected sequence .


655

12. [59] Yama: Dya: Thanigu. Poles are erected in each twa: representing Yama, and worshiped during the next eight days to protect the local twa: people from death. (Moderate importance.)

13.

14. [60] Ananta Narayana[*] Puja. Visits to the city's major Visnu[*] temples. (Minor importance.)
[61] Indrani[*] Jatra. The mandalic[*] deity Indrani[*] is carried around the pradaksinapatha[*] and then left out in an open shelter near a pond overnight. (Moderate importance.)

15. [62] Yau Dya: Punhi. The name of this day refers to lights that will be carried around the city for three days, the sight of which will enable people to go to heaven when they die. People from Bhaktapur and surrounding villages go to the pond where the Indrani[*] image had been left on the previous night to worship it and bathe. (Moderate importance.)

Ya(n)laga (September)

1.

2.

3. [63] Chuma(n) Gandya: Jatra. A local twa: jatra . (Minor importance.)

4. [64] Smasana[*] Bhailadya: Jatra A funeral mat representing the Bhairava of the cremation grounds is carried around the pradaksinapatha[*] . (Moderate importance.)
[65] Pulu Kisi Haigu. An elephant made of funeral mats, associated with Indra's vehicle and with death, is carried around the pradaksinapatha[*] . Sometimes this is an occasion for violence, including fights between the upper city and the lower city. (Moderate importance.)

5.

6.

7.

8.

9. [66] Dhala(n) Sala(n). (May be optionally observed on the fifteenth day of the fortnight instead of on this day.) The ceremony is for the "pitr[*] ," in this case all deceased ancestors of a phuki group who have been dead more than two years, and the ceremonies are done ideally at the river side by large groups of associated phuki members. (Moderate importance.)

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Kaulathwa (September/October)

The next ten days are the complex focal sequence Mohani. Rather than attempting to enumerate here individually its complexly interwoven events, we follow the local practice of listing it by its successive days during any of which more


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than one major event may be taking place. Mohani marks the period in the nee cycle when the rains should have finished and the rice harvest completed. The festival enacts the victory of Devi over forces of disorder, the gathering together of the forms of the goddess in central association with the political goddess Taleju, and the movement of Devi's powers into the Nine Durgas group that will move out into public city space during the next nine months. During these ten days important household events take place in the context of city-wide public events marking a large variety of significant city spatial elements. The full goddess Devi and her various subordinate forms are the central deities of the sequence .

1. [67] Mohani. Devi cycle . (Major importance.)

2. [68] Mohani. Devi cycle . (Major importance.)

3. [69] Mohani. Devi cycle . (Major importance.)

4. [70] Mohani. Devi cycle . (Major importance.)

5. [71] Mohani. Devi cycle . (Major importance.)

6. [72] Mohani. Devi cycle . (Major importance.)

7. [73] Mohani. Devi cycle . (Major importance.)

8. [74] Mohani. Devi cycle . (Major importance.)

9. [75] Mohani. Devi cycle . (Major importance.)

10. [76] Mohani. Devi cycle . (Major importance.)

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Kaulaga , (October)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

The last three events of the year [77, 78, 79] are the first three days of the five-day Swanti sequence .

13. [77] Kwa Puja. Primarily concerns the household and individuals in it. Placation of Yama, the god of death. (Moderate importance.)


657

14. [78] Khica Puja. Primarily concerns the household and individuals in it. Placation of Yama. (Moderate importance.)

15. [79] Laksmi Puja. Primarily concerns the household and individuals in it. Worship of Laksmi for good fortune for the household. (Moderate importance.)


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