Traditional Newari Dances of Bhaktapur.

1.MASK DANCES

a.Nava Durga dance

Nawadurga

A tantric mask dance in honor of the nine manifestations of Durga is performed in Bhaktapur in October every year. Nava Durga means nine Durgas composed of Mahakali, Kumari, Barahi, Brahamayani, Mahesvari, Vaishnavi, Indrani, Mahalakshmi, and Tripurasundari.                                                      

Durgas are the various demonic representation or manifestation of Parvati, the Sakti of Shiva, in the tantric tradition. In Bhaktapur, Nava Durga is a set of masks with a ritual continual life force which begins from Dashain in October and ends in Bhagasti in June. Since the day of Bhagasti, all the deities in Nepal live not in the land but beneath the water until Gathamuga Chare, a little less than five weeks later. On the day of Gathamuga, the Gathas take some black clay from the field and erect a linga of Shiva. Some of this soil is left and preserved in order to be added to new masks. The Gathas, i.e.; mask-dancers, musicians, and leader of the god-house go to Taleju with the new set of masks ritually made of special clay mixed with the ashes of the previous masks and of the black clay, the remains of the Shiva linga made on the day of Gathamuga Chare. It is at the night of Dashain when the Karmacharya gives life-force, to the masks with the mantra. Therefore, these masks have tantric significance. Since the time the masks have a life force, they are considered gods and goddesses. The role of Taleju is great, though she is not presented within the Nava Durga Pantheon. The new set of masks is exhibited in the celebratory Brahmayani Pitha beside the Hanumante River. This happens on the day of the Vijaya Dashami. Brahamayani Pitha which is on the eastern side of the city is also the Pitha of Nava Durga; Brahmayani is/was the guardian deity of the people and the king of Bhaktapur.

Though there are 9 Durgas, only seven, Mahakali, Kumari, Barahi, Brahmayani, Mahesvari, Indrani and Vaishnavi are represented in the mask-dance and her icon is kept in Nava Durga god-house at Gachhe tole. Mahalakshmi, i.e. Shifo-dyo also is not present there in the form of a mask. She is always in a small chariot that is kept on the ground during the public performances of Nava Durga. She is more abstract, important, and powerful. She is regarded to be the Nava Durga's own goddess. A vessel with Maha Lakshmi icon contains ambrosia and other tantric things. It is enshrined in the god-house. The 'six-armed image framed by lions at her feet and a large aureole of flames have no face. The face, if it was ever represented, has been carefully cut out from the surface plane'. So she is concerned with the cemetery as well. She is of tantric concern. She leads the procession of masked Nava Durga

Apart from seven Durgas in Nava Durga dance, there are other six masks. They are of Shiva, Ganesh, Bhairava, Sveta Bhairava, Sima, and Duma. Sima and Duma portrayed roaring, an expression of their fierceness, which are the messengers of death. Also, they are the bodyguards of Shiva. They rarely dance in the group-dance. Theirs is a police function. Children taunt them. If a child is caught by either of them, it is considered an evil omen. Therefore, some parents often pay them beforehand that their children may not be caught. This belief reflects their role as messengers of death. Shiva's mask is smaller and it is not worn. Ganesh carries it in the group-dance. He fishes in the public performances.

The Nava Durga dance proceeds according to the beatings of Dyokhin and the performances of Taa (a pair of thick, small cymbals) and Kanhe-Baja. The dyokhin, taa, and kanhe-Baja have symbolic meaning. It is said that the ringing sound of the musical instruments of Nava Durga dance not only gives the rhythmic signals to the dancers but also removes the people's troubles and obstacles caused by evil beings. The tantric version is that it gives peace, prosperity, and happiness to the people. For this purpose, this dance is performed in every tole of Bhaktapur. It is also taken to Deupatan, Banepa, Nala, Dhulikhel, Panauti, Srikhandapur, and Chaukot every year and in Hadigaun every twelve years. The people of these places devotedly offer pujas to the deities. "King Suvarna Malla of Bhaktapur introduced the dance of the Nava Durga, having heard that they had been seen dancing at night".

