STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF ART «31
Center for Advanced Study in t
Visual Arts
Symposium Papers XV
Urban Form and Meaning in South Asia:
The Shaping of Cities from Prehistoric
to Precolonial Times
See iR S icttt
Edited by Howard Spodek and Doris Meth Srinivasan
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Distributed by the Unversity Press of New England
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Hanover and London 1993NIELS GUTSCHOW
Abuteinich/Bhakeaper
Bhaktapur: Sacred Patterns of a
Living Urban Tradition
be origin of the Newars, the inhabitants of
Bhaktapur and four other towns as well as,
some smaller settlements in the Kath-
‘mandy valley, is still rather obscure, Like~
wise we know little of the background
from which their specific urban life-style
and clustered architecture deve.oped. The
structute of their language points to
Tibeto-Burman origin, but sine: they set
tled in the Kathmandu valley roughly two
millennia ago, the Newar urban culture
was very much exposed t0 a strong influ:
tence from the south
By the end of the first millennium 4.0
three cowns had already develeped im the
valley—Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, and Pa-
tan—as well as 4 few villages. At times,
these towns served as centers of small, in
dependent, and, since the fiftzenth een
tury, competing kingdoms with lictle
hinterland. A specific townseape with pub-
lie squares, temples, and shrines in abun-
dance and with complex urban situals
developed in the sixteenth and seventeenth
century. It centered in Bhakuapur under
king Bhopatindremalla in che early eigh:
teenth century.
‘Although essentially urban in character,
more than half of the Newar towns’ popu.
lation (in Bhaktapur, 63 percent) is engaged
‘in agriculture, which, since a recent land
reform and the introduction of imported
fertilizers, yields richer crops, thus leading
to a far-reaching restructuring of society.
‘The affluence of the eighteenth century,
however, seems to have been based upon
trade along the ancient route leading from
North india (Patna, ancient Pataliputra) co
Tibet (Lhasa) across the fertile valley.
Moreover, specialized crafts ike bronze
casting, mint privileges, and the produc-
tion of oil led to considerable exports.
Probably by the sixth century a., Bud
ddhism had been widely adopted among the
Newars, while che cult of the ruling dy-
nasty followed patterns set by she Hindu
Kingdoms of the neighboring Gangetic
plains, About 250 seventh and eighth-een:
tury eaityas, small Buddhist votive build
ings, remain today, mainly i the urban
centers, as a manifestation of an early ur
ban development, Alter the fourteenth cen:
tury the valley underwent 2 process of
change: oyal decrees promulgated a strati-
fication of society as accepted by the neigh:
boring kingdom of Mithila, and a gradual
Sansktitization set about a steady change
‘of values—a process that continues today.
‘The spatial patcerns of the towns mirror
the hierarchic principle of the accepted so
cial order: in all towns the royal palace
with its important temples dedicated 0
the royal cule marks the “ideal center," the
pivot of an order that reflects the cosmos
lig. 1). Around this center cluster the dif
ferent castes. Near the palace live
Brahmin—priests and descendants of the
former courtiers [Amatya ministers, Bhan.
dari storekeepers) in spacious three-story
courtyard houses.’ The Untouchables,‘bite couryard bauer Toe
dwelling on the edge in small
hats next to the cremation grounds
sent an opposite world, They are not, how
ver, excluded from rituals. As caretakers
(dyabpalah) of important gods and god
desses, they play a vital role
Since the emergence of a Nepali nation
under the currently ruling Saha dynasty
that conquered the valley in 1769, the
Newar towns have been deprived of their
own Kings. Subsequently, che royal cults
ceased to be performed. The sword as sym-
bol of kingship and power is nevertheless
evident in certain rituals, symbolizing the
raewly centralized power. Although Henry
‘Ambrose Oldfield, the surgeon of the Brit.
{sh mission in Kathmandu, wrote in 185s
‘hat che urban rituals and big festivals were
considered less pompous than they used
be.) the festivals remain forceful events
leven today. Certain parts ofthe rituals may
no longer be performed, but the quarrel
about the right size and color of che saci
cial animal continues as an inevitable ac
companiment of any ritual. The fact that
the ritual bas to be performed to renew the
spatial and spiritual qualities of the human
settlement remains unquestioned.
