notallgone

16/01/2021

~Atko Narayan Temple~
(Temple that is believed to have a special power to identify the s*x of an unborn child)

Atko Narayan temple is situated some 200 meters west of the Hanumandhoka Durbar Square.

Apart from its historical and archaeological importance, the centuries-old temple of Lord Bishnu, built more than 400 years ago, is known among the local residents as an important sickbay for women with pregnancy-related problems. Taken as a replica of Bhaktapur’s Changunarayan temple, Atko Narayan, where lord Birinchi Keshav Narayan (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) is worshiped, is also believed to have a special power to identify the s*x of an unborn child. The process of s*x-identification goes this way.

Raw mustard oil is poured on the head of a pregnant woman facing the idol of Lord Vishnu. It is said that if oil flows downward the body through left, the unborn will be a boy. Even pregnant women from the then royal family used to be brought here to identify the s*x of unborn. This tradition is still alive among the locals, he said.

The three-tiered pagoda has two tile roofs. The upper tier is made of copper plates. Carved wooden pillars circulate the main chamber. Wooden struts from all direction support the roofs, a common characteristic of pagodas in the Kathmandu Valley.

The speciality of the struts of Atko Narayan temple is that they bear engraved images of all the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu. On the four corners there are heavy stone lion statues, each with a parrot’s beak and long mustache, in pouncing position.

Likewise, the dark chamber of the temple contains a small but beautifully carved stone image of standing Lord Vishnu with a conk shell, disc, mace and lotus in his four hands. A grand statue of Garuda can be seen kneeling in front of the temple, as a devotee of the God.

Historically, the temple’s construction was started by Rani Ganga Maharani, one of the queens of King Siddhi Narsingh Malla of Patan in 1586 AD, after Lord Vishnu in her dream told the queen to do so. It is believed that the god’s advice was to help the common people in Patan and Kathmandu, for whom, it was very difficult to walk up to Changunarayan for worshipping lord Vishnu.

The temple was renovated with the generous support from the neighbours in 2002.
Photo: Tom Ragsdalde, 1973
Text: Ankit Adhikari, Kathmandu Post

28/05/2020

Reposting from

The Logic Behind Sithi Nakha (Part 2)

Integral to most Newa festivals is the seasonal cuisine. For Sithi Nakha feast tomorrow, Woh, pancakes of various lentils, are mandatory items. Together with red meat and other high-protein delicacies on the menu, the dietary intake of the season builds up one's strength to work hard in the fields the next several weeks for the physically taxing plantation season.
Even before Hinduism was established in the Kathmandu valley, the indigenous Newa people celebrated Sithi Nakha as an important day of the year in their agricultural calendar. Kumar, known locally as Sithi Dyo (Dyo=God in Newa) is worshipped devoutly. He rides the peacock, a bird that stays dormant in the previous months, but now comes out in when the pre-monsoon rains begin. Its master Kumar is the harbinger of monsoon rains.

Kumar is the rain child, representing water drops that fall on earth after months of gestation in the cloud mother goddess. This is derived from initial Vedic literature written as early as 1500 BCE.

Till today, the Newa celebrate Sithi Nakha, originally called Kumar Shasthi, to celebrate the 6th day of rain baby Kumar's arrival. His wooden image, housed in his abode (Dyo Chhen) at Nhugha in old Kathmandu city is offered ritual worship by devotees. The next day, the Kumar Jatra procession is held, where he is carried around the neighborhood. Later on, Kumar was assimilated into Hinduism as the warrior god, son of Shiva/Parvati.

As the rain baby Kumar has arrived on earth, the traditionally agrarian population of Kathmandu take a break from all festivals and other responsibilities. Taking advantage of the advent of the monsoon, they concentrate fully on planting rice paddy in their fields.

It is also the practice to build a handheld pinwheel almost like a toy, and place it on the window sill on Sithi Nakha. This paper "toy" is closely monitored for wind speed and direction as a means to forecast environmental conditions -- the weather being the most important factor that governs a good harvest.

