Tihar: the Celebration of Victory over Death -- by Bal Gopal Shrestha

Tihar: the Celebration of Victory over Death 

Bal Gopal Shrestha Leiden University, The Netherlands 

Introduction 

Nepal is not only a land of gods and goddesses with numerous temples and idols, but also a land of feasts and festivals with numerous processions of deities and their worship. The chain of ritual celebration in Nepal is cyclical and it is difficult to render one celebration as the beginning and another as the end. Most people in the Valley consider that the ritual year begins on the day of Gathamugah, the day of expelling ghosts in August, and ends on the day of Sithinakhah, the day of worshipping lineage deities in June. However, many people also take the festival of Svanti or Tihar as the beginning of the ritual cycle in the Valley. The New Year's Day of the Nepal era falls on the fourth day of this festival, which is based on the lunar calendar. Since Nepalese people celebrate almost all their festivals according to lunar calendar the New Year's Day of the Nepal era is an important day. This year 1121-year of Nepal era begins on 28 October 2000. Historians believe that the tradition of celebrating New Year's day and Mhapuja is much older a tradition in Nepal than the Nepal Samvat. Nepalvarsa Kriya Nakhahcakhah Pustakam (a manual to Nepalese Festivals- NKNP) takes the festival of Svanti as the beginning of the ritual cycle in Nepal. 

Svanti is one of the national festivals of Nepal celebrated throughout the kingdom by the Hindu and Buddhist population of Nepal. This festival is known by several names: Svanti, Pancaka, Yamapancaka, Tihar and Dipavali. Both 'Tihar' and 'Dipavali' words are derived from the Hindi words 'Tyauhara' and 'Divali.' However, Svanti, Pancaka and Yamapancaka are words from Nepalese origin. The Newar people call the occasion 'Svanti' and celebrate it on their own peculiar way. This festival is rightly called the festival of light, because during this festival people illuminate their houses, streets, quarters, villages, towns and cities with as many lights as possible. On the fourth day of this festival Newar people celebrate their New Year's Day. 

During this festival performing dances with melodious songs: bhailo on the third and dyausi on the forth day is a typical tradition among the Parvates. In the evening of Laksmipuja, singing and dancing bhailo unmarried girls go to the doors of their neighbours, they are treated with delicious foods each house they visited, while in the following evening males perform dyausi. On the forth day of this festival the Parvate people also perform worship of the Mountain of cow dung (Gobardhan Parvat) and ox (Goru). According to a myth, the lord Krishna began this tradition to commemorate the day he protected the Braja people of Gokula from Indra's attack by creating a mountain of cow dung (Gobardhan Parvat). 

During this festival Yama, the god of death is invoked so it is called 'Yamapancaka' or 'Five days dedicated to Yama.' People presume that during these five days, Yama descends into this world. Yama's messengers like crow and dog are worshipped on the first and second day of this festival. On the third day, cow is worshipped. Although cow is worshipped as Laksmi, the goddess of wealth, she is also respected as an animal associated to the realm of Yama, whose assistance is necessary to people soon after their death to cross the river Baitarani to reach the heaven. Honouring Yama and his messenger Yamadut on the day of Mhapuja and worshipping Yama and his bookkeeper, Citragupta on the day of Kijapuja also indicate the relation of this festival to death. On the day of Mhapuja, Yama is honoured as a protective god while on the day of Kijapuja; he is worshipped as an elder brother and Citragupta as a younger brother. Although he is invoked all five days during this festival many disagree to name this festival "Yamapancaka" because the lofty way of celebrating the worship of Laksmi, worship of the self and worship of brothers have subsided Yama's worship. 

The Manual Book of Nepalese Festivals, NKNP suggests to begin this festival by worshipping Ganesa on the first day, Kachalaga (Kartik) Dvadasi, making it a sixday festival. However, in practice people begin this festival on Trayodasi by worshipping crow and consider it a five-day's festival. The worships, which are now popular among the Newars, are: 

-Kvapuja (first day): worship of crows, messengers (of Death) 

-Khicapuja (second day): worship of dogs 

-Sapuja and Laksmi puja (third day): worship of cows and Laksmi, the goddess of wealth 