Legend ascribes the foundation of Bhak
tapur to Raja Anandadeva, a king who ruled
from us? t0 66 in the Transitional period
Most probably the low ridge running paral:
lel to the Hianuimante river was the site of
umber of small settlements since che
early Licchavi period (third century). What
legend calls the “foundation” of Bhak
apart thus may well have been a unifies
tion of these villages by means of a ritual
involving a ceremonial circumambulation
pradaksind|, a consecration of Matrki
shrines, and the establishment of « palace
as the seat of kingship. The main road with
the two main squares (Taumadhi in the
‘west and Tacapah in the east, see figs. 2-5)
forms the winding axis of the town, a lin:
tear center of commerce and erade even to
day. Running below the ridge, it generally
‘keeps t0 a height of 1,330 meters. AC inter
vals the street widens to form a number of
squares that occasionally tura into stages
forthe performance of the important urban
ninuals. The palace with the temple of Tal-
eu, the lineage goddess of the Malla
(fourteenth-eighteenth century), and its
spacious palace square ere, in marked com
‘yast to the town planning as taught by the
Silpasasteas, not located in the geographic
‘center ofthe town but on the northern pe-
riphery, on a prominent spot ofthe ridge."
‘The Town as Sacred Realm
‘The territory of che town is experienced on
ifferent levels. One principal conceptionsees the city a8 a whole as a sacr
fenced off against che demonie surr
country whose evil spirits must be re
pelled. Although chete is no wall to delin
‘ate the sacred realm, the edge of the town
is very well accepted and demarcated in
death rituals; whoever builds a house out
side this magic border is excluded from the
traditional procession routes to the crema
tion ground.® He is forced to cary the
corpses of his family members through ¢
fields down to the eremation grounds along
the river Hanumante, Ritually speaking,
that family is no more a member of the
sacred community. In the modern urban
spraw|of Kathmandu a different solution is
sought: the corpse is first brought to the
ancestral home of the family (kulche) and
starts the formal death procession from
(On another level of ritual experience
there is a firm notion of a division of the
town into cwo antagonistic halves. The
‘upper," eastern area is the old part of the
town with a traditional sense of superi-
rity; the
dates the palace and the craditional
Brahmin quarter as well as the temples of
the divine couple (Bhairava and Bhadsa-
kali. Ie also contains congested farmers!
quarters and
town in the eighteenth century. Although
ritually included in the city, the chree
westernmost quarters lack a proper rel
gious infrastrueture. In many annual tit
tals the upper town opposes the low
aggression and destruction scem to syit
holize the moment of erisis in the wake
renewal, The aim of such rituals sto
come the dissolution of the given onder
cognize the antagonistic elements as
component parts of a single sacred spac
Ii we move down in the hierarchy of ur
ban sp {san awareness of the divi
sion of the town into twenty-four quarters
The number vwenty-four implies a com:
plex notion of time and space, as itis made
of three times eight (symbolizing the
eight directions aad thereby space) as wel
symbolizing the
month of the year and thereby the eyelie
quality of tim
Thus every quarter is part
Individually, how
in itself, represent
ing that level of urban space in which
people experience ritual as a daily perfor:
mance. Only rarely do they leave this
sphere to participate in the dominating ur
ban rituals of renewal, New Year (Bisket
iat) in April or Dasat in October,
Invariably a quarter (tvah) is centered
around a square, more or less spacious. Its
usually paved and serves various. agri:
cultural and commercial purposes: during
and after harvest itis a threshing g
space for winnowing grains, for drying rice
paldy and chilli. In the potter's quarters
turbaked jars and pots are dried in the sun
Here women prepare the warp belore wea
Almost all squares are Hemmed in byVisually not important, yet not less
powerful, is the level of guardian god:
[Ksetrapala) and demons (Chvasaajima,
Kaladyah, Cvakiajima, Lapidyah, Dva
od by plain feldstones on
will be used by local musie groups or b
Brahmin who recites
ing o the season. A shrine
anunhevn stone (such seat 0
called pith), will inevitably form
yea demons, the guardian
add to the infra- stone [Pikhalakhu} in front of
the nearest street crossing (to propitiate
b, the gods
i structure of the quarter
house,he evil spirits there}, and the shrine of
Ganes. Many people extend their daily
pid and visit the nearest shrine of one of
the Mother Goddesses [Matrka), who pro-
vide the most etfective protection against
any threat and disease
he essential clic forthe deter
of the boundaries of these quarters is pro-
vided by the pattern of
‘rounds. Specific rules govern the pa!
