Bisket festival in Bhaktapur, April 2009

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I was told to go to Taumadhi Square at 5pm on Friday, April 10. I went because I had nothing else to do. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The square was packed to the rafters. I was in the middle of the square looking at this odd-looking chariot that was carrying a temple-like structure. The chariot was huge with enormous wooden wheels. Around 5pm, a procession came out of one of the temples in the square and they were carrying an idol which was then put into the temple on the chariot. About 30 people were on the chariot. I noticed that there were a lot of foreigners with big cameras either taking pictures or videotaping the event. (This must be on youtube somewhere.) Then, two teams, one on either side of the chariot, using ropes, tried to pull the chariot to their own side, a kind of tug of war. As the entire square was packed with people, the pulling back and forth of the teams also caused the crowd in the square to move back and forth so since I was in the middle, I got shoved every which way. Then, I noticed, to my utter horror, that not a single woman was in the square, only men were in the square, all the women were on the sides. I hurriedly made my way through the crowd and tried to go to a side that was the closest but that meant crossing over the teams that were pulling which was impossible. Finally, the pulling moved down one of the streets leading away from the square (and unfortunately down the street where my guesthouse was so I couldn’t go home) and I was able to finally go to the side. There was a guy standing beside me who looked like he spoke English so I asked him what in the world is going on. He not only spoke perfect English but he is also from Bhaktapur so he turned out to be the best guide ever. He told me that many people get trampled at these festivals and it is too dangerous to be in the square so all the women stay on the sides.

His name is Sanjaya and he is a Newari. He knew the streets so he took me around some back streets away from the crowd and he showed me where the chariot will end up that night. Then he took me to a spot on a narrow street where the chariot will pass by on Monday and he told me to be at that spot at 4pm on Monday (April 13) and he will be there too. Then he took me to my guest house. He knew exactly what he was talking about because I showed up at this spot on Monday and it was one of the highlights of the festival. This street is very narrow, has grooves for the wheels of the chariot, and is sloped so that when the chariot goes down this street, it goes pretty fast so it’s really dangerous. If you ended up in the street when the chariot came down, you’re toast, a pretty dead one. Sanjaya told me that one year, a guy fell in just as the chariot came down and his head was squashed like a watermelon by the wheel. At the spot he told me to wait, the chariot got stuck and he said that it gets stuck there every year. All the fuss trying to get the chariot unstuck was a lot of fun to watch. In the end, it lost a plank from one of the roofs of the temple (on the chariot). After that, Sanjaya took me to meet his friends (at a shop) and his family (at his house) to kill some time. Then, we went to the open area where the chariot ended up and where they were erecting the pole. It was already dark. We moved through the crowd and stopped. I thought the place we were standing was too far as I wanted to get closer to see better but again, Sanjaya knew what he was doing. He said where we were standing was about the right distance. Sure enough, when the pole got about 30 degrees off the ground, the supports fell away and the pole swung out toward the crowd. The people, who were erecting the pole, pulled harder so it wouldn’t fall but that only caused more tension and the pole suddenly snapped and broke, the top ¼ or 1/3 flew off into the crowd and the rest fell down also into the crowd. Yep, we were standing exactly about the right distance. Mother of god! He said that every year, at least one if not several people get killed at the festival. We heard later on that many people got hurt by the pole and only one person in critical condition but no one died—a pretty good year, I’d say. They had an extra pole in case the first one broke so they continued with the second one but we did not stay to watch. Sanjaya told me that tomorrow will be very crowded in Bhaktapur. I was in shock because I thought it was already way too crowded.

The following day was the Nepali New Year but it was also the day when everybody came to worship the deities where the pole was erected. Sanjaya said that only Newaris of the priest caste are allowed to go into the temple of Lord Bhairava and Goddess Bhadrakali , deities of the Bisket festival, so only during the Bisket festival when these deities come out of their temples can everybody worship them and receive blessings from them, so people will come far and wide to worship. From early morning, bus loads of people came non-stop and the whole town got freakily crowded, it was quite insane. I decided to leave before everybody else tried to and left town in the early afternoon.

Sanjaya also told me that the Bisket festival has nothing to do with the Nepali New Year which just happens to fall on the 5th day of the festival in Bhaktapur. The Bisket festival is a Newari celebration and the chariot/erecting of the pole events are done only in Bhaktapur. Thimi, for example, has their own Bisket that happens on the 14th when a tongue-piercing ceremony takes place. The Newari New Year is actually in October. For the Bisket festival, they eat flattened rice with meat dishes made from buffalo and I had some at Sanjaya’s house.

When we were walking around Bhaktapur, Sanjaya and I came across a group of men in the street who were cooking a goat. Sanjaya said that only men are allowed to prepare/cook the goat. They cut the head and feet off, remove the entrails, put or wrap the goat in hay and then burn the hay. This way, the hair would be burned off. I wondered how can the meat be cooked through without burning the outer parts? Apparently, clay pottery are also made this way. The clay is placed between hay and then the hay is burned. I was amazed at how these Neolithic practices are still used. Cool.

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