-Mhapuja (fourth day): worship of the self, start of the New Year 

-Kijapuja (fifth day): worship of brothers by their sisters 

The festival and rituals 

1. Kvapuja (first day): worship of crows, messengers (of Death) 

On the first day of Yamapancaka, people worship and feed crows. In Newar households, it is common to offer a portion of food first to crow every morning before they eat their own meals in the morning. Crows are believed to be the messengers. They are supposed to carry messages for close relatives and friends from far away places. People assume the crows are delivering messages when they find them crowing. Depending upon the voice of crow people guess whether it is delivering good or bad message. When it crows near the house with a sweet bj" 14 14 voice, it is taken as a good message. Sometimes it's crowing is also taken as a hint of the imminent arrival of some guests. However, if the sound is harsh then it is supposed to be the indication of something bad that is going to happen. The crow is also supposed the messenger of Yama, the god of death. People believe that when somebody dies the departed soul (preta) finds its temporary shelter in a crow. At least for the first ten days of the impure period after a death, the departed soul is supposed to reside in a crow. Every morning during the first ten-day's mourning period, the chief mourner has to perform sraddha to offer a rice ball (pinda) and food stuffs to crows in the name of the deceased person. 

2. Khicapuja (second day): worship of dogs 

The second day of Svanti festival is Khicapuja, the day of worshipping of dogs. This day is dedicated to please the dogs. Not only pet dogs, even wandering dogs are respected and worshipped with flower garlands and delicious foods. The dogs are considered to be the guards at the doors of Yama's place and people believe that their worship help to the soul's passage at the time of one's death. Like the crows, dogs are supposed to be place of retreat for the recently deceased. As is the case with crow, the chief mourner performs sraddha to offer pinda and food stuffs to dog in the name of the deceased during the first ten days after somebody's death. Even when stray dogs intrude the house of the deceased person they are not supposed to be chased away, because people believe that a death person visits his or her house in disguise dogs. Dogs are also regarded as the vehicle of the fearful god, Bhairav and Nasadyo (Natyasvara), the god of dance and drama. They are also seen as gatekeepers of different temples of Kathmandu Valley. 

3. Sapuja: (third day) worship of cows as Laksmi and Laksmipuja 

Sa or cow is considered to be a representation of Laksmi, the goddess of wealth. On the third day of the festival of Svanti she is worshipped. In the morning, cow is worshipped and fed generously. People believe that her worship bring them good fortune. On this day, people attach sacred threads on the tail of a cow, which they received from the Brahmins on the day of Janaipurnima. People believe that this act enables them to receive cow's support in crossing the river Baitarani, which is said to create frightful barriers to sinful men. To give a cow as a gift to the Brahmins is one of the religious tasks of the Hindus that enable them to curb sins and to help them to reach heaven after their death. For them cow is the most sacred animal and her five products: milk, curd, butter, urine and dung are considered to be pure objects. 

Same day in the evening, after the worship of Cow people worships Laksmi, the goddess of wealth. Houses are specifically decorated with lights and made clean to receive her. People believe that she visits only those houses, which are made clean and illuminated. Laksmi has been represented by another word 'Sri' that means the sum of beauty and betterment, so they also honour her as the goddess Srilaksmi. Since ancient times, the meaning and interpretation of Laksmi has been numerous. Especially eight (astalaksmi) and sixteen (sodsalaksmi) names are invoked to please her during her worship. Traditional painters provide a peculiar picture of a Laksmi: -she has four hands; one of her right hands is carrying a traditional mirror (jvalanhaykam) and another is in abhay mudra; one of her left hands is carrying a vermilion container (sinhammhu) and another is in bara mudra; she is seated on the throne; adorned with glittering dresses and ornaments on her body; wearing a golden crown on her head; her right foot is touching a tortoise and the left one is in padmasana mudra; a Kubera (god of wealth) and two khyah (benevolent ghost) are present her in front. 

The preparation for her worship begins early in the morning in every household by smearing every floor with cow dung mixed with red clay and water. A line of cow dung and red clay leading from the front of the house links the secret shrine of Laksmi when women smear their houses. This is to let the goddess Laksmi find her way to the worshipping place so that she may bestow wealth there. They brush nook and corner of their houses. They also garland doors of their houses and paint them with colour powders (Newar: sinham), specially, shops. Those who own a shop away from their own home must worship Laksmi at their shop first, then join their family to worship Laksmi at home. 

