Newa Vigyan 4 ( NS 1121)

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by  Kiran Ken Ranjit

(Newah Vijfiana)
The Journal Of Newar Studies
Sacred Buddhist Dancer
Number 4
AD 2001/02 NS 1121 BS2058/59
Newah Vijnana Editorial
(The Journal OfNewar Studies) Nhugu diiya Bhintuna (Greetings on the occasIOn of the
ISSN 1536-8661 NewYearl). Becausemany ofus live far from home, it is evenmore
1121 Number-4 2000-01 important to gIve the traditional New Year Nepal Sambatgreeting to
f-----------------I friends and family. But whydo we wish you aNepal Sambat? Since
Editor
the New Year celebration falls during the three days of the Swonti
DayaR. Shakya
GaurishankarManadharPh. D festIval (Tihar mNepali), many people considerthis day to mark the
Newarl Sambat This misconception occurs because usually only
Advisor
Newars celebrate at this time, and the New Year traditions have not
Prof. Todd Lewis
been broadcast to other Nepalese communities by the mass media.
Yet, as detaIled in the previous issue of the JOurnal, for historical
Graphic Designer
reasons Nepal Sambat ought to be the name used to designate this
SUdlpShakya
calendarcycle.
After three issues, the journal has gained recognition not
Publisher
only in the eyes ofNewars living m both the United Statesand other
InternationalNepalBhasha: SCV3 Samiti
parts of the globe, but also from Newar scholars and researchers
(INBSS)
While the journal is coneerned with putting forth high quality aca
Portland,Oregon USA
demie articles, its main goal has aJways been to inform the Newar
Chairperson
communityabout our own cultural heritage. Towards these ends, the
Daya R. Shakya ~
journal has provided information on Newar Studies from all around
Members
the world Yet we need our readers to keep us abreast ofNewar ac
UmaShrestha Ph.D. GaurishankarManadharPh. D
tivities thattake place myour own communities; yourhelp is invalu-
DiwakarMaharjan,SashindraVajracharya able
PumaBa:hadhurRanjit
As always, the JOurnal is multi-Imgual. Along with our
regular columnofresearch abstracts and otherpertinent mformation,
RegionalRepresentatives
the English-language section includes three articles First, Professor
Eugene. Oregon
Bruce Owen describes howhe became mvolved inNewar Studieson
BinodKansakar
both a personal and an academic level. Second, Daya R. Shakya de
LosAngeles.California
tails the extent to whichNewars have given up speaking theirnatIve
SarbaShakya, BuddhaL. Shaha
language ThIrd, MalIa K Sunder asks the cruciaJ question of
SanFrancisco. California
whether or not Newars ought to consIder themselves janajati. The
RajcshB. Shrestlla,NepahKhalah
Nepali-language section aJso includesthree articles. First, Mr. Lilab
North Carolina
hakta Munakarmi describes his historical findings on Bhakiapur's
DevcndraAmatyaPh.D
MalIa Royal Palace. Second, Dr. Tulsi Maharjan wntes why it is
Ncl''''Jersey
crucial for Newarsto maintain their identity The lastarticle is about
Tulsi Maharjan
installation of Shankadhar Sakhwa's statue. The Nepal Bhasha
Virginia
language section consists offour pieces contributed by Newar wnt
Tribhuvan TuHidhaLAchyutShrestha
ers. First is a poem by Labha Ratna Tuladhar. Second, Premhira
Nepal
Tuladhar pens her findings on contribution made by Chmadhar
Prof Tej R. Kansakar
'Hridaya'in NepaJ Bhasha literature. Thrrd, Shashikala Manadhar
ShantaRShakya,LabhR. Tuladhar,
writes her remembrance about Chittadhar. The fourth one is a con
Siddhi R. Shakya
temporary thoughts of dilemma on Newars by Labha Ratna Tulad
India
har. Besides these, an extensIve interview with the sacred Buddhist
YogbirSh5h..ya, Kalimpong, WestBengal
dancer, MasterPrajwaJ Ratna Vajracharya also included.