fof the corpse on a bier along specific
and streets, These routes spread like arte
ries ofa body along ever-finer paths, Quar.
ters can be identified as "catchment areas
from which the procession leads toa larger
road, then to the main road, and finally :9
he cremation ground |masn ght].
‘The quarter processions (evah mutkegu
ra) of the Navadurga, re
sentations of Durga, accompanied by four
protective male gods in their “living” rep.
resentation as mask-bearing mem!
the Gatha community, identify the &
tory of the quarters on a different level
Starting from Magha Sammker
equinox), the Navadurga vi
twenty-iour quarters in a fixed
schedule before they die as thelr masks a
semated) with the beginning of the rains,
The fact that chree quarters are not visited
by the Navadurga can only be explained by
4 succession of historie events: the danc
(of the Navadurga was introduced by king
Savarnamalla in AD. 1515 while the for
mal division of the town into twenty-four
(gaarters reflects an organi
the extension ofthe cown in the west at the
beginning ofthe eighteenth century. Obvi
ously a royal ritual would have been
needed o adapt the Navadurga ritual to the
con following
new organization of space
Quite often the processional routes of
the Navadurga end at the boundary of a
quarter, halting a an invisible barvier. The
same is true for the processions of the
ieonic representations of the Astamatrka
fs well as owenty-four other gods end go
desses of even smaller territorial units that
are kept in god-houses (dvahche, see fig 6)
Inside the urban certicory to complement
the noniconic representation atthe shrines
[plzh| beyond the urban edge. On New
Year's eve chey are brought to their respec:
tive shrines as if return
origin, their primeval state of existence
With the beginning of the New Year they
are carried through the quarters to demon.
strate their renewal and continued exist
ence in town. Indeed, the presence of the
gods seems to ensure the continuance of
the cosmos in its microcosmic scale, the
town of Bhaktapur.
Levels of Awareness
Ditierent levels of awareness exist as to the
perception of the sacred quality of the
town's territory. The initiated priests, Tan
tie (Acaju or Karmacaryal or Brahmin
RRajupadhyayal, perceive a complex nev
work, They are the only ones who can
tunily the councless details to form an inner
image of which no one else in town is
aware. The ritual specialists exist to fulfill
quirements fixed by tradition, ritual is
essentially something to be performed, not
to be understood. These priests know who
‘must participate in each ritual and at what
specific time of the year. The participants
perform without asking futile questions o
funccion and meaning
The different seasons of the year (refing the agricultural calendar), the different
religions (Hinduism and Buddhism), and
the different status groups have their spe
cific rituals and their specific places of ret
erence. Sometimes one oF the ather aspect
dominates the performance: musicians, for
instance, worship the gods of music
(Nasahdyah and Haimadyab) of the quarter
oftheir place of rehearsal, regardless of the
caste membership and the location of the
households of their members. Generally
people know only their own rieual needs,
Sctivities, and locations; they have no
comprehensive view of the whole
‘the mind of the Western scholar th
transcends the boundaries of -ime, space
society, and religion, The emerging picture
of religious ritual tends to be additive. Ev
‘more practices come to light that are per-
formed to manage the problems of this,
‘world: bith and death, pollution, diseases,
and bewitehment, Therefore the protec
tion of the Mothers, the Marka, are
sought, and evil forces are continuously
propitiated, On this level we have to take
{nto account those many stones in open
turban space that represent the abodes of
different classes of demons, Prominent
among these is the Chviss stone, which
receives polluted objects at the time of
death
Beyond the tiny world ofthe quarter and
the daily routine, there isa common ritual
background that the entire population of
Bhaktapur accepts as the binding force of
community awareness. Everybody cakes
part in the two important urban rituals of