In every house, Laksmi is kept in a secret worship place called agam. All the family members must join the worship. The eldest male member of the family (nayo) is in charge of the worship, while women are responsible to make ready puja plates and clean the houses. Worship ingredients are generally red and yellow powders, incenses, rice, popped rice, threads (jajamka), yoghurt, flowers, seasonal fruits, sweets and other foodstuffs. A painting of a Laksmi by a traditional painter is used to represent the goddess at the worship room. Old and new coins, money, gold, silver and all the treasures of the house are exhibited to receive worship on this occasion. At least one new coin must be offered to Laksmi or added to their stores. New utensils, new grains (paddy, rice, and wheat), measuring objects (mana, kule, and pathi) and weighing objects (dha) are also worshipped. To offer Laksmi with grains from the new harvest is an essential ritual on this occasion, because, they must offer her it first before they consume it themselves. They believe that Laksmi is the goddess of grains whose grace is necessary to gain good crops from their fields. The main reason of honouring Laksmi is to confer her grace to increase one's own wealth and prosperity. People worship her everyday, but they believe that this worship may bring them a great fortune for a whole year. 

After the worship, family members eat a feast. Dried meat (sukula) of different animals, kept from the festival of Mohani is consumed today. Of course each foodstuff is first offered to the goddess Laksmi before the family eats itself. For three nights keeping her in the same place and worshipping her every day with great bj" 15 15 respect assure Laksmi's presence. Then on the day after Kijapuja or on the fourth day's morning, Laksmi's blessing is carried out (svam kokayegu) from the secret place and distributed among the family members. Gambling starts from the day of Laksmipuja for three days and three nights, which is legally forbidden during other times of the year. People believe that gambling is auspicious during Svanti, which might bring them a good fortune. 

4. Mha puja (fourth day): worship of the self, start of the New Year 

Mha puja is one of the oldest traditions of Nepal. This tradition is older than that of the Nepal era itself. Bhuvanlal Pradhan assumes that one of the Licchavi kings, most probably Manadeva I (464-505 AD) may have begun this festival during his reign. Paying all the debts of Nepalese, a generous wealthy trader called Samkhadhar Sakhvala began the Nepal era on 20 October, 879 AD during the reign of King Raghavadeva. As we stated above, the celebration of New Year's day and Mhapuja on the same day is a tradition more ancient than the Nepal era itself, but it happened that the Nepal era was introduced on this day. Malla rules in the Valley of Nepal used this era as the official era till their rule ended in 1769. In 1769 AD, after the Gorkha conquest of Nepal, the Shah rulers began to use Saka Samvat, and that was later replaced with Vikram Samvat by the Rana Prime minister Chandra Shamser in 1903 AD. So far the use of Nepal Samvat never completely wiped out. Since the 1950s, Newar elite began to celebrate the New Year's day of the Nepal era as a public event in modern Nepal. Since it is called Nepal Samvat their demand is to recognise it as a national era. As the demand came from the Newars it began to be labelled as the Nevari Samvat by many non-Newar people. Recently, in 1999, Samkhadhar Sakhvala, the founder of Nepal era has been declared a national hero of Nepal. Newar people have taken this decision as a gesture of recognising Nepal Samvat as a national era. 

Three calendar systems are in use in Nepal. They are, the solar based Vikram Era (Samvat) for the day to day business of His Majesty's Government (HMG); the Christian calendar by international organisations, HMG, business firms and individuals, and lunar based calendars to celebrate all the feast and festivals. The Royal Nepal Calendar Deciding Committee (Nepal Rajakiya Pamca_ga Nirnayaka Samiti), a body composed of astrologers, is authorised to publish Samvat calendars. They publish these calendars at the beginning of the solar month of Baisakha (March/April) to mark the New Year of the solar-based Vikram Era. Although the aim of the Royal Nepal Calendar Decision Committee is to serve the government by providing a solar based calendar, their calendars also include a detailed lunar calendar together with Christian dates as well. From the beginning of their publications they have been including Nepal era naming it "Nepaldesiya Samvat" or the "Era of the country Nepal." Their method of presenting a lunar calendar is based on the Indian astrological systems, so that there are no great differences between the Indian and the Nepalese lunar calendar. In Nepal the lunar years begin either in the spring or fall. If begins in the spring, it is known as Caitradi and if in the fall is known as Kartikadi. The first one is also known as Purnmantaka month, ending on a full moon day while the latter one is Amantaka ending on the new moon. Purnamantaka month begins from Krisnapaksa or dark half while the Amantaka month begins from Suklapaksa or bright half. 

