<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232859c7e80680e0c489bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1512" height="1210"/><figcaption>The inner courtyard of the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. The statue of Yama – a replica – can be made out under the pavilion at the centre. Photos: ASHISH DHAKAL and ERIN L. THOMPSON.</figcaption></figure>The National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh is a vast complex. The red buildings with oblique roofs curve upwards at the ends of their triangles like naga with a flourish, and the tall finials that decorate these roofs rise like elegant peaks.Constructed between 1917 and 1924, the museum was officially inaugurated in 1920, and reopened after renovation in 1979 with the fall of the Khmer Rouge.Inside, a giant Garuda welcomes visitors, and on either side the hall stretches out into two wings. One is the gallery of the Buddhas: a four-cornered room set up like a shrine. Numerous in number and styles, and stunning, the statues are arranged to evoke a serene and meditative atmosphere.Three young Cambodian women walk to the table in the middle. There is a bowl with water and floating frangipani on it and on the table's either side sit kneeling statues. The women pick some more flowers from their bags, and set it next to the bowl, clasp their hands, and bow in prayer.Read also: <a href="http://v">The Hindu gods of Buddhist Thailand</a>, Jeong Moon Tae<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232889c7e80680e0c489cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2500" height="1875"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Then they move to an inner courtyard, in the centre of which stands Yama, the Hindu god of the underworld. Under a pavilion, he sits with one raised knee and a smile on his face, and the group lights incense before him, placing a white lotus in his lap, folding hands in prayer.Museums, as houses of objets d’art, often take on an inert air where visitors are welcome to interact with what they see, but from a distance. American arts crime professor Erin Thompson thinks most are modelled to accommodate tourists more than local people.But that is not the case at the National Museum of Cambodia. Here, the building could very well be a monastery or a large shrine, where figures of the Buddha co-exist with Hindu iconographies, much like in the three cities of the Kathmandu valley.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/u-thant-kenzo-tange-and-the-buddhas-birthplace/">U Thant, Kenzō Tange and the Buddha’s birthplace</a>, Kunda Dixit<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/6372328c9c7e80680e0c489djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1512" height="2016"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/6372328f9c7e80680e0c489ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1512" height="2016">Two separate statues of Yama, one in the National Museum (left) and the other in Angkor (right) with offerings before them.“We want our museum space to be welcoming to the tourist visitors as much as to the locals,” says Chhay Visoth, the museum director. However, this is a slightly different expression of one’s belief which does not correspond directly to one’s religion.For example Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist (97%), and the figures of Vishnu, Shiva, Skanda, Durga, Yama or even Bhim and Duryodhan are not so much physical manifestations of Hindu gods, but rather a link that connects Cambodia and its people to its past, and provides guidance — rather an anchor.This is linked to the Khmer emphasis on ancestral and spirit worship, and perhaps intensified by the <a href="http://Statues of the deva tugging on the great Vasuki naga on the bridge to the Southern Gate in Angkor (above). Parallel to them on the other side would be the daitya. This scene is from a famous episode in the Hindu mythology – Samudra Manthan – also depicted on a bas-relief in Angkor Wat (below)." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">memories of Khmer Rouge</a>, the reign of terror between 1975-1979 during which nearly 2 million Cambodians were systemically slaughtered  — nearly one-fourth of Cambodia's population then.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/telling-the-story-of-buddhas-lumbini/">Telling the story of Buddha’s Lumbini</a>, Sahina Shrestha<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232929c7e80680e0c489fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1210" height="968"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“In our local faith and belief, even music, we want to keep the spirits around us happy and help us,” adds Visoth. “When we look at the Hindu statues, we see our own ancestors who made them. So even though we may not be Hindu ourselves and may not recognise the iconography, the gods and goddesses have spiritual meaning for us, keeping us in touch with our forebears.”Hinduism made its way across the Bay of Bengal to what is now Indonesia and moved north to present-day Cambodia and Thailand some time in the 1st century CE. That was during the beginning of the Kingdom of Funan, the name given by ancient Chinese cartographers and writers to the Indianised states of Southeast Asia.Hinduism was the official religion of the Khmer Empire (9th-15th century) which saw the construction of over a thousand religious buildings of varied sizes in its capital Angkor, including the famous Angkor Wat.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lets-only-buy-bio-degradable-prayer-flags/">Let’s only buy bio-degradable prayer flags</a>, Ashish Dhakal<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232959c7e80680e0c48a0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1572" height="2096"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232999c7e80680e0c48a1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="745" height="795"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/6372329b9c7e80680e0c48a2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1512" height="2016"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Khmers saw these temples as quite literally the home of gods rather than merely a meeting place for the faithful, built to represent the towering Mount Meru where Hindu gods are believed to reside.Each Khmer king’s legacy was set to stone, delicately carved and moulded like clay. The bas-reliefs depicted scenes from the myths, or Angkor daily life. At night, the temples closed to allow the deities some restful sleep.Much of the glory and might of the Khmer Empire today lies in ruins, owing to time and looters. Large blocks of sandstone and laterite punctuate the otherwise green landscape with shades of grey and red. Many sura and asura holding the great Vasuki naga on the bridges have their heads hacked off, and most of which are in currently in foreign museums and collections.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/buddhist-relics-in-western-nepal/">Buddhist relics in western Nepal</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/6372329e9c7e80680e0c48a3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2016" height="1512"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232a29c7e80680e0c48a4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2016" height="1512"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232a59c7e80680e0c48a5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2016" height="1512"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232a89c7e80680e0c48a6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2796" height="2097"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232ab9c7e80680e0c48a7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2016" height="1512"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232ae9c7e80680e0c48a8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1915" height="1277"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232b19c7e80680e0c48a9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1915" height="1277"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>When the French ‘re-discovered’ Angkor in the 19th century, it was already overtaken by the forest, with large constrictor-like Tetrameles rising from the cracks in the stones, their roots running along galleries and adding decorations to the doors. But Angkor was not ‘abandoned’ as ancient sites and ruins are often portrayed.Although the Hindu faith and practices declined around the 13th Century in Cambodia to be replaced by Theravada Buddhism as the dominant religion, locals had a long-standing spiritual relationship with the temple complex, and continue today.Pilgrims burrow into stone tunnels laced with moss to pray to the gods, as well as to ancient kings and queens. And they throng to the sparsely populated region of Koh Ker, 120km away, which was briefly the capital of the Khmer Empire in 928-944 AD.Among the over 180 sanctuaries there, many dedicated to Shiva (Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, as it was known in the past), perhaps none is as imposing as Prasat Prang, a 36m high seven-tiered stone pyramid built by King Jayavarman IV.As the original stairs are in bad condition, a new wooden one has been constructed which takes the visitor all the way to the top. It is a long, hard walk, especially in the humid weather.Originally the pyramid had a 4m tall Shiva linga at the top but is now lined with blocks of stones and a wooden fence surrounding the shaft at the centre. Even then, all the way up here and almost touching the sky, devotees light candles and incense, leave food and flowers to the spirits — perhaps even to Jayavarman IV, who would have come up here, prayed and then looked out to the horizon and his vast empire.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/who-looted-nepals-gods/">Who looted Nepal’s gods?</a>, Ashish Dhakal<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232b59c7e80680e0c48aajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3024" height="4032"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232b99c7e80680e0c48abjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1512" height="1512"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232bc9c7e80680e0c48acjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1512" height="2016"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232bf9c7e80680e0c48adjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1512" height="2016">Well-attended statues of Vishnu and Laxmi at the Western entrance of Angkor Wat.Back in Angkor Wat, the 5m tall statue of eight-armed Vishnu clad in golden robes stands at the western entrance. Devotees kneel before him holding incense and circling the figure, chanting prayers. On his left is a headless statue of Laxmi, similarly garbed in sapphire. Open cans of Coca Cola also sit on the altars as offerings.“We pray to the god wishing for prosperity, and for goodness,” says Noah who has come with his family to visit the shrine. “It doesn’t matter whether we pray to the Hindu or a Buddhist god, because when we pray, we feel at peace with ourselves and those around us.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-script-of-the-scriptures/">The script of the scriptures</a>, Sewa Bhattarai