fenewal: New Year [Bisketatra, on 14
‘April, the spring equinox) and Dasai, the
harvest festival before full moon in Octo:
ber. Groups from all castes perform desig
nated duties, and everyboly takes a
purifying bath on the moming of
Fivadasami of Dasat (the tenth day of the
waxing moon in October, the day of
Durgi's victory) to celebrate the reenact
ment of Durga’s mythic victory over the
batfalo-demon Mahisasura, Everyone also
celebrates the slaying of the two demon:
snakes by a legendary prince who thus
berated a_princess and established his
kingship in Bhaktapur. Crisis md chaos are
thus overcome, renewing the inherent cos
mic order of the town. Mythic events are
reenacted and experienced by the commu:
nity as a single body. Religious and social
barriers fall asthe town serves asa stage for
people and gods alike. The major urban rit
tals of renewal follow strongly Hinduistic
patterns, but in their local versions they
convey a strong feeling of syncretism. The
gods involved. are essentially mani
tions of “place”; they represent the
loci. This quality becomes understandable
and even tangible as itis named and has @
forma stone
‘The following sections provide a rough
overview of the different levels of im
dividual and collective experience. The
mandala symbolizes the esoteric Brab-
manic level of knowledge, the cibhahpai
the collective experience of the Buddhist
community. The New Year festival is an
turban ritual in which che whole commu:
nity experiences the renewal of the world.
‘The aetwork of Chvasa stones explains the
necessity of an infrastructure for avoiding
pollution. Finally the gods of music
[Nasahdyeh and Haimadyah) make clear
how a specific spirit creates ever-new
Tevels of communication: narrow holes is,
brick walls serve as passages for the
ephemeral sounds of instruments, allow
ing their music to eross the whale town.
Protective gods and menacing d
abound on urban territory. The balance of
the positive and negative powers estab
lishes the well-being of the community
ang the further existence of the micro
cosmos, which the town of Bhaktapur
presents
‘The Mandala
Spatial units of any seal
ing, a town, or even Bharata, the whole
subcontinent—are mizrored in mandalas
These are inner images that reveal the
‘quality or essence of space in a formal pic
ture based on a square and organ
around a center. The crossing center lines
‘may well be understood as theit basic im-
age of the cosmos. For Bhaktapur, the
mandala is the inner image as a reflection
‘of cosmic order and its transformation into
the reality of urban space. It brings fity
different gods and goddesses into a spatial
single buildrepresentations) and
temples (iconic representations} surround
the saered center. The idea of a spatial
mandala did not precede the town. On the
contrary, the mandala mirrors an already
existing “world
the real” image of an otherwise confusing
reality, Ie gives order to the unordered “1
tral” topography of a spatial setting. Basi
configurations of the mandala may be es
tablished hy means of a royal decree of a
royal ritual. Other configurations are sec
‘ondary and exist only in the mind of the
ritual specialist, che Brahmin. Ie depends
fon his. ingenuity to develop complex
mandalas like the one given as figure 7. Tt
iva [h
als
Js his knowledge that enables him to un:
fold the sacred diversity and bring it into a
The most i
ortant element of Bhak:
tapur's mandala isthe group of the
Astamitrki, the Mother Goddesses repre
sented by rough stones without any icono-
sraphic trait (fig. 8|. It is their noniconic
representation at their shrines (pith) that
attracts the attention of the people, while
their iconic representations are kept in
side the town in so-called god-houses
(dvabchés). Such patterns may be under
a variation of the ancient Hindu
idea of the Dikpalas, in which each of the
eight regions of the world is guarded by a
ular god. In Bhaktapur the shrines of‘1 ig. 0] has no siglicanee fer
eight places mack the points ofthe Com. For them the ufban space, the world they—TRKUNDA GaNESa
CAR GaNEsa
a ASTABHAIRA
TAMATRKA
TRIPURASUNDART
inhabit, i= mir 2 and
Sdentical with it, There is no contradiction
between the ordered image (fig. 7) and the
‘unordered topographic reality (fg. 1)
