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The Blessing (and Curse) of Shiva
Ethan Gohen
Academic Director Christina Monson
S.I.T. Nepal
Spring 2008
S.I.T. Nepal
Spring 2008
1. Introduction
Halesi is a small, but growing village located in the Khotang
District of Eastern Nepal. In many ways it is rather normal. As is
typical in this area of Nepal, its inhabitants are mainly Rai Hindus,
although there is a substantial
community of other Hindu castes as well. Less typically, there is a
small, but very important Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Halesi. The
reason for this monastery is even less typical still. In the rocky
terrain around Halesi there are many caves. But in the central rocky,
tree covered hillock of Halesi bazaar there is one cave of particular
importance. By Hindus it is called Halesi. It gave the village its name. By Tibetan Buddhists it is called Maratika. This cave, which is a naturally formed cavity in every sense of the word, is thick with spiritual significance. It is
uniquely important religious site for both Hindus and Buddhists though,
as yet, the events that transpired here are not well known. But these
events, as well as its very naturalness, make Halesi one of the most
important spiritual sites for these two religions and perhaps the
world. It is a great treasure in the hands of a little village.
The purpose of this study is to illuminate what ways the presence of
such a significant temple has and will continue to affect the lives of
the people in Halesi. It begins with the necessary historical and
temple information to provide a basis for understanding and then goes
on to look at more recent phenomenon and the dialogue in Halesi, a
multifaceted exchange of belief and desires. One man, who recognizes
the inextricable connection between
Halesi’s fate and the very presence of the temple, jokingly referred
to this relationship as the blessing of Shiva. I would add that not
everything that has happened in Halesi has been easy for its people.
At certain times, the presence of the temple may have seemed like more
of a curse than a blessing. This paper is an attempt to look at the way
that religious and practical realms interact in the little known story
of one very important place.
2. Methodology
After arriving in Halesi, my primary means of understanding this
place has been through casual interviews. I have tried to talk to
representatives of very diverse social perspectives in Halesi society
in order to get a rounded picture and allow the people themselves to
identify the issues and distinctions that were a reality to them. I
worked with a translator to conduct most of my interviews. The
communicational flaws of translation are obvious. But there is still
more to say about my quest for information through the medium of a
Nepali person. Nepali people are highly sensitive to caste and class
hierarchies and may have edited some attitudes according to the class
and caste identity of my translator. Fortunately, my main translator
was an outsider from this community, lessening
the potential severity of this. One bias evident in my fieldwork is
that most of my interviews come from male informants. This is because
women, more often than men, were very busy in Halesi. Even if they were
present, they often deferred to the men or were dominated by the men
in speech and thus refrained from contributing much.
3. The Myths, Discovery, and Ordering of Halesi
It is not the purpose of this paper to give a full mythology and
history of Halesi temple and the surrounding area in the centuries
prior. I am more concerned with recent history, present, and future
projection. For a fuller
explanation of history and myths in Halesi see Buffetrille 1994, in
English language, and for stories especially see Bhattarai 1984, in
Nepali language. However, some familiarity with the history and
stories that define Halesi are
necessary to understand these more recent happenings and I will give a
general overview in this section using information gathered from by
own fieldwork, reinforced by the previous work of others.
4. Shiva and the Caves in Halesi
There are several caves in Halesi, some of which connect directly
to the story of Shiva, which is told by many people to varying degrees
of specificity. The two main caves are located in one forested hillock
in the center of Halesi. Shiva and his family first came to Halesi
when running from a monster that wished to kill him. He fled into one
of these caves, which I will refer to as the Lower Cave since it has
several names according to tradition. This cave opens onto the low
fair grounds of Halesi. Inside the cave, Vishnu defeated the monster
while Shiva, bursting through the ceiling of the cave, fled to safety
in another cave near to Argaule, a town on the road from Lamindada to
Halesi. The Lower Cave has features that tell the story of this event,
although some are interpreted differently by different traditions. A
large stone in the opening is sometimes called Shiva’s ox, which
guarded the cave from the monster. It is alternatively called the body
of the dead monster himself. The pattern of his intestines can be
seen stringing over the arc of the cave’s ceiling overhead. In the back
of the cave the ceiling opens up, letting in light through a large
vertical channel from near to the top of the exterior hillock. The
footsteps of Shiva are clearly imprinted in the side of the cave as he
fled upward and blew out this hole according to the story.