Ranjana& Rajiv S. Shrestha,"Rachna'·,Gangtok
We cannot give enough thanks to the contributors, edItors,
Sikkim
and other individuals and publications that have made this journal
Australia
such a success. WIthout their help, the journal would not be possi
BimalManShrestha.MaryJo' Rouke
ble. Himalayan Research Bulletm, The Sandhya Times, Kathmandu
TheNetherlands
Post, Nepal Bhasha Manka Khalah Bulletin, Newah AnnuaJ, and
BalGopalShrcstha,Leiden
PremierDanceandEntertammentall haveprovided invaluable infor
mation on Newar Studies Tnbhuvan Tuladhar, Swami Chetanan
MailingAddress.
anda, Kashinath Tamot, Min Bahadur Shakya, Prajwal Vajracharya,
Ne\\iahVijnana
Paula Huston, Bhima Shakya, Suva Shakya, Sudip Shakya have all
1923NESchuylerSt.
worked together so as to bnng thIS issue to fruition. We would also
Portland,OR97212 USA
like to thank Gregory Gneve for hIS assistance with the Engllsh
f--------------------Ilanguage sectionofthejournal_
Cover: MasterPrajwalR Vajracharya
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ISSN 1536-8661
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Call For Papers
NewilJ.t Vijiliina (the Journal ofNewarStudies)acceptsconuibutionsfor its fIfth issue, which will debut in
November 2002. The Journal's aim is to consolidate empirical, theoretical, as well as any work done in Newar.
language, culture, art, history, customs, traditions,religion, biography, music, architectureandthe infonnation on:
Newars aroundtheworld soasto serveas atool topreserveandexpose the richnessofNewarheritage.
Submissions (articles, abstracts of recently completed dissertations, and reviews of any work on Newars.:::
translations ofNewar literary works, notes on any work!projects on Newars) are invited in English, Nepali and
Nepal Bhasha. A hard copy and an IBM-compatible, preferably Microsoft Word, ftle on disk are required. The'
editorsreserve therightnot toprocesssubmissionsthatdonot serve the goalsofthejournal.
The last date for submissions Is September 30th. 2002
DayaR. Shakya
International Nepal BhashaSevaSamiti(INBSS)
1923 NE SchuylerSt.
Portland, OR97212, USA
Ph. [phone] Fax [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
From South Asian Countries
Siddhi R. Shakya
a
P. Box 571
Kathmandu, Nepal
Ph: 977-1- 265348
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(Newal) Vijiiana)
The Journal OfNewar Studies
ISSN 1536-8661
Number -4
AD 2000/01 NS 1121 BS 2057/58
English
Editorial 00
PersonalTheory: Towards a satisfactoryexplanationfor why I study Newarculture; or;
Dyah Wac("God Crazy") Bruce M. Owens OI
How Tibeto BunnanIs Nepal BhiishiiToday? .Daya R. Shakya 22
The Question ofJanajiiti Malla K. Sunder ..45
Research, Conference paper, Dissertation, and Theses Abstracts .49
Miscellaneous
Book Review: "Sugata Saurabha" Paula Huston .s5
Introduction: 'Prajwal Vajriichiirya', Sacred Buddhist Dancer 57
Digitalization of 'Asha Archives' 59
Newah Organization ofAmerica (NOA) 60
News Report on Nepal Sambat 62
NepaIi
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'li'i'tlS«il ~ ~ ~ !f1qj<rr 66
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~ ~(News Column) 84
Members and Subscribers' Directory 87
Membership / Subscription Form 91
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Personal Theory:
Towards a satisfactory explanation for why I study
Newar culture; or, DyaJ.1 Wae ("God Crazy")
Bruce McCoy Owens
Dept.ofSociologyand Anthropology
WheatonCollege
One of the things that I find most difficult different, I believe, from what makes them
about doing research is fully explaining to those interesting to those who ask them. For
about whom I am trying to learn why it is that I example, after many conversations about the
am doing what I am doing. I have always felt topic, I am convinced that the age ofthe chariot
that it is essential to offer an account for my festival is interesting to most Newars for three
interests, and always do so, but even if the major reasons: first, age is a higWy valued
explanation I offer is satisfactory to those with attribute of both images and ritual practices;
whom I am speaking, it is rarely satisfactory to second, its great antiquity firmly establishes the
myself. There are several reasons for this. One Newar origins ofthis now national festival, and
is that it is very likely that Newars who ask third, residents of Patan want to confmn that
about and are in various ways involved in my their chariot festival is more ancient than its
research are not going to be interested in details Kathmandu counterpart (and vice versa). What
of my own project that I frud quite fascinating. most interests me about this question is its
In this they are no different from the vast implications for determining the cultural and
majority of people in the lhlited States who are political context of the festival's origins. The
not involved in my specific field ofresearch. In question about the deity's sexuality is more ofa
fact I am more likely to succeed in sustaining trick question to see whether I am aware of the
the interest of a casual acquaintance in the various issues involved in answering it, but is
Kathmandu Valley in my projects than I am the critical to me due to my interest in issues of
interest of a fellow American, no matter what identity.