Ashish Dhakal

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An anchor to Cambodia’s past

<figure><img width="1750" height="919" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/6372033d9c7e80680e0b27f9jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The Election Commission has set local elections for May, with federal elections following early next year. Given the heated debate about federalism and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/secularism-and-sectarianism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">secularism</a> the polls will be a referendum on those two issues. In 2017, Nepal held sub-national elections after 20 years. Those ward, municipal  and provincial representatives were pushed into uncharted territory, and coped the best they could. The hope was that locally-elected leaders would demonstrate more accountability than their national-level counterparts.Indeed, some ward and municipal chairs <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/women-leaders-set-example-for-rest-of-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">performed exceptionally well</a>. But many mayors are <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Elected-contractors,4182" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">contractors</a>, and are involved in blatant malfeasance. Political devolution has decentralised corruption as well. News reports about Bagmati Province’s bloated ministries as well as the provincial governments just being reflections of the power balance in Kathmandu have given federalism a bad name. Which is why some political leaders want federalism scrapped. Local elections this year is a chance to set things right. All politics is local – or should be. And we have seen since 1990 in Nepal that decentralised political decision-making is the best way to govern.However, there are indications the polls will be a dirty political game where politicians devoid of ideology stoke <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/back-to/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">religious fervour </a>to get votes. This is dangerous, it will polarise and destabilise Nepali society.  This requires vigilance from voters who must vet candidates and cast their ballots for those who are more likely to address their most urgent needs like health, education, jobs and a streamlined administration – and not fall for extremist slogans.We need to make sure that the people at the local level, especially those who have been excluded till now in decision-making, benefit the most from federalism. Given Nepal’s diversity in ethnicity and religion, a prosperous and democratic society is not possible without the stability that secularism  guarantees. Going by the general conventions of the major parties over the last months, it looks like secularism, restoration of the monarchy and federalism will dominate the upcoming polls. <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/battle-lines-drawn-for-nepal-elections/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rajendra Lingden’s resounding win</a> over Kamal Thapa as the leader of the RPP means that the party will be even more aggressive in promoting the royal-Hindu line. Even self-proclaimed democratic and progressive parties that stood for alternative politics like Bibeksheel Sajha are falling back on religion and monarchy to gain popular votes.  Republicanism, federalism and secularism became the main pillars of the Constitution that was drafted after two elections following the People’s Movement of 2006. Remove any one of these three pillars and the country could be pushed back to instability. Some of the very leaders who once played a key role in writing that Constitution, like Shashank Koirala and Shekhar Koirala of the ruling Nepali Congress (NC), are in favour of a Hindu state. The main opposition UML’s K P Oli has himself been dabbling in religion. An eager gathering of former prime ministers at a recent reception for Indian guru Baba Ramdev in Kathmandu in November also showed that political leaders across the spectrum recognise the power of religion in vote mobilisation. Much of this is due to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/a-yam-between-two-indias/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">gravitational pull that India exerts on Nepal</a>. Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has actively used Hindu nationalism to stay on in power, and he has made no secret of his desire for Nepal to revert being a Hindu state. In Nepal, some leaders are deliberately bending the definition of ‘secularism’ to mean ‘anti-faith’ to disrupt Nepal’s long-standing religious harmony and tap the majoritarian vote bank. In her article Shaping Secularism in Nepal on European Bulletin of Himalayan Research, Chiara Letizia says that secularism in Nepal will be determined by how the Hindu majority is addressed: ‘Nepal is a post-secular laboratory, where the state’s policy must walk a tightrope, upholding ‘absolute’ secular values such as equal citizenship, and yet balancing the Hindu majority tradition, Hindu fears, and the claims of minorities for social, political and religious recognition.’Rajeev Bhargava, a political theorist who has studied India's secularism, suggests a principled stand for <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/separation-of-state-and-temple-in-nepal,1444" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">secularism</a> in countries like India and Nepal which are ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse. The state should give equal respect to all religions, but can also push universal values of tolerance and human rights.The test of a true democracy is how well it treats its minorities. Following secularism in letter and spirit makes such tolerance possible, and having it enshrined in the Constitution is not enough. It should be followed in practice. Indian historian Bipan Chandra in his 2008 book Communalism: A Primer analyses how the anti-secularism spread: ‘Communalists call themselves good nationalists and communalism as nationalism. Therefore, the good fight against communalism must be fought on the same ground of nationalism.’To prevent Nepal from falling into the same trap and keep our democracy vibrant and inclusive, we must use upcoming elections to eschew parties that espouse majoritarianism, exclusion and division.At the very least Nepal’s political leaders must adhere to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/by-the-way/new-constitution-should-adopt-inclusive-democracy-with-federalism-republicanism-secularism,538" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">values enshrined in the Constitution</a> as their true ‘religion’.Rabin Giri