‘Apart from the gods of
angle of the diagram, the
the only group of gods that is experienced
n a ritual action, During Dasa, the impor
tant festival that marks the rice harvest,
the shrines of the Astamatrka are visit
by the people on eight consecutive days,
starting with the sbrine of Beakmzyant or
the day after new moon in September. The
main road serves as a kind of backbone
from which the daily processional routes to
the shrines radiate (fig. u). It is only during
this eight-day festival chat people become
aware of mandalic qualities of space. By
touching the edges of their sacred territory,
the protective power of the Mothers is re
newed, The mandala represents the eso
teric level of understanding the human
environment, which usually is accessibl
‘nly to initiated persons; during Dasai the
people unknowingly follow a path to the
essence ofthe mandala,
The idea of the mandala conveys
strongly the Hindu notion of cosmic order,
‘We may thus call this level of spatial expe
rience the Brahmanic leve
‘The New Year Festival: Bisketjatca
Since time immemorial the occasion of the
spring equinox has been consideced appro
priate and auspicious for celebrating the
beginning of the New Year as a festival of
renewal, 4 cosmo-deama? The festival
commemorates the foundation of Bhak
tapur by a foreign prince who was vested
with a sword as the symbol of kingship by
the goddess Bhadrakalt and became king of
the territory by liberating a princess who
was in the power of two demon-serpents,
300 To00M| Aan .
bro
Through many years the princess had
called for a young man to marry ber, but
every night the suitors were killed by the
two demon-serpents who appeared from
her nostrils while she was asleep. The fol
lowing morning the corpse ofthe murdered
suitor had to be brought down to the cre
‘mation ground on a bier. By killing the
demon-serpents, the foreign prince con
uered a tercitory symbolized by the un
married princess who could not hold a
husband.”
“The different episodes of che legend are
reenacted even today, thus renewing the
foundation of the town every year o
very occasion of Biskeriatra. On a diffe
jevel the ritual also reflects the creation of
the whole universe. In chis context the
pole of World Tree (newari yabsi), which
fn New Year's eve is erected on the open
square [Yahsikhyah) at the banks of the
fiver (fig. 13), represents the dhvaja (pole)
2.
tush
by which Indra pushed heaven and earth
asunder to create the universe. The eree:
tion of the World Tree reenacts this event
and thereby renews the cosmic qualities of
the place, the town of Bhaktapur.
‘From the pole, which forms across at the
upper end, hang two banners that symbol:
ize the slain serpents (fig, 13). A small hil
lock nearby represents the heap formed by
the bodies of the dismembered serpents,
recalling perpetually che victory of the
founding of the town, Besides these rather
static events another ritual reenacts the
last death procession from the palace to the
river at the time when the demon-serpents
were killed, a bier was already waiting for
the dead body of the prince to be caken £0
the eremation ground. As the prince sur-
wived, a pot [called bhdid) was placed on
the bier (khaked) instead of bis corpse. It
was carsied to the river [fig 14) and placed
beside Bhadeakalis pith on Now Year's eve‘The bier, called bhdjdichabed, is the only
surviving example of that ancient form.
“That fact reminds us that ritual always pee
serves a multitude of historical notions
Through the Bhdjdkhahca ritual the lex
dary victory of the prince over the demon.
pent i still remembered today
Creation isthe basic theme of this fest
val. On New Year's eve, the iconic repre
sentations ofthe gods and goddesses return
to their place of origin, their pith in open
shrines, where they are epresented in theit
primordial, noniconic form by stones,
Moreover, the two halves of the town in
dulge in & fierce battle when hundreds of
farmets pull the ceremonial chariot, in
which Bhairava has co be brought to the
festival ground, in both directions. People
from the upper town pull eastward and
people of the lower town pull westward
(On New Year's eve the chariot muse reach
ts final ritual destination, so then the
shafe is directed toward the west, This ac:
tion symbolizes the disintegration of the
aceepted order, as destruction precedes the
following renewal af the cosmos
As menacing chaos characterizes the
nding year, so the beginning of the new
year is experienced as a liberation. As the
princess of the legend is liberated from evil
forces, the town and its people are saved
from chaos. With the heginning of the new
year, the iconic representations of the gods
return, as if newly bor, to their god
houses (dyahehés) a
ried through their respeetive quarters. This
procession of the quarter (tvah muskegu
jaced) brings the gods to the people, while
three days later the people move ‘ow:
the gods, who on that day represent the
sacred infrastructure of the town in its en:
tirety, Along a winding processional route
through the town, across the squares of
twenty quarters and along seven of
eight dyaichés of the Astamatcka, thir
four gods are worshiped in theit iconic
Although strongly influenced by Hindu
concepts of creation, che Bhaktapur ver
sion of the cosmo-drama transcends bar
5 of religion. The primeval foundation
fof the town, of the human environment, is
x having been earcelebrated, the renewal of cosmie time and
space is reenacted. The festival becomes
the focal event of an “urban religion”—the
teligion of the place that binds people of
her, Virtually
ing bath ax the
couple Bhairava
every creed and caste 10,
everybody will take a pur
aghat, worship the div
and Bhadrakalt (remember the central
langle of the mandala) beside the still stand:
‘ng World Tree, and return inco town, like
the gods, “newly born." Ritual has accom.