theirrespective levelsofeducation might be. The most vexing of the reasons that I frud
Another is that the kinds of questions that my own explanations for my research
motivate me are often quite different from the unsatisfying is the sense I often get that, to the
kinds of questions that are most important to extent that my interests in studying Newar
them. For example, I have been conducting culture are motivated by relatively abstract and
research on the topic the deity Bungadyal)' for apparently arcane theoretical interests, it appears
nearly two decades now, and the questions that to my Newar interlocutors that my interest in
Newars most frequently ask upon learning of studying them and theirculture is diminished,
this study are "How old is BungadyaJ:!'schariot superficial, ulterior, or otherwise less personal,
festival?" and "Is BungadYaJ:! male or female?" less "real." In other words, the more I try to
These are both interesting questions, but what explain fully my interest in Newars, the less
makes them particularly interesting to me is interested Iappeartobe.
Newii~ Vljiiiina ~4 Owens, BruceMcCoyI 'Personal Theory: ...1
This essay is an attempt to rectify this ways in which my own interests are perceived
situation. Newah Vijiiana is perhaps the only by those whose hospitality Ienjoy, and who are
journal whose regular readership includes those patientenough to answer my endless questions.
who can appreciate this problem from either or One could describe the ways in which these
both sides of the equation, and I hope that my issues are raised in theoretical terms that seem
attempt to solve it here will provoke its readers quite abstract and quite distant from personal
(especially Newars) to respond to my efforts. experience and genuine personal involvement.
Two years ago, the editor of Newah Vijiiana For example, the problem of understanding
asked scholars who were engaged in Newar how what one learns is affected by the situation
studies how they learned about Newars as a in which one is learning it is often though ofas
possible field of study, what they found a "postmodern" problem related to arejection of
distinctive about Newars, and what areas of a Cartesian notion of knowledge being
research about Newars they felt remained to be obtainable from an absolutely objective point
done. This essay only touches on these outside the phenomenon about which one
questions (mostly the first), and an adequate wishes to learn. To put this more simply, who
response to them (especially the third) would you are, who you know, how you know, and
require another essay. What I want to do here when you learned it have everything to do with
is demonstrate that the kinds of interests that what you know. From a postmodernist
anthropologists call "theoretical" that can seem perspective, all knowledge is influenced by the
far removed from the immediate situation of circumstances of its acquisition, and is thus a
fieldwork and the personal experiences one has product of particular historical, cultural, and
while doing it, can in fact be highly personal political processes.
and deeply motivated as well. Far from As I will explain, this problem, at one level
distancing the anthropologist from personal highly abstract, is one of the things that
engagement with the place and people he orshe motivated me to spend twenty years thin.ldng
studies, theoretical interests can contribute to about Bungadyal.J and seeing six of his
that engagement and make it deeper, and the festivals, once flying back and forth twice in a
theoretical issues I pursue are often shaped if month while teaching in Chicago in order to see
not posedby the people among whom I work in as much as I could of the twelve year
what anthropologists call "the field." My procession. Several of those who knew me
approach is necessarily personal, for the while I was most intensively stl1dying
personalis basically what's at issue here. Bungadyal.J as part of my dissertation research
Anthropologists have recently spilt a great described me as dyaIJ wae (god crazy), such
deal ofink over the issues ofhow it is that they was the intensity of my fascination. Both my
go about doing their work, and the nature of interestinBungadyal.Jandmy interestin writing
theirrelationships withthose among whom they this article are motivated and informed by
do it. Reading about the work of anthropolo theoretical problems. But my objective here is
gists who have done research inthe Philippines, to demonstrate to those interested in the fruits of
Helambu, and Naples, for example', helps me my conversations with my Newar interlocutors
to contemplate my own situation in the that there is no real contradiction, at least for
Kathmandu valley, and re-enforces my sense me, between theoretical and personal interests,
that it is important to carefully consider the and that my theoretical interests often emerge
Newiih Vijiiiina -4 Owens, BruceMcCoy/ 'Personal Theory: ...2
l
from concrete personal experiences that I have cal and the personal is more the rule than the
while engaged in my research. I hope this exception among socio-cultural anthropolo
article will at once exemplify and explain how gists.' The broad anthropological project of
this canbe so. understanding what it is to be human requires
The only way that I can imagine developing intimate engagement with people that is both
a convincing argument about the personal personallyand theoretically motivated.