Volatile Mix of Politics and Religion

<figure><img width="1310" height="834" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131156/636cf53b9c7e80680e09da16jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>A gory battle scene from the Mahabharata depicted in a Nepali painting from the 1800s. Photo: harekrsna.com </figcaption></figure>Even eleven years after it was first published, The Difficulty of Being Good by Indian author <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurcharan_Das" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurcharan_Das&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624856018937000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFSPA3za-pll0LYf5joq4b13sXZ_A">Gurcharan Das</a> is more relevant than ever. Two-thousand years after it was written, so is the Mahabharata.For those who want to read the Mahabharata but are intimidated by the very thought, Das’ interpretation of the epic is well worth the time. Das does not just go to the holy city of Banaras, but to the Regenstein Library in Chicago with its fabulous collection of South Asian text, to explore the Hindu classic.  His ‘academic holiday’ of several years there resulted in this magnificent and riveting book. Das felt that places of learning in Banaras, the natural choice, would discourage him from ‘interrogating’ the text, but that the University of Chicago with its Sanskrit scholars like Sheldon Pollock and Wendy Doniger, would be more suitable. And indeed, the book proves that this was the right decision. The Mahabharata is made up of almost 100,000 couplets, and is seven times longer than Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey combined. But it is just as gory. Besides the length, the big difference with the Greek classics is that every time there is a showdown in the Mahabharata, amazingly, there is a battle-stopping discourse, and the warring parties weigh in and discuss moral pros and cons of the violence they are unleashing on each other. The Iliad, on the other hand, just gets on with the action. Like many religious texts, the Mahabharata also has its share of wacky stories. For example, the Kaurav brothers, who are fighting their Pandav cousins, create an impenetrable military formation called the ‘Chakra Vyuha’ on the twelfth day of the Mahabharata war to kill Pandav warriors like Yudhishthir. When Arjun, from the Pandav side, is fighting elsewhere in the battlefield, his son, Abhimanyu, successfully penetrates the military formation and stops the Kaurav’s menacing advance towards Yudhishthir. However (and this is the incredible part) Abhimanyu had learnt about how to enter the Chakra Vyuha when he was in his mother’s womb, as Arjun was describing it to her. Unfortunately, she fell asleep before Arjun could explain how to exit the treacherous mêlée.As a result, Abhimanyu did not hear about the exit strategy from this battle formation and so he is trapped and mercilessly killed by the Kaurav generals including Karna, Drona and Ashwastthama. Another riveting episode in the Mahabharata is Pandu, the father of the Pandav brothers. He is actually not their biological father because he has been cursed to die if he has coitus. Kunti, his wife, being a resourceful woman, utilises a gift from the ill-tempered sage Durvasha whereby she could invoke any god and have a child by him. And this she does.Gurcharan Das’s book shows us how the Mahabharata differs from other sacred texts, chiefly because rather than handing the reader a clear-cut cook book of instructions for the entry criteria to heaven, it bewilderingly asks more questions than it answers. Almost confirming that the ultimate truth may not even be available here on earth, it shows us that we can only have intimations of the truth -- a core belief in sophisticated Vedic thinking.   <figure><img width="640" height="437" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131156/636cf53e9c7e80680e09da17jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Mahabarata is also true to life with flawed characters populating the text, quite unusual for a holy book. For example, Yudishthir’s weakness for gambling, Duryodhan’s jealous streak, Karna’s status anxiety, Krishna’s guile  -- all add up to make it more human and readable.  In fact, as Das points out, the Mahabharata almost humanises the Kaurav (who are the bad guys) in an attempt to portray the good Pandav guys with empathy (Tat Tvam Asi), to kindle a universal moral sentiment. In contrast, the Ramayana, the other Hindu holy text from an earlier era has more black and white answers with an idealistic Ram and an evil Ravan.   The climax of the Mahabharata is when Yudhishthir is about to enter heaven. Indra, heaven’s gatekeeper, comes in his celestial chariot and requests Yudhishthir to please get in so they can ride into heaven together. The self-effacing Yudhishthir, looking a bit puzzled, asks Indra’s permission if they can also take in a stray dog who has been following him for a few days.  Indra initially declines, Yudhishthir pauses, looks around and says, “My Lord Indra, in that case I will forgo heaven.” This little episode with the dog was actually Indra’s test of compassion for Yudhishthir, which he passes with flying colours and he enters heaven with the stray. Das posits that the editors of the Mahabharata may have been influenced by the Buddhist concept of 'karunamaya', or compassion, as the book was written much later (between 400 BC – 300 AD) than the actual Mahabharata war in Kurukshetra (950 BC). In fact, the author asks a very important question: what would have been the outcome at Kurukshetra if Arjun’s charioteer had been Gautam Buddha instead of the clever Krishna? The Difficulty of Being Good is replete with graphic, lyrical, and evocative prose, as this passage by Das illustrates:  In the summer, I returned to India to visit my mother. On the way, the train stopped at a very sleepy station, about a hundred miles north of Delhi. I stepped on to the platform and discovered that this was no ordinary station: it was historic Kurukshetra where the Mahabharata’s futile war of annihilation had been fought. In the burning heat of the summer afternoon, I began to imagine the brutal magnificence of the raging, ruthless battles. I saw a dithering Arjun, the greatest warrior of his age put down his Gandiva bow and refuse to fight -- leaving his debonair and confident charioteer, Krishna, who is also God, with a problem on his hands. I visualised ruthless Drona grinding the exhausted Pandav armies into the dust. Suddenly he turns anxiously to his pupil, Yudhishthir to ask if the rumour about his son’s death is true. Yudhishthir -- who has never spoken false -- tells a white lie and his fabulous chariot, which always traveled slightly above the ground, sinks into the dust.  In a sense, this is a book review of The Difficulty of Being Good, which itself is a book review of the Mahabharata 2,000 years after it was written.  As we put down the book, it is hard to erase the image of Arjun folding his hands in front of the flamboyant Krishna, refusing to fight, while the ruthless Drona and remorseful Yudhishthir are carrying on a conversation in the heat of battle.  Buddha Basnyat is a physician at the Patan Institute of Health Sciences. Disclaimer: Gurcharan Das is his phuaju, uncle.The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of DharmaPenguin Paperback, 2012 ₹ 499.00by <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Gurcharan-Das/e/B001HD010S/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Gurcharan-Das/e/B001HD010S/ref%3Ddp_byline_cont_book_1&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624856018938000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHo1HTL86FzCkDyhd98zvMw0xvEKw">Gurcharan Das</a><a href="http://https://www.amazon.in/Difficulty-Being-Good-Subtle-Dharma/dp/0143418971"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131156/636cf5419c7e80680e09da18jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="313"></a>