On the New Year's day Mhapuja is celebrated in a great way. On this day, people must perform Mhapuja to all the deities located in their neighbourhood before they perform the worship of the self (Mhapuja) at their houses. Usually Mhapuja is performed at the top floor of a house in the evening. The floor is cleaned and smeared with cow dung and red clay. Then mandala, a cosmic circle of flour is drawn for everybody. Mandala are also drawn for those members of the family who are absent and for the guests who are present on the occasion. They also draw some mandala in the name of all the three hundred thirty million deities (tetisakoti dyo); Yama, his messenger (Yamadut) and Siva's messenger (Sivadut); and for household items, such as broom, winnow, grind stone, pestle, mortar, measuring pots (mana and pathi), water container (karuva), and earthen pitcher. Yama, his messenger, Ganesa, Laksmi, Kubera, Baliraja are made of steamed rice flour and displayed on the top of the row. In the centre of each mandala a small oil mandala is drawn. Then red powder, flowers, popped rice, husked rice are showered over the mandala. A small kind of rice pastry (lvahacamari), walnuts, incenses, chestnuts, large wild lime, citrus medica common citron (tahsi), citrus fruit (bhvagatya) thread (jajamka), flower garland and long wicks (kheluita) are placed around a mandala to be handed over to the person sitting in front of the mandala. As far as possible, all the members of the family sit in a single row in front of each one's mandala facing east. Facing south is most undesirable because it is believe to be inauspicious. The eldest male member (nayo) of the house sits ahead of the row, then his juniors, unmarried daughters and other women are behind according to age seniority. 

The nayo worships to a small lamp containing a figure of Ganesa (sukunda) before he begins other ritual activities. All other members of the family also throw a few grains of rice to Ganesa in a gesture of worship. Then the eldest woman (nakim) of the house puts a tika on everybody's forehead; she is assisted by other elder women to hand over the kheluita, jajamka and fruits to everybody. One must light owns kheluita and put on one's own mandala. This act can be seen as the actual moment of worshipping the self. The eldest woman pours (luigu) worship items like flower, husked rice, popped rice, peas, peanuts, and hazelnuts on the mandala of each person, then, she pours three times over the body of each person. This is to wish health, happiness and prosperity to the person worshipped. Then fruits, thread and flower garlands are handed over. Towards the end of the ceremony, worshipped persons are also handed over sagam, a ritual blessing which includes an egg, a fish, pieces of boiled meat and bread made of lentil (va) together with liquor to wish them a happy and prosperous days ahead. Before the ritual ends a piece of tahsi and other fruits are eaten. Walnuts, tahsi, kheluita and mandala are very important items of the day. Mandala represents the person worshipped, kheluita his life, tahsi his purity and walnut his strength. It is necessary to keep on lighting kheluita until the worship is finished. It is considered a bad sign if it extinguishes in between the ritual, because people link the light with a person's life span. The Mhapuja ceremony ends with the sweeping away of the decorated mandala from the bottom of the row to top and from the top to bottom. After sweeping away the mandala, the worship ceremony is ended, and a family feast then starts marking the actual end of the celebration of Mhapuja. 

By celebrating Mhapuja people anticipate a successful and prosperous life in the coming year. This worship is also supposed to provide people with a good health and a long life. The way of celebrating this festival may vary from one family to another, but the essence of the celebration is not differently understood. Like in all other Newar festivals women play a major role in arranging the necessary items for the worship. They also take the responsibility of worshipping all the male members of the family. In case, if a person is living alone he must perform his Mhapuja himself, in such a case it can be considered a real worship of the self. Worship of the self is to recognise God in oneself. The celebration of Mhapuja indicates that one who recognises his capability may turn himself a god. To be a god means to be able to sacrifice yourself for the well being of others. According to Baldev Juju, the ultimate aim of a person is to achieve the stage of god. 