nature of theoretical interests is to, as I warned I can put off the inevitable problem of
above, offer a personal account of how my defming my terms no longer. What do I mean
interests came to be what they are, and how by theory and theoretical, and what do I mean
they led me to learn about Newar culture, and by personal? Theory is a term that is oftenused
how Newars and Newarculture, in tum, shaped in popular speech in a negative way, as in "that
my theoretical concerns. I do not imagine that may be true in theory, but we know what really
my intellectual trajectory is intrinsically fascina goes on," suggesting that theory and reality are
ting, but it is the trajectory with which I am fundamentally opposed, theory being, in this
most familiar, and I think it can serve as an sense, a kind offailed speculation about reality
example that will help make this article not only that reality itself tends to undermine. This is
a claim about myself, but a more general related in a way to another typical use that
argument about the link between the personal contrasts theory with practice. This second use
and the theoretical. This is part ofwhat I mean does not necessarily cast theory in a negative
when I say that I hope that this article will light, but offers the possibility of "putting
exemplify as well as explain my point ofview. theory into practice." In this sense, theory
In offering a personal account, I am also consists of ideas about practice that might even
presentinga kind oftheoretical argument. help in practical matters. Raymond Williams, to
In order to do my research it is critical that I whom anthropologists frequently tum when
understand why people do what they do. This trying to be rigorous about their language,
kind of understanding can only come with a suggests that this distinction between theory
personal knowledge of the ways in which the and practice is prevalent in the ways that most
things they do (such as build a chariot for a social theorists use the term, and that theory can
god) fit into the rest oftheir lives. It strikes me be considered to be "a scheme of ideas which
as only reasonable that a satisfactory explana explains practice." This leads him to make
tion of why I do what I do (such as watch another important distinction between theory
people build chariots for gods) would include and law that is important for our purposes, the
the same sort of information. In providing this latterbeing, as it were, anex-theory to whichno
kind of explanation I hope to demonstrate that objection can be made.' Hence, we have tl)e
my theoretical interestsare personally motivated theory of relativity and the law of gravity. In
products of a multitude of life experiences, the study of human behavior, it is almost never
including my experiences in Nepal with those the case that no objection could be made to a
from whom I have learned. Given the kind of scheme of ideas intended to explain a particular
engagement that effective participant observa practice, because it is impossible to control for
tion research requires, and knowing a large all the conditions that might play a role in its
number ofanthropologists who do this kind of taking place. We are, after all, dealing with
work, Iargue that this linkbetween the theoreti- humans, who are unlikely to concede to test-
NewiilJ Vijiiiina -4 Owens, BroceMcCoy/ 'Personal Theory ...3
tube like constraints on their lives. Evenifthey of research in which they inevitably become a
were, it wouldn't solve the problem, because we part of what they are researching in important
would hardly learn about "normal" human ways. 1bis method, called participant
practices in the strdI1ge settings of human observation, is, from one point of view,
laboratories. So in sociocultural anthropology impossible, because it is impossible to do both
theories never become laws because our at the same moment in time, and because
subjects of study (and we) are human. What participation inevitably involves altering what
good are anthropological theories then? would have otherwise happened had the
To put it simply, anthropological theory anthropologist not been there to participate.
(just like any theory) helps us to understand Most anthropologists working today
particular circumstances in general terms. One acknowledge this, but rather than bemoan the
ofthe hallmarks ofanthropology is its tendency logical impossibility of their method and their
to make cross-cultural comparisons. These "lack of objectivity," they take great pains to
comparisons are made not only to point out describe the nature of their involvement with
important distinctions, but also to understand whomever and whatever they are studying.
those distinctions as products or evidence of Many even argue that the detailed knowledge
broader commonalities. For example, research and empathy they develop through their
on other caste societies helps us to formulate personal experiences and relationships are
questions that we need to ask in order to better absolutely crucial to deepening their understan
understand the particularities of Newar caste ding.
