"चथाःद्यः.

"चथाःद्यः भनेको इन्द्र देवता (खुँद्यः) हो"

नेवार समाजमा प्रचलित विभिन्न चाडहरुमा चथाः एक महत्वपूर्ण चाड हो । दशैंको एक महिनाअगाडि पर्ने यो चाडलाई सानो दशैं पनि भन्ने गरिन्छ र साथसाथै यो दिनमा पानी प-यो भने दशैंमा पनि पानी पर्छ भन्ने विश्वास गरिन्छ । यो चाड राम्ररी मनाउन सके दशैं पनि राम्रो गरी मनाउन पाउने जनविश्वास रहेको हुनाले यसलाई सकभर राम्ररी मनाउने गरिन्छ । गुँला सकिएको चौथो दिनमा अर्थात चौथिको दिनमा यो चाड मनाइन्छ । चौथिको दिनमा मनाइने चाड भएको हुनाले पनि यस चाडलाई चथाः भनिएको हो ।
नेवारहरु जून सुकै जात्रा, चाडपर्व वा संस्कारजन्य कर्महरु गर्दा विशेष पूजा गर्दछन् । चथाः पनि दशैं आउन लागेको शु–सन्देशमा मनाइने चाड भएको हुनाले यस चाडलाई पनि दशैं सरह महत्वका साथ मनाइन्छ । यस दिन आगंद्यः (देवता), दिगुद्यः (कूल देवता) लाई चथाःस्वां (करवीरको फूल), मोहनि (दशै) को मोहनिस्वां र लक्ष्मी पूजाको लक्ष्मीस्वा (फूल) चढाएर पूजा गरी भोज खाने गरिन्छ । यस दिन चथाःद्यःको चा (रात्री) पूजा हुने भएको हुनाले रातमा मात्र भोज खाने गरिन्छ ।
नेवार समाजसँग सम्बन्धित जूनसुकै जात्रापर्व मनाउनु केही दिन अगाडि नै उक्त पर्व आउन लागेको उपलक्ष्यमा उक्त जात्रापर्वसंग सम्बन्धित देवताहरुको पूजा गरी आमन्त्रित गर्नुका साथै यदि गुथि वा व्यक्तिहरु सम्बन्धित छन् भने ती व्यक्तिहरुलाई पनि आमन्त्रित गरी सानो पूजा गरी भोज खाने चलन छ ।
आजभोलि नेवारहरु चथाः देवताको रुपमा कमलको पातमा गणेश र चन्द्रमा राखेर पूजा गर्नुका साथै गणेशलाई चन्द्रमाको दोष लागेको कथनको आधारमा पूजा गर्ने गर्दछन् तर वास्तवमा चथाःद्यः भनेको इन्द्र देवता (खुँद्यः) हो ।
देवराज इन्द्रले स्वर्ग लोकमा नभएको फूल चोर्न आएको कथनअनुसार यस दिन देवराज इन्द्र रातको प्रहरमा फूल चोर्न आउदाँ समातिएको हुँदा उनको जात्रास्वरुप इन्द्रजात्रामा जात्रा मनाइने गरिन्छ ।
चथाःद्यःलाई रातको समयमा मात्र पूजा गरिन्छ । रातमा शहर सुनसान भएपछि जब कुकुरहरु भुक्न थाल्छन्, तब मानिसहरु भन्न थाल्छन् ‘कुकूरहरु भुक्न थाले “चोर आयो कि के हो ?” । यस्तो भन्नुको आशय रातको प्रहरमा जव कुकूरहरु भुक्न थाल्छन् तव चोर आएको माने झैं चथाःद्यः को आगमन पनि रातको प्रहरमा मात्र हुने विश्वासमा रातमा सबै घरमा आइसकेपछि कुकूरहरुले भुक्न थालेपछि मात्र चथाःद्यःको पूजा गर्नु पर्छ भनिएको हो ।
चोरलाई मिठो मिठो खुवाउन हुदैन चोर पल्किन्छ भनी यस दिन चथाःद्यःलाई काँचो लप्सि, तर्रो नासपाती, काँचो अदुवा, हरियो खुर्सानी, बस्पति पु (आरुको बियाँ) को साथमा भुटेको गहुँ, भटमास, मकै, केराउ आदि चढाइन्छ । यसरी अमिलो र तर्रो फलफूलले मुखको स्वाद बिगारेर दाँत कुँडेपछि टोक्न गार्‍हो हुने गरी भुटेको गेडागुडी चढाएर चोरलाई भगाउन खोजिएको अभिप्राय हो ।
यस दिन चन्द्रमालाई हेर्न हुँदैन भनिन्छ तर वास्तवमा चन्द्रमालाई हेर्न हुदैन भनिएको नभई चथाःद्यः (इन्द्र) लाई देखिएला भनि यस्तो भनिएको हो किनभने चोरलाई हेर्न हुँदैन वा चोर समातिएको ठाउँमा गयो भने चोर दोष लाग्छ भन्ने गरिएको हुदाँ यस्तो भनिएको हो ।
चथाःद्यः पूजा गर्दा सुकुन्दा बालेर कमलको पात (पला लप्ते) राखी त्यसमा पूजा गरिन्छ । पला लप्तेमा चन्द्रमाको मूर्ति अथवा प्रतिक बनाएर पूजा गर्नुको अभिप्राय रातको प्रतीक हो । चथाःद्यःलाई चढाउनको लागि मानिसहरुले आफ्नो शरीरमा खुर्सानी वा अन्य फलफूल सबैले देख्ने गरी दिनभर झुन्डाएर राख्ने गरिन्छ । दिन भरि सबैले देख्ने गरी झुन्डाएको वस्तुलाई चढाइन्छ । परिवारका सबै मिलेर पूजा गरिसकेपछि समे, प्रसाद, बस्पति पु सहित मकै भटमास प्रसाद खाएर यो चाड मनाइने गरिन्छ

