Traditional Rituals of Newa People
Gopal Sing Nepali
Traditional Rituals of Newa People
Gopal Sing Nepali
While symbolizing the true marriage of a girl, the Yihee ceremony confers a new status on her. It is a transition from one type of status to another.
The puberty ceremony of the Newar girl is called Barha. For eleven days the girl is kept confined in a dark room hidden from the sun and male members of the family. On the 12th day she undergoes a purification ceremony to be accompanied by a ceremonial feast. The Barha ceremony is observed in two different ways: viz., BarhaTaye-gu and Barha-Chone-gu. Under the first, a girl undergoes the Barha before she has her first menstruation. In the second, the ceremony is held when the girl has her first menses. The difference between these two types of Barha is that in the former case the girl is regarded as mature before the attainment of puberty, while in the other, physical puberty coincides with the ceremonial puberty. The latter type is gradually coming more into vogue.
Barha-Taye-gu is observed by a girl when she has already undergone the Yihee and when she is between the ages of five and thirteen. It is generally held in groups and several girls are huddled up together in a dark room. The Barha-Chone-gu, on the other hand, is a rite to be undergone individually since it is based on the physical puberty. The ceremony proceeds as follows: In both the types of ceremony, a cotton effigy is made, representing the Barha-Khya, the she-devil which is believed to possess the girl undergoing Barha, and hung on the wall in the room in which the girl is confined. The Thakali-Naki continues to worship the Barha-Khya for twelve days and daily it is offered a portion of the girl's food with a view to protecting her from its malevolent influence. All the time the young girls from the neighborhood come to entertain her with traditional songs and music.
The taboo on food is not so elaborate. The girl is denied only salt; the rest she can have. The Barha of a girl renders all the members of the family impure for eleven days. But her married sisters and other relatives are not affected by such pollution.
On the sixth day, the Fukee relatives pay her a visit and feed her with Chhusya-Mussya. Her married sisters have also to bring such food articles on this occasion. The maternal uncle is under special obligation to send the eldest married woman of his household to feed the girl with Chhssya-Mussya. He also sends her Kon-chceka(n) with which she and other females rub their faces. The girl then applies oil on her head which means the cessation of the salt taboo.
The actual purification ritual takes place on the twelfth day, when the girl comes out of her confinement and becomes ceremonially clean. On this day, she and all the members of the Fukee families undergo the Ni-si-yaaguu' ritual of purification. Special care is taken with regard to the girl's bath which should be before sunrise. After these preliminaries, all the members assemble at the girl's place. The girl's eyes are blind-folded with a cotton band and she is conducted either to the terrace of the house or to some convenient place which commands a clear view of the sun, where the ceremony of 'seeing the sun' is performed.
The Thakali-Naki again assumes the ceremonial leadership. She performs worship to Ganesh and the Sun. Subsequently, the other deities like Kumari, and objects representing the evil spirits and the Kul deity, all are worshipped The girl offers flowers and rice to the sun while she remains blind-folded. The cotton band is then removed and the first object she sees is the sun.
After the girl has seen the sun, the Thakali-Naki again worships the sun as before, but this time it is also participated in by the girl herself. As usual, the JwalaNhai-ka(n) and Shinha-Mhu are also worshipped. Then the girl is again blind-folded and the ritual of Sinchophaye-gu is performed by the Thakali-Naki.
Then she performs the PatIli-Lui-gu ritual. She takes a handful of the mixture of rice and paddy and offers to the girl. This is known as Barha-Chhui-gu (removing the pollution of Barha), which is repeated three times. She then offers Ko ( n ) ( rice-powder ) and Chika ( n ) (mustard oil) to the girl separately in two different small earthen pots. Then she presents a set of new clothes and makes obeisance to the girl. This is the first occasion when a girl is given to wear a sari in place of the traditional Sulwar. The presentation of the mixture of rice and paddy and the set of new clothes is repeated by other women relatives in turn according to the order of seniority of age and social status. On the twelfth day also, the maternal uncle of the girl sends again a set of clothes, some mixture of paddy and r ice and Saga(n). The married daughters of the family also come to offer the girl similar materials.
The girl afterwards pays a visit to the temple of Ganesh. On her return, the Saga(n) ritual follows. First the Saga(n) is offered to the Kul-Deity, then to the girl and subsequently to the other relatives, strictly in the order of seniority.
The Barha ceremony is brought to a close with the holding of a communal feast.
The age at which Kaita-Puja is celebrated is generally between five and fourteen years. There is, however, no upper age-limit. A man may undergo his Kaita-Pula any time before his marriage. It presupposes that the boy has already undergone the Bu-Sakha ceremony. For economic reason, the Bu-Sakha and Kaita-Puja ceremonies are at times held together. As in other ceremonies, the Newars generally prefer to hold this ceremony also on a mass scale.
Having chosen an auspicious date in consultation with the Joshi, the boy is made to observe fast. Among the Shresthas, a booth is constructed in the quadrangle of the house. In the center of the booth raw bricks are placed for kindling the ceremonial fire. The symbols of Ask-ta-Matrika, the Jwala-Nhai-ka(n) and the Shina Mhu and the Sukunda are worshipped as usual. The use of a flower known as Dafo-Stua(n) is very necessary for this.
Then the Thakali worships the boy. He offers flowers to the feet, hands and head of the boy and this is repeated three times. The boy is then offered Bhalincha a kind of pot containing Kon, mustard oil, a little paddy, a few blades of grass and pieces of raw meat. He touches his body with some pieces of raw meat and throws them away. He then proceeds to the barber to have his ceremonial shaving.