Being good is not easy

<figure><img width="1310" height="834" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94819c7e80680e06f207jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>A gory battle scene from the Mahabharata depicted in a Nepali painting from the 1800s. Photo: harekrsna.com </figcaption></figure>Even eleven years after it was first published, The Difficulty of Being Good by Indian author <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurcharan_Das" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurcharan_Das&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624856018937000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFSPA3za-pll0LYf5joq4b13sXZ_A">Gurcharan Das</a> is more relevant than ever. Two-thousand years after it was written, so is the Mahabharata.For those who want to read the Mahabharata but are intimidated by the very thought, Das’ interpretation of the epic is well worth the time. Das does not just go to the holy city of Banaras, but to the Regenstein Library in Chicago with its fabulous collection of South Asian text, to explore the Hindu classic.  His ‘academic holiday’ of several years there resulted in this magnificent and riveting book. Das felt that places of learning in Banaras, the natural choice, would discourage him from ‘interrogating’ the text, but that the University of Chicago with its Sanskrit scholars like Sheldon Pollock and Wendy Doniger, would be more suitable. And indeed, the book proves that this was the right decision. The Mahabharata is made up of almost 100,000 couplets, and is seven times longer than Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey combined. But it is just as gory. Besides the length, the big difference with the Greek classics is that every time there is a showdown in the Mahabharata, amazingly, there is a battle-stopping discourse, and the warring parties weigh in and discuss moral pros and cons of the violence they are unleashing on each other. The Iliad, on the other hand, just gets on with the action. Like many religious texts, the Mahabharata also has its share of wacky stories. For example, the Kaurav brothers, who are fighting their Pandav cousins, create an impenetrable military formation called the ‘Chakra Vyuha’ on the twelfth day of the Mahabharata war to kill Pandav warriors like Yudhishthir. When Arjun, from the Pandav side, is fighting elsewhere in the battlefield, his son, Abhimanyu, successfully penetrates the military formation and stops the Kaurav’s menacing advance towards Yudhishthir. However (and this is the incredible part) Abhimanyu had learnt about how to enter the Chakra Vyuha when he was in his mother’s womb, as Arjun was describing it to her. Unfortunately, she fell asleep before Arjun could explain how to exit the treacherous mêlée.As a result, Abhimanyu did not hear about the exit strategy from this battle formation and so he is trapped and mercilessly killed by the Kaurav generals including Karna, Drona and Ashwastthama. Another riveting episode in the Mahabharata is Pandu, the father of the Pandav brothers. He is actually not their biological father because he has been cursed to die if he has coitus. Kunti, his wife, being a resourceful woman, utilises a gift from the ill-tempered sage Durvasha whereby she could invoke any god and have a child by him. And this she does.Gurcharan Das’s book shows us how the Mahabharata differs from other sacred texts, chiefly because rather than handing the reader a clear-cut cook book of instructions for the entry criteria to heaven, it bewilderingly asks more questions than it answers. Almost confirming that the ultimate truth may not even be available here on earth, it shows us that we can only have intimations of the truth -- a core belief in sophisticated Vedic thinking.   <figure><img width="640" height="437" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94849c7e80680e06f208jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Mahabarata is also true to life with flawed characters populating the text, quite unusual for a holy book. For example, Yudishthir’s weakness for gambling, Duryodhan’s jealous streak, Karna’s status anxiety, Krishna’s guile  -- all add up to make it more human and readable.  In fact, as Das points out, the Mahabharata almost humanises the Kaurav (who are the bad guys) in an attempt to portray the good Pandav guys with empathy (Tat Tvam Asi), to kindle a universal moral sentiment. In contrast, the Ramayana, the other Hindu holy text from an earlier era has more black and white answers with an idealistic Ram and an evil Ravan.   The climax of the Mahabharata is when Yudhishthir is about to enter heaven. Indra, heaven’s gatekeeper, comes in his celestial chariot and requests Yudhishthir to please get in so they can ride into heaven together. The self-effacing Yudhishthir, looking a bit puzzled, asks Indra’s permission if they can also take in a stray dog who has been following him for a few days.  Indra initially declines, Yudhishthir pauses, looks around and says, “My Lord Indra, in that case I will forgo heaven.” This little episode with the dog was actually Indra’s test of compassion for Yudhishthir, which he passes with flying colours and he enters heaven with the stray. Das posits that the editors of the Mahabharata may have been influenced by the Buddhist concept of 'karunamaya', or compassion, as the book was written much later (between 400 BC – 300 AD) than the actual Mahabharata war in Kurukshetra (950 BC). In fact, the author asks a very important question: what would have been the outcome at Kurukshetra if Arjun’s charioteer had been Gautam Buddha instead of the clever Krishna? The Difficulty of Being Good is replete with graphic, lyrical, and evocative prose, as this passage by Das illustrates:  In the summer, I returned to India to visit my mother. On the way, the train stopped at a very sleepy station, about a hundred miles north of Delhi. I stepped on to the platform and discovered that this was no ordinary station: it was historic Kurukshetra where the Mahabharata’s futile war of annihilation had been fought. In the burning heat of the summer afternoon, I began to imagine the brutal magnificence of the raging, ruthless battles. I saw a dithering Arjun, the greatest warrior of his age put down his Gandiva bow and refuse to fight -- leaving his debonair and confident charioteer, Krishna, who is also God, with a problem on his hands. I visualised ruthless Drona grinding the exhausted Pandav armies into the dust. Suddenly he turns anxiously to his pupil, Yudhishthir to ask if the rumour about his son’s death is true. Yudhishthir -- who has never spoken false -- tells a white lie and his fabulous chariot, which always traveled slightly above the ground, sinks into the dust.  In a sense, this is a book review of The Difficulty of Being Good, which itself is a book review of the Mahabharata 2,000 years after it was written.  As we put down the book, it is hard to erase the image of Arjun folding his hands in front of the flamboyant Krishna, refusing to fight, while the ruthless Drona and remorseful Yudhishthir are carrying on a conversation in the heat of battle.  Buddha Basnyat is a physician at the Patan Institute of Health Sciences. Disclaimer: Gurcharan Das is his phuaju, uncle.The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of DharmaPenguin Paperback, 2012 ₹ 499.00by <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Gurcharan-Das/e/B001HD010S/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Gurcharan-Das/e/B001HD010S/ref%3Ddp_byline_cont_book_1&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624856018938000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHo1HTL86FzCkDyhd98zvMw0xvEKw">Gurcharan Das</a><a href="http://https://www.amazon.in/Difficulty-Being-Good-Subtle-Dharma/dp/0143418971"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94889c7e80680e06f209jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="313"></a>