Sri Krishna Janmastami

krishn

Birthday of Hinduism's favorite Lord Krishna is a special occasion for Hindus, who consider him their leader, hero, protector, philosopher, teacher and friend all rolled into one.
Krishna took birth at midnight on the ashtami or the 8th day of the Krishnapaksha or dark fortnight in the Hindu month of Shravan (August-September). This auspicious day is called Janmashtami. Nepalese,Indian as well as Western scholars have now accepted the period between 3200 and 3100 BC as the period in which Lord Krishna lived on earth.
Krishna's birthplace Mathura and Vrindavan celebrate this occasion with great pomp and show. Raslilas or religious plays are performed to recreate incidents from the life of Krishna and to commemorate his love for Radha.

Song and dance mark the celebration of this festive occasion all over northern India. At midnight, the statue of infant Krishna is bathed and placed in a cradle, which is rocked, amidst the blowing of conch shells and the ringing of bells.

In the south western state of Maharashtra, people enact the god's childhood attempts to steal butter and curd from earthen pots beyond his reach. A similar pot is suspended high above the ground and groups of young people form human pyramids to try and reach the pot and break it.

Sri Krishna Janmastami marks the celebration of the birth of Lord Sri Krishna. This festival is also known as Krishna Jayanti or Janmashtami. Lord Krishna is regarded as the 8th avatar or 'incarnation' of Lord Vishnu.It falls on Saptami of Bhadra (August/September). On Krishna Janmashtami numerous devotees flock to the ancient Krishna temple in old Patan Durbar Square to keep vigil through the glorious night of his birth. As they sit huddled together their bodies rocking in humble obeisance, the women chant the many names of the Lord,'Narayan, Narayan' and Gopal, Gopal'. Some sing ancient hymns, others clap their hands, while some pray. Crowds of men and women edge their way slowly up narrow steps through the seated devotees to the temple's dark interior to where the main idol stands. There they offer flowers, coins and food and wait for a glimpse of Krishna Janmastami festival at Krishna Mandir the idol. After the temple priest gives them 'prasad' they make their way down to join the multitude of devotees in the streets.

Krishna Puja

Puja means worship, devotion and an act of showing reverence to a god, a spirit, or another aspect of the divine through invocations, prayers, songs, and rituals. An essential part of puja for the Hindu devotee is making a spiritual connection with the divine. On the day, Newar from Patan make a long procession to the special routes of the city open up to every Krishna temples offering chocolates, sweets, peacock feather, yogurt, rice-pudding etc.