Shiva returned to Halesi when everything was safe and made his home
with Parbati, his wife, in the upper cave. This is the main Shiva
temple in Halesi, where the power and presence of Shiva and Parbati
are felt. They remained here until the current era of humanity.
Sometimes they would leave the cave disguised as Kiranti children and
play in the forest or down by the banks of the Sun Khoshi and Dhudh
Khoshi rivers, two major rivers which flow on both sides of Halesi
region down from the mountainous north. Inside the cave is a natural
Shivalinga, a stalagmite that rises from the cave floor. This is
considered to be the embodiment of Shiva. There is another rock that
is believed to be the embodiment of Parbati. There are in fact many
rocks and passageways imbued with special
powers inside this cave. But the Shivalinga and Parbati are the main
objects of worship in the cave. Many people come simply to do darsan,
meaning “to greet god.†Others come to ask for blessings. Another
common practice is called bhakal, where a devotee asks for something
and promises offerings to Shiva if, by his grace, that wish comes to
be.
5. Padmasambhava in Halesi
Specifically Buddhist history in Halesi begins with the story of
Padmasambhava, or Guru Rinpoche as he is referred to by Tibetan
Buddhists. Compared to the story of Shiva this is relatively recent
time, in the time of
humans. There exists both a biography of Padmasambhava and Mandarava
that describe their experience in the cave of Maratika, its Tibetan
name. Padmasambhava’s biography describes Maratika as a place where a
“rain of flowers constantly falls. Enveloped in a dome of rainbows, the
scent of incense permeates the air. It has a grove of sandalwood trees
and is blessed by Lords of the Three Families†(Tsogyal 1999, pp. 45).
Mandarava’s biography describes Maratika as a “sacred power spot where
the outer, inner, and secret mandalas were complete… a wish fulfilling
jewel that surpasses any other sacred place in India for the practice
of spiritual attainment†(Chonam and Khandro1998, pp. 152).
Padmasambhava came to Maratika with his consort, the Indian Princess
Mandarava, to perform the practice of vidyadhara longevity. After three
months of practice they had a vision of the Buddha of Long Life,
Amitayus. Buddha blessed them, pouring from a “nectar-filled vase of
immortal life†into their open
mouths (Tsogyal 1999, pp. 45). He made them “immortal pure awareness
holders†(Chonam and Khandro1998, pp. 153). Following this they
practiced the Hayagriva Mechar Cycle on the union of Hayagriva and
Vajravarahi in order to eliminate any further obstacles. Upon
successful realization, Mandarava “compiled a treasury of more than a
thousand extensive and concise longevity methods, including essential
pointing-out instructions†(Chonam and
Khandro1998, pp. 153). For Buddhists, Halesi cave is most famous as a
special spot for long-life practices. This is particularly true of the
site of the Parbati stone, called chhepuma in Tibetan. The water that
drips from the stones in several places throughout these caves,
originating from the rock itself, is collected and considered to be
the
equivalent of the Amitayus long-life nectar. It is called umbrik in
Nepali, the anti- poison. It is also called jal, holy water, and is
valued by Hindus as prasat, a god- blessed substance. The lamas at
Maratika prepare a pill with this umbrik and call it the “Maratika
Long Life Pill (‘Liberation of Tasting’).â€
6. The Rai People in Halesi
The area of Halesi, and the entire Khotang district in Eastern
Nepal as well as parts of Solu, is remembered by Rai inhabitants as
their original homeland. The Rai are a mongoloid ethnicity of Nepal.
They identify with a unique cultural tradition called Kirant (which
also encompasses Limbu people). They use this term synonymously with
varieties of Rai language, religion, and as an alternate name for the
Rai people themselves. The Rai people also call themselves Bhumi Putra, a Sanskrit term that means “Sons of the Earth.â€
It is a worship and closeness to nature that the Rai pride themselves
on. However, since the nation of Nepal was unified for the first time
by Prithvi Narayan Shah in 1769 much of this distinction has been
lost. The Rai people identify themselves as a Hindu people with the
same beliefs as other Hindus in Nepal. This is because Prithvi Narayan
Shah knew that the only way to politically unify such a diverse country
as Nepal was to unify it culturally as well. For ideological reasons
as well, he envisioned a purely Hindu kingdom that would distinguish
Nepal from a tainted India (Whelpton 2005, pp. 56). Rai informants
told of the clever tactics with which he undermined their own Kirant
beliefs. Local Rai leaders, hired into the ranks of the new kingdom
(and thus dependent on it), were made to enforce Hindu worship in
their communities and replace the Kirant cosmology.