Hindu gods in Bangkok’s malls

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111120/636cd0ef9c7e80680e08f884jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1500"/><figcaption>Brahma at the Erawan Shrine, which is dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma, the creator. If people are in deep anguish, Erawan Shrine is where they can pray to Brahma for their wishes to be granted. All photos: JEONG MOON TAE</figcaption></figure>Visitors from Nepal and India at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport are surprised to see a 15m long depiction of Hindu gods and demons churning the ocean to squeeze out the अमृत Elixir.In another section of the terminal building is an ornate figure of Thotsakan almost touching the glass ceiling. This is the Thai name of Ravana, the King of Lanka in the Ramayana. The name of the airport itself, सुवर्णभूमि, means ‘The Golden Land’ in Sanskrit.Across Thailand, the many wat abound with images of Hindu deities even within Buddhist shrines. The architectural grammar and ornate structures hark back to the temples of the subcontinent, hinting at cultural influences that can be traced to the past millennium.Thailand’s current King Vajiralongkorn is also known as Rama X, and the Chakri Dynasty’s coronations are still conducted by Hindu Brahmin priests. Some historians have linked the monarchy to southern India’s Chola Dynasty, which during its heydays in the 11th century had spread to southeast Asia.There are many reminders of Thailand’s Hindu antecedents in place names and religious terms. The Thai Ramayana รามเกียรติ์ (Ramakien) is derived from the Hindu epic. Bangkok’s many shrines are dedicated to Hindu gods, like Wat Khaek, Wat Witsanu for Vishnu the protector, the Erawan Shrine for Brahma, the creator. There are also shrines for Laxmi, Trimurti and Ganesh side-by-side with the Buddhist wat.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-script-of-the-scriptures/">The script of the scriptures</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111120/636cd0f29c7e80680e08f885jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Thailand is the largest Buddhist country in the world, with 95% of its 69 million <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/thailand-population/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/thailand-population/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609638267338000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEspEHgKP5ex1JylZg7PR9Io3980g">population</a> following the religion. Those who consider themselves of the Hindu faith constitute just 0.03% percent of Thais (22,100 people) according to the 2015 census.Despite the very small number of Hindus here, elements of Hinduism permeate Thailand’s socio-cultural life. Even as the group is a minority, various Hindu elements remain deeply embedded in the traditional culture and social life of the Thai people.Hinduism arrived in Thailand partly along the land route from India via Burma, but also traversed the Bay of Bengal to Indonesia and was instrumental in the establishment of the maritime Sri Vijaya Empire. It is from Java that Hinduism also spread to Cambodia, and what is now Vietnam and northwards to Thailand – absorbing local cultural elements along the way.Waves of invasions, and especially the Khmer rule, left the residue of Hinduism in the Thai culture. And as is often the case with external influences, the elements have been absorbed and overlaid with Buddhist rituals seamlessly, giving them Thai characteristics.Alongside their Buddhist beliefs, many Thais worship Hindu deities. One of them is the Brahma (Phra Phrom) at the famous <a href="https://www.hotels.com/go/thailand/erawan-shrine" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hotels.com/go/thailand/erawan-shrine&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609638267338000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHhOz9KMLY-eeax8hZH9D5aMd66tg">Erawan Shrine in Bangkok</a>. People in deep anguish are known to go to this shrine, and when a wish has been granted, devotees hire dancers to perform Ram Kae Bon, to thank the god.Statues of Ganesh, Indra (Phra In), and Shiva (Phra Isuan) can be found across Thailand.  Ganesh is known as Phra Phikanet in Thai and is worshipped as the remover of obstacles. He is the deity Thai Buddhists often pray to before they start an important venture — just as Hindus in Nepal and India do at Ganesh temples.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/buddhist-relics-in-western-nepal/">Buddhist relics in western Nepal</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111120/636cd0f59c7e80680e08f886jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1012"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It is not uncommon to see offerings being placed before the <a href="https://www.thaizer.com/culture-etiquette/ganesh-in-thailand/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thaizer.com/culture-etiquette/ganesh-in-thailand/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609638267338000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHRYRp4-Gpo5KlLtoSk6Au9h5sL4w">shrines of Ganesh</a>, in the form of miniature elephants, garlands of fresh flowers, bananas or other fruits. Ganesh becomes a deity of significance, also because elephants are viewed as the national animal and mascot.Numerous relics on temple walls, such as at <a href="https://tripanthropologist.com/phimai-the-khmer-empires-most-important-outpost/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tripanthropologist.com/phimai-the-khmer-empires-most-important-outpost/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609638267338000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHz3Z-ahGoiw3ioqxk5XLCMvISTbw">Prasat Hin Phima in Korat</a>, describe the episode of Krishna hunting wild boars. The temple, one of the biggest Hindu temples in Thailand, also carries evidence of Buddhist and animist influences, like many other historical monuments in Thailand do.The influence of Hinduism can also be seen on Thai art and literature. Ancient theatrical practices are based on the epic Ramkien รามเกียรติ์, which is based on the Ramayana. Thailand’s former capital Ayutthaya has its name derived from Ayodhya, the birthplace of Ram in India, close to the Nepal border. Streets in different parts of Thailand also bear the name Rama, named after the deity.There are Thai variations on a lot of other names from the Ramayana. Tosarot is Dasarath, Lord Ram’s father. Sita is also revered in Thailand as Sida สีดา .It is believed that the hills that stretch across some parts of northern Thailand are the eastern tail-end of the Himalaya. And so, Shiva has a temple dedicated to him in the Issan province in northern Thailand on the Laos border. The word Issan itself comes from the Thai name for Shiva, Isuan อิซวน, which could be derived from the Sanskrit इष्वर.