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.