Reference: Nepalese Seasons Rain and Ritual by Gautama Vajracharya

25/05/2020

Few moments of Eid al-Fitr being celebrated today. Reposting from
EId al-Fitr celebrations In Nepal ⁣
⁣
Muslims all over the country celebrate Eid al-Fitr festival on 25 May at home due to the lockdown implemented to stem the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan and is celebrated during the first three days of Shawwal, the 10th month of the Islamic calendar. ⁣
⁣
Narendra Shrestha/ European PressPhoto Agency.

24/05/2020

Digupuja Sampanna!

Digupuja/Deupuja/Dewali is an annual ritual followed by almost all the Newars, in and out of the valley, where main deities of the clan known as digudyo or ista devta are worshipped. This ritual falls during summer, and although I am not sure about the starts, ends with sithi nakha:
Although this puja is done with extended family, my family has always celebrated it withing ourselves from the time I can remember. Fufus and cousins arrive early in the morning or for sleepovers, and our home as well as the space that houses our digudyo are filled with laughter and noises. This hear, with , we did just a small simple puja, did conference call with kakas living abroad and called fufus. The samayabaji was also not elaborated as it used to be and we skipped on bhwey because I was lazy.
While digudyo are located in the outskirts of settlement and the puja/ritual itself becomes a reason to go for picnic, ours is at Bhagwan Baha:, the family monastery opposite the Chhaya Center.
Photo by

@ Bhagawan Bahal, Thamel, Kathmandu

24/05/2020

Repost
Buddha Blessed: Nepal celebrated the 2,564th Buddha Jayanti this week, under the lockdown imposed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.⁣
⁣
The occasion is celebrated throughout Nepal with a public holiday, peace rallies, and meditation programs. The day is auspicious to both the Buddhist and Hindu communities in Kathmandu Valley and the mountains. ⁣
⁣
In southern Kathmandu, Chhabahal, Patan, Saraswati Shakya (pictured) marked Buddha’s birthday differently this year. “We used to go to a rally, there would be thousands of people, and we would come together with our community…this year was just the family, and it was sad,” said Shakya as she walked to the temple to light butter lamps with her family. Shakya added, “Despite these strange times, many have come out to light butter lamps, and now our neighborhood looks festive with these burning lights.”⁣
⁣
Photo - Tripty Tamang Pakhrin
Text - Mallika Aryal

24/05/2020

Reposting from .
Many of us might have forgotten the day as days are being mundane with this pandemic.

Today is Sakela Ubhauli, Yakwa Tangnam, and Buddha Jayanti. Happy festivity to those celebrating.

Sakela (Rai) and Yakwa Tangnam (Limbu) festivals are essentially the worshipping of mother nature for good harvest.

24/05/2020

Reposting from
Observing social distancing and would-have-been jatra.
Not a big fan of the crowd when it came to the chariot procession. I would be satisfied with the photos in the newspapers, tweets, and posts in the Instagram. Didn't realise not having a festival that I don't really attend still affects a lot. Praying the Karunamaya for kinder days ahead.

17/10/2019

Happy Intangible Cultural Heritage Day!

Kathmandu. A rally and cultural program was organized to observe the Intangible Cultural Heritage Day by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation in October 17, 2019. The rally started from Nepal Tourism Board at Bhrikutimandap and then moved towards National Cultural Corporation at J

19/09/2019

Here's today's curiosity.

Few days ago I saw this picture all over my newsfeed (fb/Twitter) with caption as "cute Kumari" which I felt was misleading because this cute girl was dressed up as Kumari for a puja.

Now, personally, coming from my beliefs, all the girls till they hit certain age are Kumaris (usually till the time we celebrate their iih ceremony) and in my family we were worshipped as Kumari during Mohni.

And then there were pictures of a hotel or a restaurant where foreigners lined up to get Tika from another Kumari (but isn't worshipped by public).

What do you think?

P.S. the Lyaku Kumari of Basantapur I feel already overshadows the rest of Kumari of Kathmandu and there are so many stories but besides her, anyone know the stories behind the other Kumari? I know a bit about Kumari who kills the demon who was her lover.



Photo by Ameet Ranjit Photography

18/09/2019

Curiosity #2

I saw many restaurants/hotels doing their own Lakhey/Pulukishi. But both of these elements belong to different communities/guthis along with others. So I felt it was bit inappropriate to have a duplicate for entertainment. What do you think?



Photo by My Nepal, My Heritage