b. Mahakali Dance

This is one of the most popular masked dances of the Newar. It is based on the religious story from a Hindu Puran Called 'Mahakali Mahalaxmi'. According to this, the three goddess Mahakali, Mahalaxmi, and Kumari (three of the eight deities that protect the eight directions of Kathmandu Valley and have different ghost followers. These mother goddesses were practiced by Eighty-four Siddhas to gain mystic power) came down to heaven to vanquish the demons that spread great misery and hardship among human beings. So the almighty Goddesses waged a great war with the demons and defeated them, thus stabilizing peace and order on earth. This dance shows great joy and happiness after the great victory over the demons.

c. Bhairav Dance

Bhairav

Bhaktapur is also known as the “capital of cultural dances and cultural music”. Among many traditional cultural dances of Bhaktapur, mask dances are one of the most popular. And among these mask dances the Bhairav Pyakhan or Bhairav Dance is the most popular one. Almost all of the traditional dances follow some kind of legend and traditional beliefs and the same with the Bhairav Pyakhan. The legend behind the Bhairav dance goes as follows. Hundreds of years back, the evil forces and beings, Bhoot, Pisach, and Rakshasa, started to dominate the world. The evil beings, Daityas started destroying humans and the natural balance was threatened. Then the god Bhairava came down to earth with other divine bodies to destroy those evil beings for restoring peace and to maintain the natural balance.

d. Lakhey dance

This is one of the classical dances of Nepal. Once a year during the festival of Indra Jatra which is celebrated for nearly a week at the end of September or the first part of October. Almost all the settlements of Newar have Lakhey dance at least once a year.

Almost all of these Lakhey dances are held in the Goonlaa month. So, they are called Goonlaa Lakhey. However, the most famous Lakhey dance is the Majipa Lakhey dance. It is performed by the Ranjitkars of Kathmandu. The dance takes place for a week during the week containing the full moon of Yenlaa month. The Lakhey are considered as the saviors of children.

      According to people's belief, Lakhey is man-eating (mainly children) demons living in the dense forest. They hunt animals and people passing through the jungle. Whenever they have a good meal they dance with a jog. Previously Lakhey dancers used to select victims for human blood sacrifices.

e. Monkey dance

It is performed by teenagers wearing traditional customs and sticks in their hands. The Nepalese still pay great respect to the sacred myths and legends. According to the religious epic Ramayan, the dance was performed by the monkeys to express their joy and happiness to their Lord Ram and his wife Sita after their victory over the demon king Ravan of Sri Lanka.

f. Khyak Dance

 Khyaks are supernatural beings. They are believed to be followers of gods and goddesses. They were visible to the people before electricity arrived. They are quite harmless. They simply used to frighten people at night. What the dancers perform is just the expression of Khyak's naughty nature. They perform dances to entertain god and goddesses.

g. Kawan (Skeleton) Dance

According to people's belief, kawans are the evil spirits to be seen mostly at street-crossing and cremation-grounds. They accompany the Gods and Goddess during their adventures. Sometimes they trouble people, causing stomach pain. But one can get rid of it easily by making some offerings, following the advice of a witch doctor.

h. Devi Daitya Sangram (The battle of Goddess and Demon)

This is a dramatic dance form, here the handsome brave demon sees a beautiful girl and immediately falls in love with her. Then he proposes to marry her, but she answers that she will only accept one who can defeat her in a battle. The egoist demon gets very angry and tries to catch her. But it is not possible. They start battling. The demon sees her everywhere as the furious. Goddess kali and collapses on the ground with fear. Then the goddess, one who is the universal power stands on him.

i.Neel Barahi (Bode)

Neel Barahi Pyakhan is a sacred masked dance that is shown over four days (August/September) in different parts of Bode. Nineteen persons representing the town's guardian pantheon take part in the dance performance. Music is provided by a 27-piece traditional orchestra. The ceremony invokes peace and harmony and is dedicated to the deity Neel Barahi whose temple is located in a jungle outside Bode. At Bode, Bhaktapur, Bhairav with 4 Barahi, 4 Kumari, 4 Ganesh,4 Simha & 2 Dwarpal perform a dance for 4 days after Saparoo (Gai Jatra)

j.Mahakali Nach (Nagadesh)
Beginning and end of dance with special offering puja. Based upon tantric sacred masked dance which is shown over four days (August/September) in different parts of Nagdesh. Solo performance performed by main goddesses. 18 persons representing the town's guardian pantheon take part in the dance performance. Music is provided by a 21-piece traditional orchestra and performed in different groups. The ceremony invokes peace and harmony and is dedicated to the deity Mahakali and other goddesses. At Nagdesh- Bhaktapur, Mahakali-Mahalaxmi-Kumari, Lion each,4 Betal, 2 Demon Bhairav, 2 Kawan, 2 Demon, 2 Monkeys and 1 Mahisasur demon performed a dance for 4 days after Gaijatra.

