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| Gautam buddha on enlightment |
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.
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.
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