Krishna temple of Patan,Lalitpur.

An ancient temple in Patan Durbar Square in Patan City becomes the center of activities during a particular day, the Shree Krishna Janmasthami, in August-September every year(this year 17th August 2014), to celebrate the birth anniversary of one of the most popular and romantic gods in the Hindu pantheon, Lord Krishna. Shree Krishna Janmasthami is an important event in the calendar of festivals of Nepal.

The Krishna Temple is one of the most important temples in the square which is said to have the most diverse collection of traditional architectural styles found within a square anywhere in the world. This square once served as the seat of the former royal family of Patan and has been designated a world heritage monument zone by UNESCO. Made in the shikhara style of India with red stone, the Krishna Temple was built in 1637 by King Siddhi Narsingh Malla following a dream he had in which he saw Lord Krishna and his lover Radha standing in front of his palace. The very next day, he ordered a temple to built at the very same site. It is three-storied and has 21 golden pinnacles on top. Icons of the gods Krishna, Shiva, and Lokeswor grace each of the three floors.

Lord Krishna was the eighth son of Vasudeva and Devaki of a place called Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, India. Devaki was a princess whose brother, Kansa, had become king after throwing his own father, Ugrasena, into prison. He was bad, all right, but fate had its own plans for him; astrologers prophesized that the eighth-born child of his sister would be the end of him. So, Kansa promptly threw his sister and her husband into a dungeon as well. The first six births had fatal endings at Kansa’s hands, while the seventh survived due to Devaki feigning a miscarriage, when, in fact, she had managed to transfer the child, Balarama, to another woman named Rohini.

The eighth child, Krishna, was born soon after. Vasudeva, following Lord Vishnu’s instructions, somehow or the other succeeded in escaping from the dungeon, crossing the Yamuna River, and taking the infant to a place called Gokul where he left the child in the home of a couple, Nanda and Yashoda. He carried back with him the couple’s daughter and returned to his prison. There, Kansa, believing that this was the eighth child, threw her against a stone, but she rose into the air and joined Vishnu to become his helper, Yogmaya. Meanwhile, Krishna grew up into a strapping child along with his brother Balarama, who was also in Gokul.

There are numerous tales related to his younger years concerning his miraculous powers and his frolicking ways. He is believed to have killed a serpent of gigantic proportions while still a child, and even as an infant, he had killed an ogress, sent to kill the child by means of poisoned nipples, by suckling her to death. Of course, it is not only such deadly stories that Krishna’s life is replete with; he is equally known for his dashing ways with the ladies, he being a perennial flirt who left no stones unturned to romance quite a few damsels, all of whom were enamored by his charms. The years pass in this way, but soon enough comes the day when he has to face his evil uncle, Kansa, who has been wreaking havoc in the lives of his subjects. The long and the short of it is that he kills Kansa and thus fulfills the prophesy of the astrologers..

Lord Krishna also had a pivotal role to play in the epic of Mahabharata, the great war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He saves the Pandavas’ wife, Draupadi, from being shorn of her clothes after the eldest of the five Pandava brothers loses in a game of dice to the Kauravas, wherein the latter orders Draupadi to be disrobed. In another notable incident, as the charioteer of Arjuna, another of the Pandava brothers, and the most skilled in war, he inspires him to victory in the battlefield through lessons concerning his duties and responsibilities, which he tells Arjuna, must be given priority instead of feeling conscientious about killing his erstwhile relatives, no matter how much respect he has for some of them.

It is in honor of such a remarkable god that Shree Krishna Janmasthami, also known as Krishna Jayanti, is observed every year. Devotees fast throughout the day and, at the stroke of midnight, when he is supposed to have been born, they worship his childhood-image placed on a swing. Everybody makes sure to give the swing a push or two singing a lullaby of sorts. This happens not only in all Krishna temples throughout the country but also in the puja kothis (prayer rooms) of Hindu homes as well.

