Celebration and partying in Nepal
are two very usual habits such as brushing teeth or washing the dishes.
Everything is pretext to a feast : the full moon, the many Hindu Gods, the
death anniversary of your grandpa… Each week, if not each day, something is
happening. It was time for me to write about one of the biggest events I’ve
been invited in so far : the Vo’Ye Newari Feast.
Vo’Ye in itself means
« feast » in Newari, the Kathmandu valley local language. The celebration
is « justified » (do they need justification ?) by the Indra
Jatra festival, the festival of the God of Rain. To this occasion, the Kumari,
the living Goddess, is getting out of her palace. What ? Who ? Ok ok,
let’s start from the beginning.
The Kumari is initially a little
girl, selected when she’s around two years old through a long and demanding
process, so she can become THE Nepalese living Goddess. For this job, she has
to fit in 32 qualities, which are roughly tested during the « recruiting
process ». Among others, all the applicant little girls are put aside
alone in a dark room filled with skulls for quite a while. The ones not crying
can get to the next level. Being a living Goddess is not easy !
Once « elected », the
little girl and her family move in a palace located on Durbar Square,
Kathmandu. She will get out of this palace only nine times per year, among
others during the Indra Jatra festival. Therefore this is so important !
The rest of the time, the little
Kumari is getting various teachings and can play with two or three children
that have been carefully selected. But the playing in itself is very
restricted. In fact, if the Kumari gets hurt and shows some of her blood, she
would instantly lose her divine quality. Therefore she lives in a very
protected cozy world and must not take ANY risk.
Logically, the Kumari remains a
Goddess until she gets her menstruations. At that moment, she and her family
are sent back home, with a nice retirement pension.
Some stories tell that marrying an
ex-Kumari brings bad luck… This can be understandable knowing that taking care
of an ex-goddess can be challenging ! Some Nepalese, shyly, explain that
marrying a girl you have been worshipping before is too weird : does she
go to the bathroom like everybody ? How can you kiss her normally ?
Now that you know who the Kumari
is, we can come back to the story of the Indra Jatra festival and to the Vo’Ye
feast. During the afternoon, my colleagues and I dressed up as true Newari
people and went for a tour through the streets of Thamel, to reach Durbar
Square. There, we waited under the rain for quite a while. « The Kumari will come in 30
minutes ! » someone said. Two hours after we were still waiting. This
is a typical example of Nepali time line, where minute = hour and hour = day.
Anyway, goddesses do what they want, right ?
In the meanwhile, the square got
packed. People in colorful saris, waiting, laughing, chanting. A lot of music,
and some « protector spirits » dancing around or running away… That
was almost a show. Then we felt a huge excitation : the three chariots of
the Kumari were living the palace ! The first one was carrying a little
girl representing Ganesh, the second one a girl representing Bairav, and
finally the Kumari HERSELF… The three girls are surrounded by men throwing
sacred flowers to the crowd. The woman behind me grabbed me to keep her balance
and to get a flower. I got one, so I offered it to her. She was so happy that
she wanted to fix my hair. Nepalese are real fun, you know.
Apparently not the three girls on
the chariots tough. They actually didn’t smile at all : « if the Kumari smiles, it’s a terrible
sign for us. It means it could be earthquake, or huge storm ». I must
confess it was a bit special to see these girls, all between 5 and 7 years old,
being so richly dressed up and being so incredibly serious, almost severe. But
it was a very strong moment, we could really feel the uniqueness of the
instant, as we were carried by the enthusiasm of the crowd !
After that, we drove to an old
palace to start enjoying some Newari food… 18 flavors in total. Good, we were all
hungry enough ! We sat on the floor, got served in leaf plates, and ate
with the right hand, Nepali style ! Alcohol (rice beer and 60% strong life
water) was abundantly served in clay cups (apparently it absorbs the water part
so only the alcohol is left…). Then the serving process started :
many women dressed up Newari style began to go around with dishes : boiled
egg, smoked fish, bars (deep fried lentil patties), hakku chhoila (smoked
buffalo meat) and yoghurt… The list was long! No need to precise that we had a
lot of fun J
After the dinner, some dances were
performed, while we sat and started digesting (long process, that will last the
all night………). Very typical Newari evening, the kind that brings you into a
culture, the kind that no other tourist can get… Unique !
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