During the Mhapuja, the charitable demon king Baliraj is also worshipped. A myth tells that he was pushed into netherworld (patala) by the god Visnu to prevent him from winning the heaven. By the power of his vow of giving gifts, Baliraj was about to win the heaven, this alarmed all the gods, so one day the disguised Visnu, arrived at Baliraj's door as a saint and begged some space for his three steps. Generous Baliraj happily granted the disguised Visnu a permission to step wherever he wanted. Visnu used this opportunity only to deceive Baliraj. Visnu covered whole of the heaven by his first step and the earth by his second step, so Baliraj had nothing left than his own head for Visnu's third step that enabled Visnu to push him down to the netherworld. However, after this disgraceful task Visnu asked Baliraj if he had any wishes. For this, Baliraja requested a permission to visit his kingdom to see his people once a year. Visnu granted him the day of Mhapuja as his day on the earth. This myth tells that the joyous celebration of Mhapuja is to assure the King Baliraj that his people are living happily in his country. 

5. Kijapuja (fifth day): worship of brothers 

This is the final day of the five-day's observance of the Yamapancaka or the Svanti festival. Today sisters worship their brothers to bless them health, happiness and prosperity. This festival is celebrated not only by the Newars but also by the Parvates and others in Nepal. Among the Newars this day is known as the day of Kijapuja while the Parvates call it Bhaitika. For most Newars it is the occasion to worship both younger and elder brothers, but for many others it is the day to worship only their younger brothers. On this day, married sisters return to their parental homes to worship their brothers or brothers visit their sisters to receive worship from them. The reigning king also observes this festival by receiving tika from his sisters. Every year a royal astrologer announces the most auspicious time to receive tika from sisters, but apart from the king, people choose their own convenient time for the worship. On the day of Kijapuja, Yama and Citragupta are worshipped together with brothers so mandala is drawn for them too. 

On the day of Mhapuja they are placed on the top of the row of worship, but on the day of Kijapuja they are placed at the bottom. Most ingredients used in Kijapuja are similar to Mhapuja, such as the drawing of mandala, oil mandala, flowers, rice, husked rice, popped rice, kheluita, incenses, walnut, varieties of fruits that includes tahsi. The way of worshipping brothers by their sisters is also similar to Mhapuja, but this time the actors are sisters. The most important items of the day are oil mandala, walnut, tahsi and gvaysvam (a small nut shaped flower). 

Explaining slokas from Satkarma Ratnavali and traditional calendar (patro), Naghabhani confirms that the tradition of the worship of brothers by their sisters on this day is a tradition derived from the legendary worship of Yama by his younger sister Yamuna. He thinks it is wrong to call the day 'Kijapuja' or 'worship of younger brother' because the texts do not specify this aspect of brotherhood. He thinks it is appropriate to worship both younger and elder brothers. Yamuna is also identified with Yami. According to a Hindu myth, Yama and Yami are son and daughter of Vivasvat (the sun) and Saranyu and are twins. Yami tried to persuade Yama to marry her, but Yama refused the proposal of incest marriage, as he was afraid of being called evil man. Another myth tells that on this day a sister was preparing a worship of her brother, but Yama, the god of death arrived to take away her brother because his life span on the earth was ended. The clever sister persuaded Yama to wait and witness the worship. She worshipped Yama together with her brother, which charmed Yama. Thus, Yama awarded her a boon that saved her brother's life. This myth tells that she requested Yama not to take away her brother until the oil mandala dried up and gvaysvam faded away. People believe that a mandala made from oil never dries up; so gvaysvam never fades away, and Yama had to give up the idea of taking away her brother. It is believed that from that time onwards sisters began worshipping brothers on the same day to commemorate the mythical event believing that it will bestow a long life on their own brothers. This myth makes it clear that people assume a victory over death by worshipping Yama, the god of death, together with brothers. Hence this occasion can be taken as a celebration of the victory of life over death. The day of Kijapuja is also to exchange gifts among brothers and sisters. Not only do sisters worship  their brothers and bless them for happiness and long life but they also feed them delicious foods, sweets, fruits, walnut, chestnut, betel nut, pistachio nuts, cashew nuts, almonds, raisins, cinnamon, chocolates and cloves (masala pva). In return brothers give money or clothe (sari) or both or other materials to their sisters. The end of the worship of brothers is considered to be the end of the five-day long Svanti festival, but the real closure of the festival takes place on the following day of Kijapuja. 