Rai people still celebrate two unique annual festivals that they say
are links to their past traditions. Ubowle-Chadipurne (The first term
translates to “going up hill,†a recognition of the difficulty ahead.
The second term translates to “full moon dayâ€) takes place around May
and the Nepali month of Baisak, but shifts according to the lunar
calendar. This is an Earth worship puja held to bless the planting
season, which will determine their fortune for the rest of the year.
The second festival is Udhaule-Dhanipurne. It is the day of the new
moon and the
harvest, held around November. At this time the Rai give thanks to the
Earth for their food. It is a happy time when plenty can be enjoyed.
However, a characteristic of both these festivals is community wide
music making and circle
dancing, an event that is fun for everyone. Despite these instances of
“Earth worship,†the Rai in Halesi say that the world’s primary god is
Shiva, Paruhang in Kirant language. Shiva’s wife Parbati, known as Sumnina in Kirant, is also revered
by them. These two Hindu deities are the main deities of Halesi Cave.
This area, previously a Rai Kingdom, used to be almost entirely
forested and the Rai people, the only inhabitants of this wild
territory, were famous huntsmen.
7. Discovery of Halesi
The story of how Halesi temple was rediscovered in more recent
history, the late 18th century, involves one of these famous Rai
hunters. It is popularly told by the inhabitants of Halesi. Bagbashi
Rai was hunting in the
rugged territory around Halesi with his dog when he spotted a golden
deer with three eyes and one antler. He chased the deer through the
forest until it fled into the enormous black opening of a cave that
Bagbashi had never seen before. It was difficult for him to descend
into the cave, but when he finally did, he discovered that the cave
was the home of Shiva. The deer had in fact been Shiva himself
exploring the outside, but inside he was manifest as a Shivalinga, a
stalagmite on the cave floor.
8. The Mahanta Giri Line
At this time, the Rai were a fully Hindu people. For several years,
nothing was officially done with the cave. But after a while it was
decided, some say relayed by Shiva himself, that there should be a
pujari, priest, to manage worship at this cave. According to Hindu
tradition priests are always either of the Brahmin or Jogi castes.
Therefore the Rai could not be priests over this temple and a Giri
family was sent for from another district. The first Giri pujari of
Halesi was named Manohar Giri. In the early 19th century, he and his
family were appointed by the King of Nepal, Shri Shri Shri Maharaje
Griban Yuddha Brikam Saha Bahadur Sumser Jung, and confirmed with a
Tama Patra, an engraved metal plate that gave them the right to
officiate in Halesi. The land around the temple was declared guthi
land, a term that refers, in this case, to national land reserved for
the preservation of a religious site. Other uses, such as living or
farming, were prohibited. After this declaration, The Rai inhabitants
who had since settled
nearer to the temple were displaced down a steep hillside descending
from the ridge top of Halesi down to the Sun Koshi, a major river that
flows out of Solu District. They formed the sprawling village of
Kattike, which is even now known as a Rai village.
The history of the Giri family in Halesi is not flattering. It
lasted several generations, roughly two hundred years, the son of the
family acting as the bal pujari, child priest who performed the actual
worship, and his father as the
authoritative priest. Locals say that the Giri family claimed Halesi as
their own private kingdom. They seized all guthi lands for their own
farming and forced all local non-Giri families to contribute free
labor in their fields. The workers were hardly even fed for their
service. Many people I met, including a high caste Chhettri man,
remember working in the Giri fields. People who worshipped at the
temple typically brought offerings of rice, money, and livestock. All
this was claimed by the Giri family for their personal use. For a long
time, the Giris were the only people in Halesi who ate rice, since it
is too dry in Halesi to grow there. The temple itself was only opened
to worshippers and pilgrims at the Giri family’s pleasure. The temple
was so profitable that they maintained power in Halesi using the very
wealth that the temple generated. The temple was used as a means for
the oppression of people and the Giris never intended to give that
power up. Until the 1990’s, this reign was absolute.
to be continue........!