As virus curbs Nepal’s festivals, devotees fear gods’ anger

The revered dwelling goddess just isn’t leaving her temple this yr.

The previous palace courtyard full of a whole bunch of 1000’s of individuals annually through the Indrajatra competition is abandoned, the temples are locked and all public celebrations are banned by the federal government to curb the coronavirus.

Autumn is the competition season in predominantly Hindu Nepal, the place faith, celebrations and rituals are large components of lives, however folks this yr must scale down their rituals inside their properties.

Many on this Himalayan nation imagine they’d anger the gods by shunning the rituals — which might trigger disaster. Even violent clashes broke out between police and devotees defying authorities orders throughout a separate chariot competition south of Kathmandu.

A lockdown was ordered across the eight days when the canceled Indrajatra competition would have been held, and as an alternative, a small ceremony to hunt forgiveness from Indra, the Hindu god of rain, was held beneath authorities safety.

During the competition, Kumari, a lady revered because the dwelling goddess, is taken across the core a part of Kathmandu in a chariot pulled by devotees. After the cancellation, she by no means left her temple palace. Her chariot is locked within the shed and armed police guard the courtyards.

“There would be hundreds of thousands of devotees crowding the courtyard and streets during the festival which would have put so many of them at the risk of getting the coronavirus,” mentioned Kumari’s chief caretaker Gautam Shakya. “We had to stop this centuries-old festival for the first time ever.” Shakya and his household have been caring for Kumari for generations. A younger flawless woman is chosen from a single clan and is worshipped because the dwelling goddess till she is changed at puberty. High officers and commoners contact her ft to get her blessing.

A small group of devotees who slipped by means of the lockdown and safety to wish earlier than the dwelling goddess mentioned they wanted to proceed the custom adopted by their ancestors.

“The festival and Kumari is not just a tradition, it is our culture and a big part of our lives which we just cannot stop for anything, not even for pandemic,” mentioned Shanker Magaiya, a launderer who was in a position to supply flowers and sweets to the goddess.

Magaiya felt heartbroken by the cancellation, saying whereas they perceive the federal government order, they wanted to guard their faith, tradition and custom. “We have disappointed the gods and we need to keep the gods happy so we all can be happy and prosper,” he mentioned.

Nepalese authorities imposed a strict coronavirus lockdown in March that was eased in July. More than 76,000 folks have been contaminated and 491 have died. But the ban of out of doors festivals and non secular gatherings continues and temples stay locked.

Near Kumari’s temple, an enormous statue of Hindu deity Swet Bhairav is opened to the general public solely yearly through the competition. Devotees push one another to get a sip of the rice wine that’s launched from a pipe hooked up to the pinnacle of the statue. This yr, the doorways have been solely cracked open and a only a few folks have been fortunate sufficient to sip the holy wine.

(This story has been revealed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content. Only the headline has been modified.)

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