Mattya jatra - light fest

Gautam buddha on enlightment 

Matya is unique to Patan and is one of the most important festival of the city about 1400year old tradition. On the day, the special routes of the city open up and lead to all sacred places.
In this festival, people who have lost their family members or relatives, participate and walk to all the four Ashok pillars located in different part of Patan. They print the photos of their loved ones or oil lamps, camphor, money and offer it to different gods and goddesses on the way to these four pillars. They start their journey early in the morning and keep walking the whole day. This time, it started from Kobahal, near Patan Durbar Square. People wearing joker dresses and others also participated. They walk, joke and dance the whole day.It’s one of the many wonderful cultures we have in Nepal.Mattya came to be because of an incident in the life of Shakyamuni Buddha’s path to enlightenment.

LEGEND OF ORIGIN-When Buddha was in his trance in order to reach enlightenment, there were many demons who hated it and his determination for ending everyone’s suffering. So to distract from his meditation, these demons called Maras, took different forms of living and other worldly creatures like grotesque beasts, Apsaras (beautiful temptresses) and ferocious beasts in an attempt to get any reaction out of him and disrupt his concentration. To tell you what happened for all their efforts: They failed spectacularly!Buddha found enlightenment even though Maras tried their hardest to stop him. In the end, he had such a profound impact on them that they all gathered in front of him and asked for his forgiveness and to take them under his wings and teach them the path to enlightenment.

This very incident is what Mattya celebrates as it literally means to turn on/ make the light. It is also called Deep Yatra (If you take it literally, it’s Light Travel but the meaning is Travel of Light which is same!), Festival of Lights and Candle Walk Festival. It symbolizes the moment when Maras denounce their way of living to follow in the footsteps of Buddha who is considered the light in the world.
MATTYA, This festival is mainly celebrated by Buddhist Newars of Patan as they are the avid followers of Gautam Buddha or as they call him Shakyamuni Buddha. The festival falls around August-September based on the date calculated by the priest according to lunar calendar.The decision to host Mattya festival by a particular area/part (Tole) of the city is done by the organizing committee which comes in turns for all the Toles and the one hosting the festival has to oversee every aspect of it under the supervision of the head committee.

Before Mattya roles around the corner for the year, the tole which is going to host it has to train the young musicians who have to play at the parade and during their training they have to showcase what they have learned thus far at certain part of their tole.
Like the name suggests this festival is a walk or more like a parade of devotees’ young and old who visit the entire Buddhist shrines designated in the city of Patan. For your information, there are about 1300 shrines in Patan alone.

The walk in and around the city visiting all the shrines takes about 7 to 8 hours for these enthusiastic devotees who are given refreshments along the way in the form of juices and snacks by the locals and the organizing committee in various locations, so they won’t get worn out. The participants gather early in the morning, most of the time it’s 2 or 3 AM from where Mattya will start.

Those who participate in Mattya give various items to the shrines as offering to Shakyamuni like grains, rice, vermillion powder (tika), flowers, guru patra (a simple cup offered as a gift), incense, sweets and butter lamps. One can see Mattya is greatly influenced by the story of Maras and Lord Buddha as most of the devotees if not all will be offering butter lamps to Lord Buddha as a sign of their wish to follow him to the path of enlightenment leaving earthly temptations behind like his disciples, followers and the Maras did on this auspicious day.You can have fun watching some the participants all dressed up in differentcostumes like demons. costumes looking like demons/Maras with colorful makeup on their faces, some looking funny while others scary. These guys try to scare small children by surprise attack jumps and shouts and making faces which make the kids hid behind the safety of their mothers and guardians and some end up crying!

Those kids who are old enough to understand that these guys are just messing with them and are harmless just play fight with them and joke around which can be pretty amusing for those of us who are watching.Mattya is filled with not just them but others too like the girls who are all dressed up in traditional Newari garments and ornaments which look so classic and beautiful. Most will be carrying one or two big candles and will be wearing ghungroos (anklet bells) on their legs which makes rhythmic sounds. When they are walking the bells adds music to the parade and builds up anticipation of the onlookers who know they are coming and makes them even more eager to see them.There are bunch of musicians too who play flutes and other traditional instruments like Dhime Baja(drums) and are usually in the front guiding rest of the people in the parade. The upbeat music sets the mood of the festive atmosphere and makes you want to follow them all around the city and watch mesmerized by the dancers who follow every beat with their bodies.

