Ganga Dash, the Hybrid Sadhu Baba of Pashupatinath
By Nabin Baral
“If your heart wants to fly away, let it fly, but keep you body in control. What can the pathetic heart do? It will come itself into your body at last”, Ganga Dash replied when he was asked about sex.
Ganga Dash, 55, is living in Pashupatinath Temple areas in Kathmandu since 30 years. He is Guru Maharaj for all the junior Sadhus in the temple. He was born in Mohatari district of Nepal.
He lives in a small room in an Ashram in northern part of Pashupatinath. Since the age of ten he devoted his life in to Hindu Religion. “I devoted my life to god; it’s the God who wanted me to become Sadhu. Ram is my aim, he is also the form Shiva.” Ganga Das related his aim with God. “It is all about god, the Godhas done what he has thought for my life”, he added.
Ganga did Koti Bishnu Maha Yagya, a hug religious ceremony in Pashupatinath establishing 108 statues of god during the event. According to Ganga, the three decades of his life in Pashupatinath has made him to earn Punya or good Karma. In Hinduism Punya is earned by helping human being and by worshiping God and Goddesses.
Ganga believes that he has got blessing power that he earned due to his devotion in God. He also believes that he can change the life of a person by his blessings.
“Being a Sadhu, I have earned Punya, the Punya has given me the power of blessing and now I can bless for the well being of the people. It might take time to show the effect my blessing but it will work at last”, He said with his confidence.
He remembers a story of a person named Prabin Jha with confusion, whose who got rid of credit of five million rupees because of his blessings. He also believes that Prabin’s daughter and son also got success for abroad study in America and Australia due to his blessings.
The daily life Ganga Das starts with the worship of rising Sun God by offering water early in the morning. Before the worship a holy bath is must for him every morning. After the worship of Sun God he does Yoga and Jap. His first food is juice of cereals with lemon, sugar and salt. At about 11 am he joins with all the Sadhus for the daily free food offered by a near Asharam in Pashupatinath.
Every morning he opens his coiled two and half meters long hair and one meter long beard. The hair is dead locked. He never use soap or shampoo, instead he uses ashes as cleaner. The locked long hair and beard shows his devotion in his life. It took him four decades to make such a long hair and beard. It is one of the best attractions for tourists when they reach the place where a group of Sadhu Baba sits as models targeting the cameras of tourist who visit Pashupatinath Temple. Of course money is involved every clicks of tourists cameras.
Ganga does not feel shame on taking money from tourists when they take his photos because of his physical body and the physical world. He said, “I have to feed this physical body, I have to travel different religious places in India and Nepal”. I need money for living and travel, I do not demand, I am happy with what people give me” he added.
He denies that he is like other Gagadi Babas. Gagadi Babas are those who smoke marijuana as holy smoke, they believe that Lord Shiva also took Bhang and Dhaturo, plants with medicinal value but can be intoxicated if taken more. “My life is Norco-None life”, he said. He does not believe in the intoxication of Bhang, Dhaturo and marijuana. “But I believe in the intoxication that I can get due to my devotion and worship to Lord Shiva”, he added. Accord to him Lord Shiva never took Bhang, Dhaturo and marijuana, but once Shiva drank the poison that originated due the ocean shake to save the life of living being in water and land. People misunderstood this action of Lord Shiva.
“I have the passion of God; I do not need any other intoxicating elements” he argued. In the question to- where is god? He replied “God is in the soul of every human being, it needs patience and devotion to find God on you, and normally you can easily find god in peaceful soul that has earned good Karma”
Ganga’s room has leakages from the old walls in monsoon. A plastic sheet is attached in the ceiling. A bed is placed facing East west and a L.P gas stove and cylinder is placed in the Eastern corner of room with some tea cooking utensils. The stoves looked like; it has not been used since many days. Ganga Dash owns a radio, a mobile phone, a pen, a note book, a small kitchen, a bed , posters and statues of God and Goddess.
He has got no interest in politics but still he does not believe on the state without king. He said, “The king has to take back his throne in Nepal”
His last words during the interaction were, “You have to live for yours stomach and Karma; if you take wrong way in your life, God will guide you in the right way. But be sure that you separate two hours everyday for God.”
The Mud Holi Festival
By Nabin Baral
“Have you ever done plantation of Rice?”
