Newar life: guthi, jatra and the rhythm of the year

The original inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley towns are the Newar people, whose language is Nepal Bhasa (also called Newari). Newar culture — its cities, festivals, art, music, food and ritual — gives Thimi and Bhaktapur their special character. Sanothimi today is more mixed, but the Newar heritage is everywhere around it.

The guthi

The key to understanding Newar society is the guthi, a traditional association of families or members with a shared duty. There are guthis that maintain a temple, perform a particular festival, play music, look after a rest house, or carry out funerals. Membership often passes from father to son. Guthis own land or funds whose income pays for their rituals and feasts. Every chariot pulled in Bisket Jatra, every palanquin in Sindoor Jatra and every Nava Durga dance depends on guthis doing their work.

Modern life has put pressure on the guthi system — land has been sold, young people move away — but many guthis remain active, and new ones are formed to adapt tradition to modern needs.

Music

Newar towns echo with traditional music. Dhime drums, cymbals and long trumpets called pwanga accompany processions; the dha drum and bhusya cymbals lead religious songs. In Thimi and Bhaktapur, music groups practise in pati rest houses in the weeks before festivals, and young people are increasingly learning to play.

Rites of passage

Newar life is marked by a series of rituals. A child's first rice feeding (macha janku) takes place in the first months of life. Girls undergo two symbolic marriages before adulthood: ihi, a marriage to the god Vishnu in the form of a bel fruit, and bahra, a period of seclusion from the sun. Boys go through kayta puja, an initiation ceremony. Old age is celebrated with janku ceremonies at the ages of 77, 88 and 99 years, when the elder is carried in a chariot or palanquin through the neighbourhood as a sign of respect and divine status.

The festival calendar

The Newar year is full of festivals, many tied to agriculture. Rice planting in the monsoon, the harvest in autumn, and the drying and storing of grain are all accompanied by rituals and feasts. Jatras — processions of deities — bring neighbourhoods together. The Nepal Sambat new year during Tihar, Mha Puja, Yomari Punhi, Gai Jatra and Bisket Jatra are among the most important.

Language

Nepal Bhasa has its own scripts, including Ranjana and Prachalit, and a literary history going back many centuries. Today most Newars also speak Nepali, and many young people in Sanothimi speak mainly Nepali, but efforts to teach Nepal Bhasa in schools and through radio, television and literature continue. A few phrases to try: jwojalapa (greetings), subhaya (thank you), and baalanh du (it is good).