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/u-thant-kenzo-tange-and-the-buddhas-birthplace/">U Thant, Kenzō Tange and the Buddha’s birthplace</a>, Kunda Dixit<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111120/636cd0f89c7e80680e08f887jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="918"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The royal household of Thailand has given continuity to the Hindu traditions that have been in their families for centuries. Thai Royal emblem depicts Garuda, the vahana of Vishnu (Phra Narai), while Brahm Luang (Royal Brahmins) continue to be assigned the duty of engaging with the royalty to lead funerals, weddings and state ceremonies. This includes the Royal Ploughing Ceremony to ensure a bountiful harvest.The late Thai monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was an ardent reader of the Buddhist and Hindu scriptures. He also <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3595#.X-rcbxbBXIU" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D3595%23.X-rcbxbBXIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609638267338000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH6EOCNJ29DmOcTpEkA7Vo4W5dqPA">recreated some of the stories</a> through his own research. He was particularly enthused by the life of King Janak and his benign ways as the leader of a country. He is known to have sent his researchers to Janakpur, Nepal, for their own reading of the ancient kingdom of Vidhea, part of which is now known as Janakpur.King Bhumibol wrote the book The Story of Mahajanaka, which has been translated into English and Nepali. His daughter, Princess Maha Chakkri Sirindhorn, is herself a Sankritist and shares her father’s interest in the King Janak and the Mithila Kingdom that once straddled India and Nepal.The Hindu roots of Thai culture are also evident at the temple of Devasathan, which was established in 1784 in the Pra Nakhon district of Bangkok by King Rama I. The temple with its Sanskrit name which means ‘abode of god’, is also known as the 'Brahmin temple'. It is believed to be home to the descendants of priests who came from India’s Tamil Nadu during the Chola period 1,000 years ago, who still perform ceremonies for the royalty every year.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=26672&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The right path</a>, Nepali Times<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111120/636cd0fb9c7e80680e08f888jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="849"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Historically, numerous theories have been offered to account for the spread of Hinduism in Thailand, but it is generally agreed that the religion infiltrated the region in a series of waves affecting different places at different times. Between the 1st and 5th centuries the northeast was strongly influenced by the Hinduised kingdom of Nokor Phnom (<a href="https://www.cambodiamuseum.info/en_collection/stone_object/visnu.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cambodiamuseum.info/en_collection/stone_object/visnu.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609638267339000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEuM9g1QwliN2Jn6Si6XS7Fj3dRmw">or Funan as it was known to the Chinese</a>).From 802–1431 CE, Hinduism was further absorbed through the expansion of the hybrid Hindu-Buddhist Khmer Empire. Meanwhile the northern and central regions were heavily influenced by Hinduism during the <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mond/hd_mond.htm" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mond/hd_mond.htm&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609638267339000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHEspjJFEX8any3w2x9CV0Q500qTw">Dvarvati period</a> between the 6th and 11th centuries. While Buddhism was the major religion at the time, the presence of Hinduism shows prominently in the presence of statues of Hindu deities that scattered across the region during the time.In the central plains of Thailand, it is thought that Hinduism may have arrived even earlier, directly from Amravati in India or through the Mon people based in Burma. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mon_people" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mon_people&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1609638267339000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGLSp58vgGMe6LbtySD2YoWVZ4HFA">Mon people</a> were responsible for exporting their influence in terms of language and culture to much of Southeast Asia.The south, too, seems to have been directly linked to India, with evidence of trade and migration as early as the 1st century CE, but the region was particularly influenced by the Pallava cultures of Southeast Asia, with numerous traits of the Hinduised Buddhist kingdom of Srivijaya in Java and Kalimantan appearing in the area from the 6th century onward.Just as we see statues of Buddha, and Buddhist shrines next to Hindu temples in Nepal, it is fairly common to see figures of Hindu gods at the many wat in Thailand. And this quiet understanding of co-existence of religion and beliefs among a largely Buddhist people speaks for the name the country bears: the land of freedom.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lost-village-of-nepalis-in-thailand/">Lost village of Nepalis in Thailand</a>, Ramesh KhadkaThe second part in this series will appear on 15 January.

