Gathaamuga Chahre (गथांमुगः चह्रे)
The indeginous people of Kathmandu valley , " Newa" are rich in their culture, tradition, customs, rituals, language, arts and so on. Newa are known to be the ethnic group with diverse culture and having much more celebrations.
Gathamuga, is also one of the main festival celebrated in Kathmandu valley and in every single Newa towns in Nepal. This festival is celebrated on Dillaagaa Charey, the 14th day after full moon, that is one day before no moon day during the month of " Dillaa", the 9th month of Nepal Sambat calander.
On this day , a dummy of bamboos or straws are made on intersections of roads and is considered to be the evil spirits, demon and ghosts. It is called as " Gathaamuga Khyaa" and is either burnt or is dragged down to river. The houses are cleaned up in morning and different rituals are performed inside a house. The firing ritual is one of the most important one where one lights up fire to a bunch of straw and takes around every corner of house and then finally it is put into a place somewhere nearby intersections. The dummy of evil spirits are made in every locality and once its dragged out or burnt , the special ritual goes out in night again. The people put " Bau paa " into intersections and after that they worship their main door with a special flower called " Gathamwo Swaa" and they nail the special three legged nail on the door. After that all the family member comes inside and then the doors are locked and it is said that it shouldn't be opened till next morning.
According to the folklores, this celebration is actually warding off the spirits and ghosts from the town. It is often said that there used to be a special tradition during " Akshaya Tritya " as well to invite ghosts and spirits to the town in old days which has been completely lost in present day. The ghosts and spirits were actually invited so that they could posses human and finish the work easily. In old days, Kathmandu valley was famous for its fertile land, its grains and food. Unlike today, people had to work very hard for growing crops and grains in those days. As rice was the main crop for every people, they used to focus a lot for paddy plantation and used to give a break from every festivals for a month which is known as " Sinhaa Jyaa". So to make the work easier, and fast they used to invite ghosts and spirits into house and they used to posses human body and work. But, it was not possible to feed the ghosts and spirits as its said that they never get satisfied. Thus, after the paddy plantations are finished, the ghosts and spirits used to be ward off from every house which is done in this festival.
This day is also known for wearing special rings made out of copper, bronze, brass or irons. The females also put henna on their hand on this day which is known as " Laichaa Chigu" in native language. It is believed that applying henna and wearing special rings will protect one from the effect of evil sprits and ghosts. It is also believed that people who have been learning witch crafts and black magics ends their learning officially on this day and they invite the spirits and ghosts that are ward off by people.
In present day, Gathamuga has been mispronounced as " Gathemangal" by non natives and it is also known as called as Ghantakarna in present day.Some experts argue this as a wrong way of linking Gathamuga with GhantaKarna. Ghanta Karna is a name of demon that is in Kaashi, India and is potraited with big eyes, wearing big and heavy ear rings with bell.
In addition, Gathamuga is not only a practice to ward of spirits but also logically a day to clean and personal hygine. People would have been busy with paddy plantations, and one doesn't get enough time to keep everything clean. Hence, the damp area of house like nooks and corners can easily get fungus all around and also, having nails also can lead to fungal infections. So, people clean up themselves by trimming their nails, bathing and taking a fire lit up with wheat-straw which gives more heat around thw corners of the house to get rid of fungus etc.
Lastly, whatever the reason may be, but this age old tradition still holds a important significance to every household of Newa people. The break time taken after Sithi nakha for plantation finally ends on this day and after two days of Gathamuga, another holy celebration of Gunlaa Dharma (गुँला धर्म) starts for a month !
Notes :
1. Dillaa (दिल्ला) is the 9th month of Lunar Calendar Nepal sambat.
2. Bau Paa (बौ पाः) is a special ritual done during the night of Gathamuga. In a terracotta pot, different things including a piece of meat, piece of nail, cloth, hair of every member of family, iron nail, incense, fire light etc are put and it is finally taken to intersections.
3. Gathamwo swaa (गथाम्व स्वाँ) is a main flower used for worshipping the door on this day. It is believed that it repells spirits and ghosts.
4.Akshaya Tritiya (अक्षय तृतीया) is considered to be auspicious day when Shiva and Parvati had married.
5. Laichaa Chhigu (लैंचा छिगु) is a native word for applying henna on hand. It is also called as Mehendi by non natives.
6. Gunlaa Dharma (गुँला धर्म) is an auspicious period specially for Newa Buddhist and overall community in which people visit to different Buddhist shrines along with different musical instruments, singing the hymn and praying. A month long melaa; a festivity takes place in Swayambhu, a holy place for Buddhists.
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