“No!”
“And you?”
“I have not done the plantation but have seen farmers planting it during my last week trekking in Annapurna Circuit.”
The bus starts with big noise, the discussion of two tourists fades out and a member of Powerful Hands stands up shouts towards the driver “Guru Jee we have to pick-up two people from Damkal, near Jawalakhel”. No reaction from the bus driver, the bus moves from Thamel.
Three buses, two big and one micro full of local and international tourists with members of Powerful Hands and staff of Social Tour, heads towards the Bajrabarahi , in the southern outskirts of Kathmandu Valley to celebrate Rice Plantation Festival on the morning of last dayJune.
When monsoon hits Nepal, farm lands becomes play ground for Mud Holi on 15 of Ashad. This year 15th of Nepali Month Ashad was 29 June, which is officially Paddy Day in Nepal and farmers celebrate with water, mud, traditional songs and food. Rice terraces in the hills of Nepal makes great patterns that no one can forget in their life.
After a short stop at Bajrabarahi Temple at 12 in the noon three buses reached the destination, a small village in Bajrabarahi. The excited rice-planters-to-be get out of the bus and head towards the main rice plantation plot.
There were many foreigners, some even with their kids, from different countries. The steps of foreigner were not nicely balanced in the mud water.
Raj Gyawali, the founder and director of the Social Tours tries takes the attention of the crowed but it was possible because of the excited rice planters. Everyone started to attack the paddy seedling that were made ready by the local farmers and started to plant it. Locals started to teach the way to catch deep the paddy seedling into the mud-water.
Within a minute La Ma, a staff from Social tour started the Mud Holi. He entered in to the rice field like a king lion. Everyone started shout, “eeee…!”, and run out of the plot but in vain.
“No! No! No! Oh my God!! , different kinds of exclamation sound started come out from the rice plot with the background sound of splashed of the mud water. The revenge starts and in some minutes everyone looked like same daughters and sons of same mother, the mother earth. No white and black, no national and international, no rich and poor. Now all the planters are covered with same order and color of mud.
Raj Gyalwali shares his Mud Holi experience in his blog write like this “ And when work turned into play, there was no telling who was who, covered in mud from head to toe. After a typical Newari snack and a drink or two of the local rice beer filled up with new energy, some real mud wrestling also took place”. He further writes, “All in all, what a healthy, therapeutic, fun experience – a free mud bath treatment for everyone! It makes anyone regain some youthful enthusiasm”.
For Dwayne Leditschke, from Australia, the Rice Plantation is a festival is a event that he has never heard of before. He found out about the event from social media. “It was a fantastic, fun day spent with friends; rice planting is not as easy as you think”, He said. “I like the mud holi play at the end”, He added.
Local farmers were excited to see so many people playing and planting rice together at a time. It became strange for them, the attempt of tourists trying to learn the paddy plantation. Local farmer shaked their hands of bye! bye! From the plot with smile when the excited but tired crowed left the muddy plot. With smile a local women farmer said, “ Arko Basra Feri Aaunus Hai!”.
The mud holi recharged back memories from childhood for the Nepalese friends and it saved up a unique new experience for the tourists. It is sure now that the facebook profile photos of these mud holi players will be full of mud.
Play in the mud at Bajrabarahi Rice Planting Festival
Local and international tourists play in the mud at the Bajrabarahi Rice Planting Festival Tour organized by Social tour and Powerful Hands at Lalitpur. The fun event is organized to educate people about monsoon rice plantation. 7th June 2012. Photo by Nabin Baral.
Weak Monsoon is Active Now in Kathmandu Valley
Nabin Baral
Kathmandu, 22, 23 and 24 June
Kathmandu is facing continuous rainfall as active monsoon hits Kathmandu valley from Saturday, 23 June. Farmers in the valley are happy now as they were hopeless because of the weak monsoon which was not providing enough rainfall for paddy cultivation.
Although monsoon has arrived in Kathmandu on 16th June, it did not make much rainfall which is suitable for rice cultivation in Kathmandu Valley until 22 June. Senior Divisional Meteorologist from Airport Forecast, Rajendra Paradas Shrestha said, “Monsoon has already arrived in Kathmandu valley since 16th June, it was weak last week but it is active now since 23 June”.