In the past, there wasn’t any map of the route for the parade given to participants who used to follow the musicians leading the parade but now with all map reading apps available, I hope this technology will be used for Mattya too like they did last year for the Dipankha Yatra in the valley.

Those who participate in the parade and those who watch them from the sidelines all have smiles on their faces and you see everyone having a good laugh and enjoying the parade as it passes through their part of the town.

Mattya a amusing and enjoyable festival is very little known, so, if you happen to know or come here just before it is taking place, all can spare an hour or two to catch all the fun and DO NOT miss out on this little gem of a festival.

MATYAMatya is a typical Buddhist festival of Nepal which in Newari means the festivals of lights. It is however, quite different from Deepawali which we celebrate every year in the month of November. This interesting festival begins early in the morning on the third day of the dark fortnight of Shrawan (August).

One of the most fascinating features of this festival is a long parade of the enthusiastic shrine-walkers who go round all the Buddhist shrines scattered in and around the city of Patan. It must be remembered here that Patan alone has more than 1300 Buddhist shrines. The number of shrine-walkers who colorfully form this impressive parade is around three to four thousands. Men and women both participate in this festival. They carry variety of interesting gifts to make offerings to Lord Buddha. The offerings of rice, grains, flowers, red Powders, sweets, incense and guru patra (a gift cup for guru) are quite common tin the scene. However the offering of oil or butter lamps to Lord Buddha on this auspicious day is a dominant feature. It is interesting to note that the majority of the shrine-walker are the lamp offers to the shrines. Offering lamps in particular to the Buddha on this day is said to signify great enlightenment obtained by overcoming the Maras (temptations).

There is a very interesting story about the origin of this festival. Once Shakya Muni Gautam was in deep penance to attain Nirvana. The Maras, awfully jealous of his determination came down to detract him. They came disguising themselves in different forms. Some were in the form of fierce-looking demons and some in apsara form (damsels) and so on. They all made every possible attempt to seduce him but all in vain. In a long run Shakya Muni overcame the Maras and became Buddha, the enlightened one. It is said that later on, the Maras came to confess their sin to lord Buddha and worshipped him with great honor. Ever since this festival is believed to have come into existence to mark this great day.

The expression of this fantastic story can be found in this festival. All those devil dancers and the apsara actors and several other funny mask-wearers who are the part and parcel of this festival parade are said to represent the Maras. This parade is always accompanied by several groups of musicians playing various kinds of traditional musical instruments. The route prescribed for this parade to pass through looks quite confusing yet a accepted as most perfect shortcut. This parade is supposed to move on in an unbroken chain. The route map of the entire parade is a leading group of musicians who always go ahead of the parade playing a kind of music. People here are not used to maps. It takes seven to eight hours to complete going round the entire Buddhist shrines.

It is interesting to note that the ten different neighborhoods of Patan have long been devoted to the regular running of this festival parade. The responsibility of organizing this parade goes to each of those neighborhoods once in every ten years. There is very interesting tradition according to which the sponsoring Tole of this parade must train a team of traditional drum-players who are expected to display every best skill they have when they are asked to perform in the public on this day. The name of these drummers team is known as Naubaja Khalah. They perform this show in a very special way only at the member Toles devoted to this Matya festival. It is quite exciting to see the way they go round the town and perform this typical musical show with great enthusiasm. Some of the drums that are used for the occasion are so richly decorated that people sometimes mistake them for temple treasures.

The most enjoyable part of this festival Parade for the children is the devil dancers and funny mask-wearers. Quite a number of them are clad from head to foot all in worn out sacks and rags. Whenever they came across the inquisitive kids they suddenly jump in a dramatic way and try to scare them away. The kids who are too slow to get the fun always stay away from the scene and those who are smart enough to push themselves in the front never wait to tease those devil dancers and enjoy themselves to their heart's content. uddhists have a tremendous respect to this festival and so they celebrate it with great feast and fun. They seem to have attached a great deal of significance to this day which as they believe is an unforgettable day as all the Maras surrendered themselves to Lord Buddha and confessed their sins paying tribute to the all-compassionate Lord Buddha.