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epnvJ-URNOY

2. FOLK DANCES

a.      Aarati Dance

It is the process of worship by offering oil lamps to the deities. Usually, it is a process used for gods and goddesses and holy beings. As our culture considers guests to be a form of god and goddesses, we present this dance constituting the Aarati in which Newari girls in their traditional attires will present it in the hope the peace and prosperity may shine down on us.

b.      Jyapu-Jyapuni Dance

“Jyapu” is the word used to address males of the Newari farmer’s community and “Jyapuni” to address females. This dance depicts the legendary love story of a Jyapu and a Jyapuni. The story is popular and touching as the story Romeo and Juliet and the Rajamati, the lead female character is very popular among Newar’s of all age groups.

c.       Dhimen Pyakhan

Newar’s celebrated every significant moment with great vigor. Whenever there is something to celebrate and enjoy, they gather and start dancing to the beats of the traditional drum, Dhimen. Its beats are loud and make people jump to their feet. If interested, we would like our guests to join in the dance. One has the freedom of moving in any way with the beats. With some alcohol, the joy of the dance is enhanced for sure. This farmer's pair dance is generally performed during the harvest season in their community get together along with living music and songs.

d.      Indra Apsara (Nymph) Dance

In Veda, Indra is a divine supreme Hero of the Universe, king of gods, who dances with Nymphs in the Heaven. This event as a memory for the local people of Thimi (Madhyapur) as if dead family members are watching this performance in Heaven. The dresses of the dancers are, however, influenced by the customs of Rana Minister's period. This Dance is in medieval style.

e. Lusi (Pestle) Dance

This is the satirical street performance of social and political life, both on the local and international levels. However, the style of choreography and music are always the same, only the story will be different according to time and space.

f.       Ghintang Gisi (Stick) Dance

One of the traditional dances of Bhaktapur is Ghintang Gisi Dance. It is performed during the festival of Gai Jatra. During this festival, the rhythm is followed i.e. ghinee twang-ghinee twang ghintang gisi twang. When this rhythm is reached at twang the participants hit each other stick to sound twaakaa. The rhythm is very melodious when a large number of participants dance and hit each other sticks. It's quite easy to learn and that is why some of the foreigners were seen dancing ghintang Gisi.

g.      Buran Jya

In the time of Malla dynasty, Bhaktapur had a war with Tibet. Tibetans on their victory spree came to win Bhaktapur. Malla kings were scared and advised all countrymen to dump all the rice in store under the earth so that the Tibetans cannot take them away. After many days of the war the Tibetans fled. Now everyone was worried about feeding because all the rice had been dumped. The king advised people to go and check the dumped rice. The rice had turned dark brown and people were not sure if it still was eatable. On trying they found that the rice had grown more delicious and nutritious. Celebrating this occasion every year, farmers in Bhaktapur prepare this brown rice and bring it home in a joyous manner. This process is known as Buran Jya.
For video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8e68NJ5s4Y
For video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsTizj_7d7E

3. CHARYA DANCES
A Sanskrit term meaning dance as a spiritual discipline is a Tantric Buddhist dance from. This ancient classical art is one of the religious disciplines of the Vajracharyas of Nepal that has performed the dance secretly as part of their meditation, rituals, and celebrations for over a thousand years. Each Charya Nritya features a different Tantric deity of Vajrayana Buddhism and the dancer himself becomes an embodiment of the particular deity. Thus Charya Nritya is a meditation discipline a vehicle of bodily and spiritual transformation and a sacred opportunity for an audience to experience a vision of divine beauty.
Of many such cultural gifts, one is ‘Charya Dance’ performed in meditation discipline by the Buddhist Newari Priests, ‘Bajracharyas’ of ancient times, within the courtyards, bahals, and bahis, from thousands of years, secretly. Some new generation bodies have understood their values and have determined themselves to take care of those dances to preserve them from extinction. Charya dance is practiced in different forms of deity, whereby the dancers become the embodiment of that particular deity.
Very rarely, these dances are openly presented to the viewers of today, and even in the past, it used to be practiced secretly by the priests, never wanting general people to learn it and be benefited by so. The dedicated dancers of Naasa Cultural Academy performed one of such event, at Baber Mahal Revisited’s courtyard for the tourists and locals where they enjoyed Charya dance. The night was witnessed by hundreds of foreign tourists, expatriates, and locals.
Charya dance is just one amongst hundreds. We perform all ethnic dances. Government has not been very helpful towards us though we are working for such high intentions of national interest,” During the event, five different dances were performed namely Bhairab Kali Dance, Pancha Buddha Dance, Kumari Dance, Manjushree Dance, and Arya Tara Dance. The dances were performed in traditional costumes with extreme makeup on their faces with colors that gave certainly the out of the world experience to their viewers.