plished the precondition of furcher exis
fence: social integration and continuity of
time and space,
Worship of Buddhist Votive Buildings:
Cibhahpais
About 20 percent of the population of
Bhaktapur is Buddhist, a fact that be
sequences mainly on the
Of passage ad the worship of the clan god,
when Buddhise priests are called as ritual
specialists. For Buddhists, the awe-inspi.
ing images of Mabikala represent the
suardiaa gods located noe at the periphery
of the town bur along the main squares and
streets as well as at the entrance to those
filceen former monas (bahah and
buh} that form he basic Buddhist infra
structure of Bhaktapur
The objects of daily worship for the Bud
hists remain the ninety-three amall vo
tive buildings called caityas, of in Newari
cibhahs, located mainly in the courryards
fof these fifteen monasteries, These eaityas
‘may, like the seats of che gods, be under
stood as noniconic representations of the
quality of “place.” They represent, as John
Irwin has pointed out, not just the cosmos
bbut che act of the cteation of the cosmos.
The domes ofthe small buildings represent
the primordial mound floating on the cos
mic ocean, Like the pole of Biskeriacea, the
central tree symbolizes the pillar with
which heaven and earth were pushed asun-
det, The pillar was also conceived as the
peg with which Indra riveted the primor
dial mound to the botiom of che cosmic
thus stabilizing the univ.
providing orientation, as the Astamatrka
‘dg on che level of the mandala,
In Bhaktapur, a cata is not only @ sym
bol ofthe general act of ereation bi
image of the primeval stopa, of the Kath-
manda valley, the Svayambbanath, which
ages ago was built to cover the myth
us flower on top of a mountain when the
valley still formed a prehistoric lake, the
equivalent of the cosmic ocean. The
yyambhanath stapa symbol
ation of the microcosms, the valley wich
is urban civilization
The ninety-three caityus of Bhaktapur
are, like all other stapas of the Buddhist
‘world, worshiped by means ofa ciccumam:
bulation (pradaksina), which reenacts the
curse ofthe sun as the symbol of continu:
ity of time. Once a year, on the occasion of
the Buddhist month of gifa (August
whenever a new caitya is established—all
caityus are visited along a processional
route that differs fom the usual prade
Kssaapathe of other urban risuals (fig. 15
‘The Buddhist procession circumambulates
all caityas individually and collective
The urban space in a sense forms a super
caltya, the pri
ses the cre
Death Ritual
hus far we have dealt with rituals per
formed each year throughout the whole
own ora quarter. On quite adiferent level
there is yet another concept of local ter
ory celebrated in local rituals. There ate
altogether approximately 180 Chvisa
stones in town, located exclusively in pub
Tie spaces, on squares, or on street cross
ings. These stones, only a fow of which
hhave carved patterns like a lotus flower,
have manifold functions, As Chivasa they
‘mark the spot where three unbaked bricks
are placed ia the death ritual (kaciapa
vaygu). Here a small woven bamboo mat
with some clothes are discarded |chvasa
vygu) the moment the corpse is carried to
the cremation grounds. Immediately a
member of the low Jug caste comes and
collects the polluted objects [fig 16). The
Jugi have a shrine of Gorakhnath as their
place of worship and do not eremate their
eceased members but bury them at the
dipa, the burial ground across the river (ig
17}, These Chvasa stones, as Kalahajima,
receive part of the food prepared for the
{dead sou! and for the many offerings in caseof certain diseases. As Chvs
Stones will receive the aftevbirth pire
raygu}. Some stones will serve all four
functions, some only one o
purpose we will consider only the chvasa
vaygu actions, for which 134 stones could
be identified with theis respective tezitory
(tig. 1)
Every household knows exactly where to
discard the polluted objects, end every Tugi
family knows with which household a ri
tal relation has been established for man
‘aging various problems of pollution at the
time of death. The moment the objects are
discarded, a family member will inform
fone of the thirty-seven Jugi fmilies [orga
nized into six different groups) who hold
rights to collect the discarded objects
Some of these Jugi hold rights at only one
Conversely, the territory of some stones
belongs” to a single Jugi, some co three
different jugi who divide the terriory up
jong them, Quite often this division
changes, as the rights at stones have a mar
kot value, In 1986 a fugi bought che rights of
cighty houses
five hundred
twenty dollars at that time.
