Manakaamana and a Nepali Shaadhi

Hindu philosophy, like many philosophies upon which religions have been established, is comprised of layers of interpretation, left for the believer to choose how deeply he or she chooses to delve and seek out the Truth. While the Bhagavad Gita is a melody of the Truth in its most refined form, the Puranas are enriched with allegories of it, depicting, in my opinion, various compositions of energy in the form of Hindu deities, who are required to transform themselves into different avatars and descend into the human world to relay that Truth in a digestible manner to the common man. In some ways, this reflects the practice of Hinduism, which has also taken its own shape and form, mostly in minor ways, in the different regions of the world where it survives. While the fundamental philosophy remains in its pure state, the method in which it is practiced slightly alters. These variations have been quite fascinating to observe in Nepal over the last few weeks.

Earlier this month, we visited the Manakaamana temple, dedicated to a form of the goddess Shakthi, which is situated atop a 1,302 meter mountain, roughly three hours’ drive southwest of Kathmandu. From its base in Chera, we took a fifteen minute cable car ride to the top, enjoying a breathtaking view of the river flowing through mountains and valleys on the way. In Manakaamana village, we were greeted by alleys full of souvenir merchants and restaurant hawkers marketing, “Mattar paneer! Butter chicken!” I was dismayed to find that meat and alcohol were being sold and consumed in and around the temple’s premises. Even more alarming were the offerings of blood to please the gods in the form of animal sacrifices. During my earlier visit to Kathmandu’s temples, I mistook pools of sacrificial blood in front of the deities as kumkum powder mixed with holy water. Though I’m not entirely aware of the history of sacrificial offerings in Hinduism, I was unpleasantly surprised that this was a common practice here in Nepal. Once we reached the temple, the queue to see the deity was several kilometers long, so we opted for the shortcut of giving the priest our previously purchased flowers and coconut to break and receiving the blessed returns before descending back down the mountain.















On the 20th, the Nepalese celebrated the birth of goddess Saraswathi, making it also an auspicious day for marriage. So, when an unsuspecting twenty-five year old male relative of my host family, currently studying in Denmark, came to visit his family for the winter holidays, it came as no surprise to everyone that his family had “found a girl” for him to quickly wed before returning to Denmark. “Why wait another two years for his next visit?” they asked, as I pondered the idea of arranged marriages still taking place in this generation.

The shaadhi commenced with a small poosai (puja) for the groom at his family’s home before traveling with his side of the family and friends on buses to the bride’s home for the wedding ceremony. According to Nepali tradition, the mother of the groom and the father of the bride are not permitted to meet until after the wedding ceremony is complete, so it was quite strange to see the groom’s mother and most of the other mothers in the family left behind as we departed for the ceremony. I tried to find an explanation for this, but the only response I was able to get was, “It’s just an old tradition.” When we arrived near the bride’s home, the buses were emptied out and we were asked to walk, while some danced their way to the home, led by the nadhaswaram-gone-bad musicians.




During the initial ceremony, the bride and groom are brought together, and various members of the family are called forth to apply tika on their foreheads. The most unusual aspect of this practice is that the bride’s feet are placed on the edge of a silver bowl, and as they pour water over them as part of a ritual cleansing, a cupped hand is kept below the bride’s feet. After drinking this collected water, they rub their wet palms into their hair, treating the water as holy water. On one occasion, a female family member swung her hair under the bride’s feet in order to receive the full benefits of this practice. I had to find an explanation for this, because, though a practicing Hindu myself, I have never witnessed such a ritual. Though I hate to pass judgment on other people’s ways, this was certainly difficult to swallow---literally.





Shortly following this ritual, the priest prepared for the wedding poosai under a makeshift manavara of banana leaves and bamboo shafts. As I observed from a distance, it seemed as though the rituals and ceremony were merely a side event, as some guests complacently watched on from sprawled chairs during intervals from their conversations, while others went for walks around the neighborhood. After the very dramatic goodbyes were said between the bride and her family, the groom’s party bussed back to his home, where the festivities continued with singing and dancing under the moonlight.

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Field Visits in Buddha's Birthplace

Over the past three days, a colleague and I have been conducting field visits in the neighboring district of Kapilvastu. Field visits have comprised visiting one of our savings and credit cooperatives of study to gain a better understanding of its structure and financial services and products, conducting client interviews, and visiting clients’ homes and/or microenterprises.