a. Manjushree
Manjushree, believed to have come from Mahachin, holds a special place in Nepalese culture as a Bodhisatwa who made Kathmandu Valley inhabitable by draining the water out of it. Long ago, the Kathmandu valley was a lake. Manjushree with his two consorts Barada and Mokshada came to Kathmandu to pay homage to Lord Swoyambhu.

b. Pancha Buddha

The Pancha Buddha or Five Buddhas are Vairochana, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha Buddhas, and Amoghasiddhi. Each of these transcendental Buddhas have a particular color, posture, direction, and wisdom.

c. Rakta Ganesh

The image of Rakta Ganesh (Red Ganesh) is generally found along with Mahakala at the entrance to monasteries in the valley as a protective deity. He is elephant-headed and has three eyes.

e. Arya Tara

She is of green color and regarded as a consort of Amoghasiddhi. She protects the suffering beings in crossing the ocean of Samsara, of this life of suffering.
f.Bajrayogini
Malla dynasty of Nepal wants to keep their country in a very strong position always and they do confidence by themself to worship Goddess “Bajrayyogani” to get a strong power and protected the peoples and the nation. The meaning of Bajra is Thunderbolt and Yogani means Yogi became BAJRAYOGANI. So, Buddhist Tantrick (the devoted of Malla period) they were dance with the appearance of Bajrayogani to make happy her on an occasion of the festival, gradually this became an ancient classical dance of Nepal, which is based on on Tantric Buddhism. The Bajrayogini dance depicts a blend of emotion, which contract with each other. The dancer experience movements of peace and moments of anger, which again alternates with a feeling of joy, sorrow, defense, and aggression. Still, the Temple of Goddess Bajrayogini has situated about 3 Km from Kathmandu valley.
Once upon a time of Kathmandu was ruling by Malla dynasty a long time ago. Malla dynasty wants to keep their country in a very strong position always and they do confidence by themself to worship Goddess “Bajrayyogani” to get a strong power and protected the peoples and the nation. The meaning of Bajra is Thunderbolt and Yogani means Yogi became BAJRAYOGANI [Strong yogani Goddess] So Buddhist Tantrick (the devoted of Malla period) they were dance with appearing of Bajrayogani to make happy her in an occasion of the festival, gradually this became an ancient classical dance of Nepal, which is based on Tantric Buddhism. Still, the Temple of Goddess Bajrayogini is situated in Sankhu Municipality which is about 3km. far from Kathmandu valley. Bajrayogaini is a Goddess of Power and Yog.

Similarly there are many types of traditional dances of Bhaktapur which are mentioned in the below table:

Traditional Dances of Bhaktapur and Thimi (Bode and Nagadesha)

Bhaktapur	Thimi	Bode
ØMahakali Dance ØLakhe dance ØMonkey dance ØKhyak Dance ØKawan(Skeleton)Dance ØDevi Daitya  Sangram (The  battle of Goddess and Demon) ØNavadurga Dance ØBhairav Dance ØGhintanghisi (The mass street) dance	Ø Mahakali Dance Ø Lakhe dance Ø Monkey dance Ø Khyak Dance Ø Kawan (Skeleton) Dance Ø Devi Daitya Sangram (The battle of Goddess and Demon) Folk Dances Ø Jyapu- Jyapuni (Dhimey) Dance Ø Indra Apsara (Nymph) Dance Ø Lusi (Pestle) Dance Charya Dances Ø  Manjushree Dance Ø  Bajrayogini Dance Ø  Pancha Buddha Dance Ø  Rakta Ganesh Dance Ø  Arya Tara Dance	Ø  Mahakali Dance (Nagadesha) Ø  Nil-Varahi Dance (Bode)