(This Bisaunadevi Temple Monument Event was organized in parallel with the event International Month of Monument for the month of September 2017)
A video recap is here:
Bisaunadevi Temple is located in Chhatradev Village Municipality of Arghakhanchi district, Lumbini Zone, Nepal. This temple is dedicated to the goddess Durga. As Dashain is the main festival of Nepal and each nine divine forms of goddess Durga are worshipped during the first nine days of the festival so the event date was fixed in such a way as to cover some glimpses of events happening around temple during the festival.
The 15 days long Dashain festival starts from the new moon and ends at fool moon day. As the worshipping by pilgrims is conducted in each days of Dashain but the 1st, 7th, 8th, 9th day and 10th day are more focused and popular. The first day of Dashain is called ‘Ghatasthapana’. Being an organizer it’s my fortune that the event date i.e. Sept 30, 2017 was not only the final day of the monument month but the 10th day of Dashain also. Not only constrained to the event date, I approached to the event area on the 7th day of Dashain (Sept. 27) with a bit disturbance on travelling due to landslide and started my early activities around the monument area from the 8th day of Dashain.
The 7th day of Dashain is called Phoolpati (Phoolpati are the collection of flowers and their leaves which are used to worship goddess). Not only here, but in all areas of Nepal Phoolpati is brought to Durga goddess temples from different nearby places.
The 8th day of Dashain is called ‘Mahaastami’. Being purified myself by taking a bath and wearing new clothes I had visited the place on this day early in the morning (around 7 am) with worshipping materials. As this note I wish to remember a slogan of localguideconnect i.e. ‘WHEREVER YOU GO, BE LIKE A LOCAL’. The favourable condition for me to be like a local at the moment was that where I was my birth place too.
The priest of the temple performed a worship to goddess Durga by the materials I had taken to the temple. I had visited the place at the night of the same day (10 PM – 12 midnight) with my dad also. In the 8th night of Dashain locals around the temple use to gather in the front of the temple and sing Bhajans ‘holy songs’. It continues till the whole night until the night turns out to morning (9th day of Dashain).
Morning is defined as the time when one will be able to see hairs on your hand by a naked eye in a clear sky. So here morning starts always before the sunrise. At morning of the 9th day of Dashain, iconic representation of goddess are taken out from the temple and placed in an open ground on temple area so that all the visitors can see and pray goddess Durga. This is the process of exposing dormant form of goddess to the liveliness. Nobody is allowed to enter inside the temple and touch the icons of Durga except the priest.
The 9th day of Dashain is called ‘Mahanawami’ . In this day animals and vegetables are sacrificed on the temple.
The 10th day of the Dashain festival is called ‘Bijayadashami’. It is the day of victory of goddess Durga over demon Mahisasur based on ancient myths. It is also said that god Rama had defeated demon Rawana in this day. Whatever, but it’s the day of victory of good over evil or virtue over sin. People use to take tika on their foreheads and blessings from their elders, and celebrate the whole day by gathering and eating different foods.
At the evening of the 10th day the icons of goddess Durga are taken back inside the temple and a special dance known by the name ‘SARAY DANCE’ is performed on the ground of Bisaunadevi temple area. With the completion of Saray dance the main events of the Dashain festival terminated in this temple. The morning worshipping is conducted for another next 5 days.
There are a lot of goddess temples, approximately one temple per one hill, at Arghakhanchi district. All temples are often located at the top of hill. The day of celebration just like 10th day celebration at Bisaunadevi temple varies from temple to temple. It can be either 10th day or 12th day or 15th day of Dashain but is specific for single temple. Also number of goddess icons can vary in number.
With this post I hope I am able to expose the Bisaunadevi temple, a hidden monument to the world, very well. As there were no other people participating as local guides this time again I managed to work again as ONE MAN COMMUNITY. This was a platform for me to tell other locals about local guides program. While taking videos there, one guy told me ‘You are shooting many videos. They will fill up your memory chip and later you will delete all of them’. I told him that I was taking videos for a purpose. And the purpose is now revealed. Thank you so much all of you for providing a great support while conducting ‘International Month of Monuments’.
Author’s opinion:
Nepal being very rich in cultures there are different festivals occurring in each month. But the Dashain is the main and longest festival. Citizens who are out of their home for different purposes return to their home to visit their family during Dashain. Unlike international trend, there is a mutual cohesion between people of all ages in rural areas of Nepal and which is even strengthened with various type of festivals like Dashain. Many tourists visit Nepal to watch the beauty of Himalayas, UNESCO heritage cites, cultures etc. and quote her as a heaven of the world. But there is another part of tourism: spiritual tourism. Ancient books like the oldest book of the world ‘Rig-Veda’ define Nepal as the place of gods. But only few tourists come to Nepal to feel the spiritual (divine) power by the method of Kundalini yoga, meditation etc. So this can be the new dimension to the people wishing to visit Nepal.
a lot!