On this day, early in the morning, the final worship of Laksmi is performed and the blessings of Laksmi are carried out from the agam to be distributed among the family members. The blessings include flower, tika, sweets, fruits and a feast. Married out daughters and sisters are also invited to receive the blessings and to attend the feast. Significance of the festival Pancaka is a Sanskrit name given to this festival, which mean 'consisting of five. To call this festival 'Pancaka' seems appropriate since this festival is celebrated for five consecutive days. 'Pancaka is generally considered inauspicious period, which may accord many times in a year. Auspicious tasks like seeding in the fields are avoided during such a period. It is considered most dangerous when somebody dies in a family during any of a day of a Pancaka. People believe that it can attract five lives from the same family when somebody dies during a Pancaka. When somebody dies in Pancaka adequate attention is given to avoid such a mischief. Adding eggs with the corpse to substitute lives is one of the crucial acts performed in such a case. As the god of death, Yama is accountable for determining death of all the creatures in the world. Therefore, Yama's predominance during the Pancaka festival is clear. In this regard the name 'Yamapancaka' or 'Five days dedicated to Yama' given to this festival is significant. People may regard Pancaka as a festival is good period, but the danger of death is not suspended. It is more so because of Yama's imminent presence during this festival. Yama's presence from the first day of the festival to the end is remarkable. To celebrate a festival in the presence of Yama, the god of death can be considered the most vulnerable one. Therefore people may have taken this opportunity as an occasion to appease Yama so that they receive his mercy. By worshipping Yama people anticipate his favour for a long life in the world and heaven after one's death. Hindu people believe as soon as one dies one's departed soul moves to Yama' court. There all souls are judged; either they are awarded heaven or they are sent to hell. Like all other religious communities in the world, death enchants Nepalese society very much. Remembering, worshipping and appeasing deceased ancestors (pitri) is a dominant feature of Newar ritual life. Every morning, sons must offer water and foods to their deceased ancestors. During all major and minor festivals the ancestors are presented foods (jugibvah), when there is any special family ceremony like marriage or other lifecycle rituals, they are involved. Sraddha is performed once a year to worship and feed them. In this respect, the worship of Yama, the god of death during the Svanti festival is not an astonishing act, but is another occasion to appease Yama who might otherwise cause untimely death or trouble after one's death. It is likely that people may have initiated the festival of Yamapancaka to overcome death. However, as it is now, the main prominence of the festival is not Yama, but the worships of Laksmi, the worship of the self and the worship of brothers. Although people celebrate this festival for five days, they consider only these three days are most important days and celebrated with pomp. Scholars agree upon the fact that the Newar name "Svanti' for this festival is derived from the words 'Svanhu Tithi' or "Three-day festival.' On the third day of the festival worship of Laksmi, the goddess of wealth is celebrated with great fanfare. By worshipping Laksmi people are taught to live a balanced life with adequate wealth. It clearly shows that Newar society, although its social life is principally guided in a religious and spiritual manner, they also take into account that material prosperity and happiness in their life is essential. The worship of Laksmi and the worship of brothers are no less important days of this festival, but the Newars take Mhapuja or the worship of the self as the most important event of the festival. Mhapuja is prevalent only among the Newars. In many respects Mhapuja can be considered a unique Nepalese traditions. Worship of the self or worship of one's body (mha) and soul (atma) is Mhapuja. For religious minded people, body and soul are two different phenomena. They believe that their body is temporal one while their soul is an immortal. They believe that in a person a god is residing. Hence a person is part of a god or goddess, so the worship of the self is an occasion to respect or recognise the god in oneself. Nepalese tradition of worshipping gods and goddesses is to invoke their power (sakti). Hence, the worship of the self is to understand one's capability and to utilise it for the betterment of human beings and the whole universe, in order to enable oneself to attend the level of a god or goddess. The last day's worship of brothers is another important day of this festival. This tradition is one of the most popular customs in the region of South Asia. It is not only religiously meaningful but also from a social point of view it is significant, because it plays a great role in strengthening the relation between brothers and sisters. A balanced relation between brothers and sisters is one of the essential aspects of Nepalese social life. Especially the relation between out married sisters and brothers is crucial. If not handled thoughtfully the bond may turn very unpleasant. In such a situation they lose dignity in their society. The day of Kijapuja provides brothers and sisters an opportunity to up keep their relationship. Of course one of the most important aspects of this festival is the change of the lunar year. The five day's celebrations of Svanti festival ends after the Kijapuja but it gives a way to renew the whole cycle of rituals for one full year. It is clear from our earlier discussions that the celebrating the turn of the year on this day is an ancient tradition in Nepal. Therefore, I found it appropriate to call this occasion the turn of the ritual year in Nepal, because except two festivals: Ghyocakusalhu and Bisketjatra all the feasts and festivals in the Nepal are celebrated according to lunar calendar. In India too, those who follow the Kartikadi lunar calendar take this occasion as the turn of the ritual year and celebrate their New Year's day. As Tyauhar or Divali, this is a widely celebrated festival among the Hindus in India and other countries. It can be well assumed that the tradition of the celebration of the New Year might have in a long run created the wonderful festival of Svanti or Yamapancaka. Although the Nepal Samvat was later invented than the tradition of the celebration of the New Year and Mhapuja, it has made a history in itself by its continuation of 1120 years. This is thanks to Samkhadhara Sakhvala, who, unlike others in the world who preferred their own names, took the name of his country for the Era he established. It will be erroneous to call the Nepal era a Newar or Newari Samvat. There is no reason that only the Newars feel proud of the Nepal era because the name 'Nepal' implies that it belongs to all Nepalese. Last year His Majesty's Government of Nepal declared Samkhadhar Sakhvala, the founder of the Nepal era, a national hero.