The Hindu gods of Buddhist Thailand

The detection of the coronavirus in three Indian nationals on Sunday in the border city of Birganj has highlighted the India connection in Nepal’s efforts to control the spread of the infection within its borders.The three were among Nepali and Indian Muslims who had attended a religious gathering in Saptari district in February from where public health officials now suspect the virus could have spread to other parts of Nepal.This brings the total number of cases in Nepal to 12 of which six are returnee workers from India, four are Nepalis who returned from Europe and the Gulf, one woman in Dhangadi was a community transmission case, and the first person detected with the infection in January was a Nepali student from China who has since recovered.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8b6f9c7e80680e06b29bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="765" height="437"/><figcaption>Nepalis returning from India. Photo: DINESH KHABAR</figcaption></figure>The three found positive on Sunday are said to be middle-aged men from Uttar Pradesh who were in a group which had come to Nepal in early February to attend a gathering of the Jamati sect in Saptari. Since then they had travelled across the eastern Tarai, and had been brought to a mosque in Birganj last week from where the swab samples of all 20 had been collected last week.Three of the men who had the coronavirus infection are now in an isolation ward of a Birganj hospital. Nepal’s public health authorities said they are now trying to contact trace everyone that the infected people had been close to since they entered Nepal.The India-Nepal border has been sealed for three weeks now, although there numerous places through which people can travel back and forth, and the frontier is still porous. Thousands of Nepali workers have not been allowed into their country, and there are also Indians working in Nepal who have not been able to go back to India.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-and-india-stop-nationals-in-each-others-countries/">Nepal and India stop citizens from returning</a>, Deepak Kharel Interestingly, Indian media gave wide publicity on Friday to a <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/113042" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leaked intelligence report filed by the Indian SSB border police force that a Nepali Muslim politician in Parsa district</a>, Jalim Mukhia, was involved in a conspiracy to infiltrate from Nepal 40-50 coronavirus-infected individuals to spread the pandemic in India.The ‘top secret’ report said 200 Indian Muslims and 5-6 Pakistanis had ‘already entered Nepal’ and were staying in a madrasah in Parsa district waiting to enter India on 3 April and rest would be sent across in groups. It even alleged that they would take paracetamol to supress their fever. A senior Indian official discredited the report, saying it was sensational and in any case the border was sealed.Despite that, most Indian television networks gave wide play to the report. In Nepal, the media report was condemned in a firestorm of angry posts on social media, accusing the tv channels of trying to smear Nepal.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/returnees-may-be-taking-coronavirus-to-rural-nepal/">Returnees may be taking coronavirus to rural Nepal</a>, Mukesh Pokhrel and Sonia Awale<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8b719c7e80680e06b29cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1210" height="1416"><figcaption>A leaked letter from an SSB officer in Bihar alleging that a Nepali Muslim politician was conspiring to infiltrated Indian Muslims infected with coronavirus across the border from Nepal to India.</figcaption></figure>However, in a new twist, the Nepali media quoted Jalim Miya as admitting that he himself took 15 of the Nepali Muslims from his village to the mosque in Birganj on 1 April on instruction of Parsa police. They were later sent home after their tests came out negative.Jalim Mukhiya is a member of the ruling party, and is himself from the Jamati sect that had held a gathering in Saptari in February.In a conference call with seven provincial Chief Ministers on Saturday Prime Minister Oli warned that since the COVID-19 epidemic was spreading in India, the lockdown may have to be extended beyond 15 April. The government announced that Province 2 will get an additional 1,600 Armed Police Force personnel to patrol the border.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lockdown-limbo-in-no-mans-land/">Lockdown limbo in no man’s land</a>, Deepak KharelIndia has reported 827 new cases in the past 24 hours, with 31 additional fatalities. The total number of confirmed cases in India now stands at 8,356 and 268 have died so far. Of these 452 cases were in Uttar Pradesh with five dead, and Bihar saw a doubling of cases to 63 since Friday, with one death. The other Indian state bordering Nepal has 35 cases. Most of the infected in India have been in Maharastra, Punjab and Kerala.Compared to its huge population of 1.3 billion, the numbers are small, but public health experts fear that crowded living conditions could be an incubator for the disease. India’s nationwide lockdown has been credited with keeping numbers down, and the curfew which is in effect till Tuesday is probably going to be extended till the end of the month.If that happens, Nepal’s own lockdown is probably going to be extended by a similar period. Nepal has already extended the ban on international flights till at least 30 April.

The India connection in Nepal’s COVID-19 status

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110815110/636a61059c7e80680e056eadjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1012"/><figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>The first thing one notices these days while travelling by road in the Tarai are hundreds of cattle blocking the East-West Highway, mainly at intersections like Atariya or Kohalpur.The ‘cow emergency’ hit the headlines in September, when 24 cows were found dead below the highway in Surkhet and hundreds of others were wandering in the jungles. Police investigation revealed that the cattle were being transported from Nepalganj to Dailekh as part of an effort by the municipality to reduce the population of street livestock.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=35036&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Creatures of culture</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=35062&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In an animal farm,</a> EditorialWhat few people know is that dozens of cattle had died earlier this year when Sukla Phanta Municipality near Dhangadi spent Rs5.5 million to round up cattle and put them in shelters, where most of them died of starvation and lack of care.There is no estimate of the number of cattle on the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/east-west-city/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highways near border towns of the western Tarai</a>, but on a recent trip reporters counted hundreds just on the stretch between Dhangadi and Atariya. Locals said there were a lot more street cattle previously, and the numbers had actually gone down.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF0y09GnNVwLocal officials said the main reason for the cattle crisis was the ban on beef in north Indian states, especially after the election of high priest and Hindu nationalist politician <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/saffron-surge-politics,3619" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yogi Adityanath</a> as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2017. Media reports of lynchings by religious extremists of Muslim traders suspected to be transporting cows put a stop to the unofficial ‘export’ of cattle from Nepal to India.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=35133&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saving Nepal's last wild dogs,</a> Yadav Ghimirey<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=35155&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A dog with altitude,</a> Sonam Choeyki LamaThere used to be a thriving crossborder trade in aged oxen and cows that had stopped giving milk. But sensitivity about cow slaughter in India after the rise of the BJP, as well as the new border fence on the India-Bangladesh border, has meant that the cattle are abandoned on the streets.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/rana-regime-restored-in-nepalganj/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepalganj Mayor Dhawal Rana</a> thought he had solved the problem by finding communities in the mountains willing to take the cows, however the transporter contracted to take the cattle to Dailekh let the cattle loose in the jungle near Surkhet in September.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45vQlWqfPW8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD4iyOyafOcThere are other factors at play: increased <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/productivity-empowerment-and%20job-with-mechanization-and-cooperative-in-agriculture,2378" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mechanisation of agriculture</a> and the use of threshing machines, disc ploughs and the replacement of ox carts with tractors means that bulls are no longer in high demand in the Tarai.“Ten years ago I sold my bulls for Rs50,000 — now there are no buyers. I can’t even pay someone to take the bulls away,” says Biru Ram Chaudhari of Lalitpur village of Kailali.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/guy-jatra/">Guy Jatra</a>, The Ass<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/kathmandu-traffic-faqs/">Kathmandu traffic FAQs</a>, The AssThe <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-and-malaysia-rewrite-rules-for-migrant-labour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outmigration of Nepali youth</a> to India, the Gulf and Malaysia has meant that <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/back-to-the-land" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agriculture</a> in general has seen a downturn, and there are fewer households keeping water buffalos and cattle at home. The urban expansion of Dhangadi and Nepalganj municipalities has also forced households to abandon home dairies.The stray cattle are now grazing in jungles by the highways, munching away at the undergrowth. Forests planted for flood control have also been affected. Sugarcane and paddy farmers have lost their entire crops as the cattle move through the fertile farms of the western Tarai.Says local farmer Gayadin Chaudhari: “It used to be <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-humans-can-live-with-wild-elephants/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elephants and wild animals</a> that destroyed our crops, now it is the cattle. In Mohanpur they lost 8 bigha (1.5 hectares) of sugarcane to stray cows.”In Attariya, police say there has been an increase in highway accidents and fatalities because of collisions of vehicles with stray cows at night. They say the only solution is to tag cows so that they can be traced back to their owners, who will then be forced to be more responsible.