The district of Kapilvastu derives its name from the renowned town of Kapilvastu, where the kingdom of Buddha’s father was once established. It was in this palace that Siddhartha Gautama indulged in every worldly pleasure accessible at the time, as per the instructions of his father, who aspired for his son to become the latter of two possible destinies foretold at the prince’s birth in Lumbini—a spiritual leader or a great king. It was also through the streets of this former kingdom that Siddhartha wondered three times and became witness to three inevitable human tragedies, ultimately directing him on one very long spiritual journey that would compromise his father’s aspirations and propel the spiritual philosophy of Buddhism. Today, the district is frequented by many spiritual leaders, pilgrims, and tourists, desiring to be infused with the energies from both Kapilvastu and Lumbini.

Despite its cultural and historic wealth, the district is still plagued with immense poverty. Our cooperative of study, aptly named Siddhartha Savings and Credit Cooperative, was established eleven years ago to create access to financial services to the poor and disadvantaged communities. While conducting interviews, we were taken through various villages to witness the microenterprises of ten clients, which ranged from poultry farms and fisheries to cosmetic/confectionary stores and cycle repair stores. In order to measure both the social and economic impact of the income generation loans, we’ve diversified our sample as much as possible to include variation in sex, caste, ethnicity, enterprise, and loan duration, among other factors. Though we have yet to analyze the data and draw conclusions on the impact of this work, we heard some incredible stories about these individuals’ ongoing battles with poverty.

Interviews were typically conducted on the porch or in front of the client’s place of income generation, sometimes aside a paddy field and other times around a roadside fire to keep warm in the winter’s cold, but, without fail, always in the presence of the holy Thulasi plant. Every Hindu Nepali follows the tradition of planting the Thulasi plant in front of the home and worshipping her every morning. She is revered as a form of Mahalakshmi, consort of Vishnu, and by botanists and ayurvedists, as a medicinal plant with unique healing properties.

Surprisingly, nearly half of the clients had joined the cooperative in order to adopt an organized habit of savings in addition to accessing credit to start up a new or expand an existing enterprise. While savings and credit cooperatives, unlike most microfinance institutions, serve clients irrespective of their social and economic status, the majority of the clients are still those ineligible to receive financing from commercial banks. Typically, the poorest of clients are just above or just below the international poverty line, as they often are required to have a skill or the capacity to make a loan productive enough to generate some form of income in order to repay a loan. The common perception is that the poor are not in a position to save, but this has been disproved time and time again in practice.

Mina Choudary and her husband’s story provides one such example. Prior to Mina’s membership with Siddhartha, her family of five relied on her husband’s monthly income of approximately USD 52 as a carpenter. They were unable to save any of this amount, let alone meet their food and household expenses. They were economically deficient throughout the year, and this dampened their mentality as they accepted that this was their unchangeable fate. Five years ago, Mina decided to take out a loan from Siddhartha and encouraged her husband to start a furniture business out of their make-shift home. Initially, customers were required to bring their own wood to the home, as profits were not enough to purchase the wood wholesale and store in their tiny living space. After the first loan was repaid, Mina decided to take out two additional loans to expand their growing business. Today, in addition to sufficiently covering their household expenses, shifting their children from government to private schools, and providing all required inputs for furniture orders from a small inventory, Mina and her husband have saved nearly USD 60 monthly, which is being applied towards the construction of a new home in a nearby neighborhood. When asked whether the financial services sought met their expectations, they smiled relentlessly while relaying their disbelief of how much life had transformed for them and their family in the last five years. With a revived hope, Mina also expressed to us her projections of increased income over the subsequent five years and a life that will only continue to get better.

Phulkumari and two other members of her local savings and credit group have also gained from Siddhartha’s microfinance efforts, though primarily socio-politically. Their aim in seeking membership was for individual empowerment and group motivation to regularly save money for productive use at a required time. Though our meeting was with Phulkumari, these ladies remained by her side to demonstrate the mutual support and solidarity nurtured by the group. Tied by a strong sense of camaraderie, these women exhibited an air of strength and determination that is uncommon in many rural areas of Nepal. In addition to enhanced community relationships and participation and regular savings in three groups, Phulkumari has transformed the income of her family from irregular and unpredictable into a consistent one to help meet the expenses of her household.

There is no doubt that microfinance has positively impacted households and individuals, both socio-politically and economically. In Nepal, these stories have demonstrated that where the poor are able to access financial services and market linkages, they can liberate themselves out of the cycle of poverty. Development doesn’t have to imply handouts for short-term gains as is often perceived. The challenge here will be to measure the extent to which such services are triggering sustainable progress.