‘As there is a fixed household stone rela
tionship and a strict notion 7
ing the discanded objects (and sub-
sequent feasts in the concerned house
holds), the boundaries of the cerricory of
the stones ean be identified only by a cri
cal survey of households and Jugi families.
‘sin so many aspects of ritual life, the
CChvasa stones make clear that ritual isell
provides order. In a living urban tradition
like Bhaktapur's, ritual is decisive. No for:mal control is necessary; the duties and
Fights need no official administration. The
(question arises: What do
fious stones in the street represent! AS in
so many cases when an individual ritual
fcr is concerned, the answer appears to be
manifold, The general customer” has no
answer at hand, Traditions have told im
or her to act in death ritual in order to
avoid pollution. In other cases she ithe
head of the household) follows the advice
fof the midvite (aj) who also acts as
Tocal healer. The midwife, however, has @
e elaborate answer. She says that the
sa houses three gods: Pucwdnakht on
the right, Dhanacea on the left, and Gur
‘umahird} (Siddhi Ganesa) in the middle
Pacvanakht is the main “gr
the Maaiima of the valley, and Dhanacva
(or Campadevi) is her younger sister. Both
have thee abodes on bigh mountain peaks
fon the rim of the valley, From birth co
Geath people owe them food, placed on a
smal dish [kala on the stone.
“The midwite says that she three are pow
erful enough to drag bhat, pret, and pisde
fonto the stone and control them there.
Bhat is a malignant spirie or goblin who
especially plagues those who omic to per
ethereal form assumed by a dead person be
|
tween the period of death and the entering
into heaven |deviloka), where he or she
seeks union with his ancestors (pitr
Pisae are demonic beings represented by
the roaming souls of suicides and those
Twhose funerary rites have not been per
formed. Hence the three have to be propiti
ated to prevent the harmful demons from
‘moving about a¢ twilight, frequenting de
Seited houses, strect crossings, and door
ways, The existence of so many Chvasa
with an identifiable territory makes
bat this notion of space and danger is
not an abst
that people have to tackle in their immed:
ate neighborhoods
‘To make sure that all prets have recelved
their share and that all ghosts and demons
propitiated, «collective sacrifice is per
ormed on the occasion of pisaccarhe [new
‘moon in March, following the full moon of
Holi). In @ formal procession, which stacts
from the Taleju temple, a Dut (low caste
carries a lacge copper vessel with cooked
rice (bau) through the strcets. He throws
Jumps of rice onto the Chvasa stones and
all the other manifestations of the demonic
"The explanations offered by the mid.
wives are rooted very much in the tradi
tions of the Newars, Brahmins, followingBAKTAPUR—JUGI GUTH
—=— — __ a
f | :
t “ oe aaa)| TATHU NASAH \
i] oe
j I
}
the Siaaviya ho rprvens he ten TACGodsof Musi: Naabiyahand Real he
orms of transcendent knowledge and mag. ¥
C
In a way, the territory of che Chvisa festations of the seme principle. Nasah
stones represents not che order of the dyah represents creativity, sound a
cosmos but the risk and danger of everyday rhythm, Haimadyab, on the other hand,
fe. As people perform che necessary rites represents destructive forces, At drums,
‘of passage, they propitiate chose forces that Nasah’s hide is the high-pitched one,
constantly remind them of instability. The Haima’s the low. Nasahdyah and Haim
pattern of the Chvasa presencs an order idyah are worshiped daily in an esor
that is unchangeable. [tis nox known how representation that is temporarily installed
new Chvdsas may be discovered and anew in the homes of the musicians, hiddenE
Eg
other members of the household, Blood
sacrifices are performed at intervals of the
on the occasion of the
unity to perform for
ive quarters. The
aps of the town mostly ha
"of performance on porches (pha!