society. The research on Newar society then This brings us to the second term in need
helps us to refme our conceptofcaste, such that ofdefining: personal. It is actually a complica
it can be better applied in work on all societies ted term because it is in some ways a paradoxi
whose members think about one another in cal concept. 1bis paradox is evident in its
these terms. Our "scheme of ideas" explaining origins, as it derives from the Latin term for the
practices in caste societies can then be used to mask worn by an actor, persona. Persona in
better refme our more general ideas about social its original sense is both a means of revealing
hierarchy, or power, for example, and so on. the identity of the character being played and
1bis is simply an anthropological example of concealing the identity of the player. In current
the relationship between inductive and use, when someone declares that their reason
deductive reasoning. So theory is always a sort for doing something is "personal," they are
of two-way street. It can take the researcher oftenat once stating that the full explanation for
"away" from a particular place or people in that their actions is highly individual and "private,"
it relies on abstraction and cross-cultural and at the same time letting it be known that
comparison for development and testing, but it there is some secret thatis the key to explaining
also prepares the researcher to ask the kinds of their behavior. To label reasons for one's
questions that can reveal a particular place or actions "personal" is also to signal that they are
people to be unique inconcrete ways. particularly compelling; to do so not only
Forsomecritics ofthe anthropological way shields ones motives from scrutiny but marks
of doing things, the problem lies in the testing ones actions as somehow personally unavoid
of theories, and the fact that they never become able. As this is an essay intended for publica
laws. Anthropologists generally use a method tion, I am obviously not using the term
Newiih Vijfiiina-4 Owens. BruceMcCoy/ 'Personal Theory: ...4
"personal" in a secretive sense, but rather in its knowledge of human history grew. For the
individual sense, and in the sense that personal fIrst time, anthropology seemed like an entirely
motives are particularly motivating in the way logical, ifutterly impracticalchoice ofdiscipline
that "personal convictions" are ideas to which to pursue. My reasons for pursing anthropo
one has particularly strong attachments. What logy were from the outset highly personal in the
then, is the personal path through which I came sense that they reflected my individual
to be interested in Newar culture, and how is inclinations (rather than my environment, in
this related to the theoretical questions that which sciences like chemistry and biology
motivate myresearch? dominated in any number of ways) and they
As a means of further explicating what I were uniquely compelling.
mean by personal and paying tribute to the No account of my present interests would
teacher who fIrst introduced me to anthropo be complete without mention ofanother teacher
logy, I will begin the tale of how I came to be whose influence met with my inclinations in a
dyah wae ("god crazy") with my social studies particularly powerful way: Rafe Jenanyan, my
teacherin ninth grade, which is to sayat the age French teacher in my last two years of high
of fourteen. Mrs. Atamian taught "World schooL Seven previous years of conjugating
Civilization" and had the most all-encompassing French verbs and otherwise wringing the life
and, in retrospect, revolutionary concept of out ofa beautiful language made it unlikely that
civilization I have yet encountered, for it a teacher ofFrench could have such a powerful
included Australopithicines and other early influence at that point in my career. Rafe
hominids that are not generally associated with somehow located this language in French
writing, state societies, dense populations and culture in a vital way, and gave me a glimpse of
otherconventional markers ofthe "civilized." It the possibilities ofexperiencing another culture
was only in my senior year while contemplating as a speaker of its language. My appetite for
where I wanted to go· to college that I cultural alterity had already been whetted by the
questioned the wisdom of what seemed to be extraordinary packages ofwondrous things that
the inevitable trajectory of studying biology or my Aunt Ruth would send at Christmas from
some other "hard" science, and thought back to Turkey, Mexico, Germany, or wherever the Air
what it was that I enjoyed studying most for its Force stationed her. It is thus testimony to my
own sake rather than for the purpose of aunt's creative generosity, my parents' love of
garnering a credential or preparing to learn Europe, and Rafe's extraordinary teaching
something else. Mrs. Atamian's Australopithi abilities and friendship (not to speak ofthe war
cines immediately came to mind, for I had in Vietnam) that my fIrst choice oflocation for
devoted countless completely unnecessary my higher education was Paris and my second
hours (in terms of their impact on my grade) Montreal. Parental guidance led me across the
reading about them and other early hominids. St. Lawrence rather than the Atlantic, and to
In retrospect, I am not sure how to account for McGill Universityrather than LaSorbonne.
this fascination, though I suspect it had to do McGill University accommodated my
with the fundamental problem of determining interests in biology and anthropology, and I
the ways in which humans differ from other pursued both until I discovered what sort of
animals, a problem that was becoming more students I would be compelled to study with
vexing the fuzzier the distinction became a~ my were I to continue in biology. Forthe most part
Newiih Vljiiiina -4 Owens. BruceMcCoy/ 'Personal Theory: ...5