Farmers in Kathmandu are felling the change in rainfall patterns since one decade. Kopila Khadaka, 60, a farmer from Dhapakhel Kathmandu said, “Before the drops of rain used to be small and the rainfall used to be smooth for long period”. But these days the drops are bigger and it is heavy rain fall for shot period.” She added.
Farmers from Dhapakhel are seen working in their paddy field due to the active monsoon rainfall. Monsoon was five days late this year. Ghanshyam Bhandari was worried about the late and week monsoon but he is happy now that monsoon is active. He said, “If we can’t cultivate paddy in time, paddy will not ripe because cold season enters Kathmandu by October”. “Paddy needs a fixed amount of hot days.” He added.
Tilak wants to live in an Elderly House
Nabin Baral, Kathmandu, June 17
Tilak Bahadur Khatri, 71, from Ramechap district, wants to spend rest of his life living in an elderly house at Pashupatinath, Katmandu. He decided to live in elderly home because of poor economic condition and there is no body to look after him .
Tilak was in Pashupatinath Elderly Home with a recommendation letter from his Village Development Committee to get the admission to live in the Home. The Recommendation states that he is with poor economic condition and helpless and he is in need of an elderly home for further life.
One of the staff from the Elderly Home said that Tilak needs to get a more recommendation letter form The Ministry of Women Children and Social Affair from Singadurbar. According to the staff of the Home there is no more vacant room in the home now . The name of Tilak will be kept in queue. The hope of Tilak Bahadur to live in the Elderly Home at Pashupatinath is now in queue at the age of seventy one .
Afternoon Nap at an Elderly Home in Kathmandu
An elderly woman takes an afternoon nap at Pasupatinath Elderly Home in Kathmandu. 17th June, 2012. Photo by Nabin Baral
Fire Disaster in Poverty
It was early foggy morning of November 15, 2009 in Jogimara Village Development committee of Dhading district of Nepal. I was sleeping inside my sleeping bag in a house of Chepang, one of the most backward indigenous ethnic groups of Nepal. Some women shouted in neighbor “Fire! Fire! Help! Help!
I quickly got out of sleeping bag and rushed towards the shout. I saw a house on fire and some children and women were trying to extinguish it but helpless. One of the women shouted “water, bring water! There was no water until the moments when fire ate half of house roof that was made up of straw. Fire showed its maximum strength in the poverty where there is no fire brigade. Even, the only common water supply tap in the village was also with out water supply. Later I knew that the only drinking water supply in the village is irregular. How can villager take help of water to extinguish disaster fire, where there is no sufficient supply of water to drink? I try to help too but I found myself helpless, because there was not weapon to fight against this cruel fire. Suddenly one of the villagers brought pipe with water supply but it was late and the water supply was too small to fight against the mature fire. Until this moment I hadn’t took out my camera but when the fire was out of control I decided to capture this tragedy. Most of the villagers were fighting against the fire.
One thing, I noticed that they were trying to save the stock maize, which was inside the house, from fire by taking great risk. The house owner, Sher Bahadur Chepang, who built this house alone in 6 months just three months ago, was taking biggest risk with fire to save the stock maize which is the main food for his two sons and wife, who was crying by the side of the burning house with one of her son.
At last they were not able to save their house but they were only able to save most of the maize stock. Later my friend Kamal Aryal, who is specialist in Shifting Cultivation in Nepal, explained me the importance of maize in the life of Chepang.
Most of the Chepang people in Nepal don’t have registered land and they have been practicing shifting cultivation around their village in the slope area since many generations. It is not possible to produce rice in shifting cultivation and Chepang people can’t afford rice because they don’t have other source of income except to depend on the shifting cultivation that their forefather taught them to practice. Maize is the main food produced from shifting cultivation with great hard work and is the only staple food of Chepang. Maize is produced once a year from shifting cultivation and which is only enough to serve a chepang family for 4 to 6 months a year. For rest of the months, Chepang people heavily depends on wild and uncultivated foods and or migrate to city areas as low paid labor.
Now I realized why Sher Bahadur Chepang was fighting with the fire not to save cloths and utensils but to save Maize.
Migrant Worker
Seasonal Migrant Worker at a Brick Factory in Kathmandu Valley.
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