the squares. The location of the
square establishes a binding relationship to
a pair of Nasahdyah-Haimadyah of the
area. In this way we may identity in Bhake
apur two main Nasadyah, one in the up
per and one in the lower town with an area
that cavers seven formal quarters each (fig
fp). Besides these powerful Nasahdyah
there are six secondary ones that cover a
area of one or two quarters or only part of
guarter, such as the confined area of the
Untouchables. Fifteen more Nasahdyah at
twact regular worship on the oceasion of the
so-ealled piran
;pojd, when, at the en
their apprenticeship, twenty to thirty
Nasahdyah of the town ate worshiped col
lectively in the course of a procession. The
BHAKTAPUR-NASAHOVAH HAMADVASEcffect is similar to the procession on the
fourth day of New Year, when thirey-four
gods of the same “class” are worshiped or
‘when all nincty-the 8 of the tow
are worshiped. For musicians, likewise the
procession integrates all gods of the same
class, the gods of music.
in contrast to other classes of gous, the
attachment of music groups to certain
Nasahdyah does not constigute the "tert
tory" of the god in the sense that it hes
been discussed co this point. The gods of
music do not “rule” over territory like the
Astamatrka; they do not even have a smal
sphere of influence like the Chvisa or the
demons ofthe street crossings. Nasahdyah
and Haimadyah are, like s0 many othe
gods of Bhaktapur, of a noniconie form
However, they are not represented by «
stone—a material volume—but by holes in
the walls of buildings (fig. 20} and in one
ease by 4 hole in the pavement, For the
main Nasabdyah, this hole is enshrined in
acemple building. These holes provide pas
sages for the god as if the sound of music
c and transcend
weiate neighborhood. Most. pas
sages cross blocks and streets in a
‘west or a north-south direction [fig
few cases they are directed northwest, the
direction of the main Nasahdyah of the
Newars in a neighboring valley. Many
sages can be followed across a few houses
or blocks until they vanish, In some cases,
however, there is a notion among people
that passages lead across the town even
hough obstructing buildings do not pro-
vide proper holes
Conclusion
Urban space in Bhaktapur is the home of
people, gods, and spirits alike. Rituals are
Performed periodically to renew the
ach der and maintain the city as an
image of the cosmos. The gods of the ri
uals represent the qualities of “place” and
collectively stand for the sa
space. In addition to the urban
which twenty to thirty thousand people—
virtually the whole population—partic
'y smaller processions involve
only certain communities and only specific
‘roups of gods. Such processions reveal as
ects ofthe town’s qualities that are other
‘wise hidden and identify Brahmanic and
Buddhist traditions and communities
‘Transcending these distinct communities
are binding obligations chat incorporate
everyone. No matter of what creed or so
cial status, each person must propitiate the
spirits to ensure personal well-being and
that of his or her people. The status of
these spirits, which have identifiable
abodes, well-defined territories, and estab
lished routes, seems to be evidence af an
original Newar religion unchange:
(Great Traditions of the south,al
rea
Sareea
{
—
Q
Svamatall of the city aieientn century, Histo
Gutschow sod Thomas Severs, Techasche Hock,
‘chute Dace
Beieuge de Faesgunpe Stat
Basubala, “The Nevada of Paiktapu Spal fr
How the Navadoed Protest Rhakapue The Ee.
oat ntemationl sein, "Change tad Com
States in the Nepalese Cultte ofthe Kathmanbe
ey Wane pf, Stackholm. The proceedings wil
hed Wy the Cento Piemontese d Staal
1. René Girard has cust length how
Seni crite’ Vence and the Sore baltimore