Conclusion

This festival contains five major components: the worship of bird and animals like crow, dog and cow, the invocation of Yama by worshipping his messengers and himself, the worship of Laksmi or wealth, worship of the self on the New Year's day and worship of brothers. The necessity of the combination of these five different ritual activities in one single festival is difficult to be explained. The most prevalent feature of this festival is the presence of Yama or death. Since this festival is also called 'Yamapancaka' it is logical. However, if we consider this is only the festival of Yama, then the worship of Laksmi, the self and brothers cannot logically be fitted in. Crow, dog and cow are one or other way related to Yama and his realm, therefore their worship during this festival make a sense, but Yama's worship together with the self and brothers is difficult to be comprehended. The relation between two ritual sequels: worship of the self and worship of brothers is not clear to me either. Although the natures of worshipping in these two days are similar the actors are different who carry out the rituals; so on the values and meanings of each day's rituals are different too. Why the worship of the self and brothers are observed after the worship of Laksmi is not understandable either. For that matter no distinct reasons are there to be explained the relation of each day's ritual with another and the reasons of their sequence.

Yama is invoked throughout the festival but his absence at the time of Laksmi's worship is a puzzle. Whether it is an intended one or he is forgotten or ignored in the presence of wealth is unknown. The reason may be that people prefer forgetting death when they are engaged at worshipping wealth or busy with material life. Perhaps it is to tell that the wealth makes people blind and even it let people forget inevitable truth like death. May be this is an occasion to demarcate a line between material life and spiritual life. However, when we look at the worship of cow in the same morning, an animal related to realm of Yama, as the goddess of wealth, then hardly we can see the real separation of wealth from the death. Perhaps it is to give a message to let people realise the danger of engagement in material life, which make them so busy that they become unaware of obvious truths like death.

Since people are busy honouring Yama from the first day of the festival to its end this festival can more appropriately be called the celebration of Yama or death. In this regard the name 'Yamapancaka' is most suitable name for this festival. Yama as the god of death is considered to be a less compassionate divinity. For people his worship is much out of fear than to honour his divinity. People know that death is inevitable in one's own life but they like to avoid it as far as possible. Perhaps this festival is celebrated to let people realise the limitation of one's life hence gives them an opportunity to learn about the truth of death or the essence of life. It is clear that the real motive behind the invocation of Yama as the protective god at the time of the New Year's celebration or worship of the self is to plead his grace for the continuation of life for another year without being obstructed by him. Similarly, his worship together with brothers is also thought to receive his blessings for health and life of brothers. These two events can be considered the celebration of life, albeit with the mercy of Yama, the death. By worshipping him, people endeavour to subjugate the power of death. It is more significant that Mhapuja is performed as the first ritual of the New Year and people anticipate health, long life, happiness and prosperity in the New Year. Yama's worship at such an occasion to pray for his protection is meaningful, because he is the god who possesses the power of determining people's life span in the world and their fate after death. Yama's acceptance of being worshipped as a protective god in this festival by people can be taken as his willingness of showing his compassion. Compassion towards human beings of the god of death can be more accurately called the defeat of the death of god. In this regard the celebration of worship of the self and worship brothers both can be considered the celebration of overcoming of death. Hence we can affirm the festival of Svanti as the celebration of victory over death.