The boy's father's sister, Neeni, as during the hair-cutting ceremony (Bu-Sakkha), does the act of bringing the barber's razor in a bronze-plate which the priest worships. Then she gives it back to the barber. The boy is led through the Lasa-Kusa ceremony by the Thakali-Naki . Noku-Naki. The barber saves off the boy's hair, and pares his nails too. Thereafter, the Neeni collects the hair and the nails in a bronze vessel. Then the boy goes for his ceremonial hall after which he is brought to the Mandap again through the La-sa-Kusa ritual.
Now starts the main function, the presentation of the Kaita. The priest hands over the Kaita to the Thakali who in turn presents it to the boy; the latter holds it in his hand. Then the Thakali instructs the boy how to wear it.
Then follows the ritual of Pahi-lui-gu as usual. After this ritual, the boy is given a deer's skin to wrap himself with and also a bow and an arrow. With these he stands, while all his kinsfolk, especially the Fukee members throws the flowers and rice on him as a token of respect and blessings. The Thakali takes the jwala-Nhaika(n) and after showing it to the deities, shows it to the boy. Then he offers offering to the boy which includes a coconut, rice and a rupee. The giving of the offering is repeated by each of the relatives present.
After the offerings giving ceremony, the boy makes a presence of running away to the jungle, and his maternal uncle has to prevent him from it. For this the boy stands seven steps away from his maternal uncle. As the boy runs, the maternal uncle has to catch hold of him and bring him back. In some cases the boy is taken to the temple of Ganesh for worship from where he has to make the pretense of running away.
The maternal uncle brings back the boy to the Mandap where the ritual of Dhau-Saga(n) is performed. Besides, a teeka-mark of curd is drawn on his forehead. This act is headed by the Thakali-Naki who is followed by the Noku-Naki and so on until, lastly, the mother's brother's wife. The mother's brother's wife has to present new clothes to the boy. Then she applies sinha to the foreheads of the boy's parents; and also presents them each with a set of new clothes. The religious part of the Kaita-Puja thus comes to an end.
Then the usual ritual of Saga(n) takes place. But this time the Saga(n) is offered not by the Thakali-Naki of the boy's family, but by his maternal uncle's wife. First she offers Saga(n) three times to the Kul deity of her family; then to the boy; and subsequently, one by one to the Fukee relatives of the boy.
Later a grand feast takes place to celebrate this special occasion.
The second Bura Junko is observed on attaining the age of eighty-three years, four months, four days, four ghadis and four palas. This is known as Sallasra chandra Darshanam, seeing the full-moon a thousand times. On calculation a thousand full-moon nights are supposed to have passed by the time a person attains this age. This ceremony is alternatively called Ashwa-Ratha Rohan, the term indicates 'the riding in a horse-drawn car'.
The last ceremony of Burha-Junko is called Swarga Ratha-Rohan (going to heaven) and is celebrated on the completion of the age of ninety-nine years, nine months, ,nine days, nine ghadis and nine palas. This is the final stage of divinity which a person enters into. After this ceremony he is worshipped as a semi-divine being.
While an old man is initiated into the Burha-Junko his wife is also initiated without the consideration of her age, since a woman's social age is always counted on the basis of her husband's age. But if a woman be a widow she has to qualify herself by completing the necessary period of life in order to undergo the Burha Junko.
In all the three ceremonies of Burha Junko the details of the worship are somewhat similar to those involved in the Macha-Junko or the rice-feeding ceremony subject to a few more details which are peculiar. This observance essentially involves participation of the priest and the performance of Hom. On the day of initiation the old man undergoes a fast and the ritual of Nisi-yne-gu is undergone as usual by all the members of the Fukee families.
When the auspicious moment arrives, the old man is conducted to the place of worship, through the ritual of l.asa-Kusa. He takes his seat to the right of the priest near the sacred fire. The old man sits on a rectangular pindha placed on a heap of a mixture of rice and paddy. By the side are kept a broom, a straw-mat, an umbrella, and a pair of shoes. A significant article in this ceremony is the garland of Yo-mari which the old man has to wear. After the completion of the Hom all the relatives of the initiated one pay their honor one by one and shower fruits, flowers and vermilion upon him. Such details are applicable to all tile three kinds of Burha Junko. But the first and the last have some peculiar features in addition, which are as follows:
The first Junko is marked by the initiation being taken out in a Rath through the different parts of the town. The Rath is drawn by his relatives. The old man's sons and daughters undertake the ritual of scattering a mixture of paddy and parched r ice on the route of the procession.
The procession first arrives at the temple of Ganesh where, apart from the normal worship, a duck is sacrificed to the deity. Then it goes through different parts of town and finally returning home. This custom is however, much falling into disuse and a modified form of it is presented by undergoing the symbolic drawing of the car within the court-yard of the house itself. In any case the initiate must visit the temple of Ganesh in a procession accompanied by his relatives. After the completion of the car-drawing ceremony grand feast is held in which the honoree's special relatives are distinguished from the rest.
In the last Junko a strange custom marks it out as a specialty. After this ceremony, the initiated man does not enter the house by the usual door-way, but by the window of the top floor. For this purpose, he is placed in a wooden shrine and drawn up from the top window by means of a rope. It is symbolic of going to heaven.
Junko is very popular among Shresthas, Manandhars, Udas, Jyapoos.
