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Gathamuga : Chase away demons
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| Ghantakarna |
One side of festival:
To mark the death of the demon called "Ghanta karna", every year a legendary drama is acted out on the streets as a part of the celebration during this festival.
An effigy symbol to demon made of green reeds is erected at all the main cross-roads(street intersections) of the town in the day. People hang their hand-made dolls on this effigy to protect themselves from bad spirits.
A person is painted in all kinds of colour till he looks like a grotesque figure representing the demon Ghanta Karna. This symbolic demon is called "Aaju Jaya",is served with beaten rice with curd under the effigy. He goes begging in the locality with burning torch of husk. At the end of the day he is dragged to a river on the green reeds symbolizing the driving away of the demon from
the locality. But "Aaju" escapes on the way.
An Another side of festival:
Muga means street intersection in Nepal Bhasa (Newari). In Newar Community, demons and other evil spirits are active in street intersections so they offer the ritual at there. At the evening, the eldest man of each house performs a tantric ritual of driving three-pronged iron nails ontothe main doorways of the house chanting mantras, while family members douse all rooms of the house with thick smoke from white and black mustard seed burnt over coal fire on a small clay pot.
While this procedure symbolically depicts driving away any remnants of malicious energy from the house, the mustard smoke doubles up as strong insecticide that undoubtedly helps eliminate unsolicited ticks and pests. Finally, an offering of cooked rice or bitten rice, husk and raw buffalo
lungs,along with Gathamuga swan (flower) known as Dronapuspa in Sanskrit is placed at the street intersection to appease the departed spirits, acknowledging that their services will be
solicited the following year.
Once this offering ritual, known as Bou Wayegu in Nepal Bhasa(Newari), is completed, the doors are locked up tight, and no one ventures out that night, as it is believed that practitioners of witchcraft
are especially active in visiting funeral grounds and other places of worship seeking dark knowledge that night.
On this day, people wear rings made of iron metal with a belief that it protect them from demon.
Girls put ‘mehandi’ on their palms for the same purpose. People eat ‘Samyabaji’ as ‘Prasad’ to avoid the impacts of bad spirits.
Myth about Gathamuga -Ghanta Karna:
According to a myth, there used to be a demon named Ghantakarna (Ear with bell) as he had a pair of bells on his ears (Ghanta means ‘bell’ and Karna means ‘ears’) who terrified the people by stealing children and women and demanding money and other gifts from the villagers.The farmers were very scared of him and did not dare to go out even in the planting season. The villagers were helpless. But one day a large number of frogs came to rescue the people from the tortures of Ghantakarna.
The frogs started to croak so that the demon got restless and tried to catch them, but the frogs
jumped ahead and led him towards the swamp and hopped into the water.
The demon also plunged into the water to catch the frogs, but the frogs swarmed all around his head and sank him and he drowned.
As a token of appreciation, the frogs are especially fed by the farmers on Janaipurnima. During this festival, farmers offer rice and lentil soup to frogs in gratitude for a good rain for farming and a token of appreciation for killing Ghantakarna. The ceremony is known as ‘Byan (frog) – ja (rice) – Nakegu (feed)’, or rice feeding of the frog.