Kunda Dixit

Waiting till the cows come home

https://youtu.be/1Ur3EvdiaikDevotees lined up inside the Tashi Chhyoling Gumba of Nalma village, Lamjung, recently on Buddha Jayanti to prepare the Ghatu dance. Interestingly, although the day begins with offerings and lamps for the Buddha, the dance begins by invoking Hindu gods.Ghatu seems to bring many cultures and languages together across the mountains of Central Nepal. In Nalma village, a two-hour ride from the district headquarter of Besishahar, four young girls are dressing up in traditional Gurung costumes to prepare for the dance. The rituals actually begin in January on the festival of Shree Panchami, when the dancers are selected. They are then trained until the performance starts on Buddha Jayanti, and goes on for up to a week. <img width="575" height="1024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121144/636a41ef9c7e80680e04a6a4jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>On full moon day the dancers line up in a community building at the center of the village, and begin swaying slowly to the music as village elders sing to the beat of the madal. Ghatu tells the tragic story of King Pashramu and Queen Yambawati: Pashramu goes on a hunt, meets and marries Yambawati, and they have a child. Pashramu is killed in action, Yambawati self-immolates on her husband's pyre. The dance climaxes with Yambawati's grief as she gives up her kingdom, says goodbye to her little son, and embraces death. The dancers go into a trembling trance as they perform for hours.Ghatu dance is performed all over central Nepal by Gurung, Magar, Dura, Balami and Kumal communities. But no one is sure how it originated. "It was passed down to us by our ancestors, but they did not tell us where they learnt it or how it began," says Jung Bahadur Gurung, dance teacher in Nalma. "People believe it's based on a local story, and that Pashramu and Yambawati were a local Gurung king and queen."Gurung knows the songs, but says he does not know what language they are in. It sounds like Tharu or Bhojpuri, languages spoken in southern Nepal. Since Pashramu meets Yambawati when he is out hunting and far away from his mountain homeland, some people speculate that queen Yambawati was a woman from the Tarai and brought the songs with her. The Gurungs also do not have the practice of sati depicted in the dance. Considering this and other factors, folk music expert Kishor Gurung concludes that Ghatu was actually brought to Nepal by Lahures who went to India. "Nepali soldiers who joined the British Indian armies must have brought it back with them 150-200 years ago."Professor Yubaraj Gurung thinks the dance is essentially a way for the community to comes to terms with pain and relate it to Yambawati's grief. But there is agreement on what makes the dancers go into a trance as they dance with their eyes closed, swaying slowly to the music."The dancers sometimes don't even know the story, but go with the flow and where the music takes them," says folk music researcher Jhuma Limbu who is making a documentary about Ghatu. "It is a matter of great pride that music which explores the depths of human psychology is still alive in Nepal. We must do our best to preserve it." <img width="2000" height="1123" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a41f29c7e80680e04a6a5jpeg.jpg" alt="">As with most folk art, this music has been passed down and preserved orally, and it is known to affect the dancers anytime it is played. Grown women who were former dancers sometimes fall into a trance when they hear the music. Villagers here forbid recording the music, and the performances only happen at designated times.With the march of time, interest is waning in such lengthy dances when other means of entertainment are easily available, says musician Raju Gurung: "It is a very sad that people are losing interest in the ritual part of the dance and it is becoming more and more commercialised. We love our dance very much and would like to preserve it, but it is a losing battle."

Ghatu dance of Lamjung

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28e29c7e80680e045897jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/>As every year, Hindu devotees from all over the country and neighboring India have gathered to the sacred Pashupatinath Temple for the annual <a href="https://nepalitimesnt.exposure.co/maha-shivaratri" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maha Shivaratri festival</a>. Observed on a new moon day on the 11th month of the Nepali lunar calendar, the festival marks the convergence of Shiva and Shakti and is the celebration of the god of destruction.Devotees primarily celebrate <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/mycity/2018/02/14/maha-shivaratri/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shivaratri</a> at night, as its name suggests, by maintaining an all night vigil, offering prayers and enjoying with music and dances, along with bonfire. Pilgrims wait in queues long before daybreak to pay homage to Lord Shiva.Also:<a href="https://nepalitimesnt.exposure.co/maha-shivaratri" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maha Shivaratri</a><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/mycity/2018/02/14/maha-shivaratri/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maha Shivaratri</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10966#.XHzx4sAzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In the name of the lord</a>, Alok TumbahangpheyDuring the day, Sadhus with their faces painted and bodies smeared with ash are seen meditating, fasting and smoking cannabis. They also offer ganja and bhang to people around them as Shiva's prasad.While the authorities have often overlooked the use of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/undo-hash-ban,3657" target="_blank" rel="noopener">marijuana</a> on Shivaratri because of its religious significance, Pashupati Area Development Trust last year enforced a restriction that allowed authorities to arrest visitors caught smoking or in possession of the intoxicant. Only the men in saffron were exempt from the ban. This year, however, there is a complete ban. Many have also shifted base and moved to Doleshwor Mahadev in Bhaktapur that provides better lodging and fooding for the devotees.Photojournalist Bikram Rai and Monika Deupala were in Pashupatinath and Doleshwor Mahadev this week to capture the essence of the lively festival.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28e69c7e80680e045898jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="999"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28e99c7e80680e045899jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28ec9c7e80680e04589ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="800"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28ef9c7e80680e04589bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28f29c7e80680e04589cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28f69c7e80680e04589djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28f99c7e80680e04589ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1037"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28fc9c7e80680e04589fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="992"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28ff9c7e80680e0458a0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a29039c7e80680e0458a1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="997"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a29059c7e80680e0458a2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a29099c7e80680e0458a3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1010">Read also:<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/In-the-name-of-the-destroyer,1144" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In the name of the destroyer</a><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15693#.XHzw4sAzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jammin' in the ratri</a>, Paavan Mathema

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Waiting till the cows come home

Ghatu dance of Lamjung

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