The Newari New Year celebration took place when we were in Kathmandu about 10 days ago. It's actually a 5-day celebration called Tihar. Although we didn't know much about what actually goes on during the festival or what it all means, it was still pretty exciting to be right in the thick of things, for Nepali people really know how to celebrate! We were actually in a smaller city, just to the south of Kathamandu, called Patan, which is a really fantastic old city. It was a former royal capital, has the most outstanding examples of Newari architecture (which involves incredibly intricate wood carvings and elaborate windows, etc.). Indeed, the structures around the main city center, known as Durbar Square (most cities have durbar squares... it's just a gathering place with tons of temples and stuff), were spectacular (see a few pics here).
On the eve of the New Year (which is the 3rd day of Tihar), both Kathmandu's and Patan's Durbar Squares were positively buzzing with activity. People were buying garlands made of marigolds to give to their families, as well as sweets and gifts for their siblings (one day of Tihar is dedicated to brothers and sisters, who exchange blessings and gifts with each other). The streets were so choked with vendors and shoppers that it was difficult to navigate and we were shoved, stopped, and trapped many times! On Laxmi day (the day that honors the goddess of wealth) of Tihar, the store fronts in Patan (and presumably in Kathmandu and elsewhere) made these elaborate dye poser displays. First, they lay down some red clay from the Kathmandu valley, which is supposed to connect them to their roots. Then they buy these fabuously bright dyes (in powder form) from street vendors in the Sq. They drop the dye down in these really amazing displays that go from the street, up the stairs, and to the store's cash register. For example, we saw footsteps walking into the store, flowers, dancing couples, animals, buddhist designs, and other, more abstract, desighns. They also set up candle and electric lighting displays in order to attract Laxmi to their homes and shops. This excessive demand for power is likely the reason we had power outages every day in Kathmandu and Patan! The topper of the week-long Tihar festival was that every night, despite a government ban, people were blowing firecrackers and fireworks all night long off the roofs of their houses! I should also mention that besides Laxmi and the sibling days, there is a day to honor crows, one for cows, and one to honor dogs, who get marigold garlands of their own and tikkas (the orange mark on the forehead, which is a good luck blessing).
On a totally unrelated note, I wanted to mention that we saw something quite foreign to us the other day. We're currently in Pokhara (it's about 200 km west of Kathmandu), and the views from everywhere in the city of the Himalaya are probably better than the mountain vies of any other city in the world; from here, we can watch the sun go over 8 peaks, all 6997 m or taller, including at least two 8000 m peaks (Dhaulagiri and Annapurna I are two of the 10 tallest mountains in the world)! Anyway, two days ago, in the middle of the afternoon, a police van led a march filled the streets and sidewalks of the lakeside area of Pokhara; they were heading south (towards the police station, I guess). A huge group of people of all ages followed (kids in school uniforms, teens, adults, womend, old folks... the whole town!). They were all shouting and most looked pretty pissed off. In the middle of the crowd (actually, close to the police van), was a man in only shorts and shoes, covered from head to toe in a black goop, with chains and shoes draped around his neck. He was most likely tied at the hands, too, but I don't recall. When I asked a shopkeep what the fuss was about, he siad that the guy was a child rapist and that you can be executed for that in this country. Although I'm not sure what the judicial system is like here, public scorn of criminals (was he even convicted? how do they even know if it was the right guy?) and a total lack of suspect rights is a really foreign concept to us as Americans. Perhaps he was being paraded straight to his death, or maybe to the police station for protection. Someone else told us that the insurgent Maoists were actually circling the man, protecting him from the mob of people who would have killed him in the street. In fact, we know that in Nepal, "justice" is usually served vigalante-style. When we first arrived here, two men were suspected of having kidnapped two kids. One was found dead, the other severely injured. The next day, one (or perhaps both?) of the suspects were beaten to death by a mob. It was not a scary experience, but so foreign and a rather frank and stark reminder that we're not in the States, where although the justice system isn't perfect, at least some people are trying to make it better.
Hope you all had a nice Halloween... they don't really celebrate that here in Nepal, but more than that, Justine and I will be missing out on the best American holliday, Thanksgiving. :( Even for us vegetarians, that's going to be a tough one to miss....
-Mike.
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