Maha Shivaratri

This week is the week of Maha Shivaratri, the great night of lord shiva. The festival is held at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu and for Hindus this is one of the most important festivals of the year. Pilgrims from India flood the already overcrowded city and devotees from all over the country line up to offer prayers to lord shiva. Shiva is the Hindu god of destruction.

This is the festival for the Sadhus, Hindu ascetics, who mostly reside in India. At this festival they will be given food and all the marijuana, (or gaaja), they can smoke. There will be over 3000 Sadhus at the festival. This is the only day of the year that Hindus can smoke marijuana legally. Devotees believe that lord shiva smoked marijuana and so they smoke it as part of their worship to him. The celebration begins on the night of February 17th and the devotees will stay up all night and continue the celebration the next day. They cover themselves in ash and offer prayers and devotions as part of the celebration.

The Pashupatinath Temple is also the place where Hindus cremate the bodies of their dead. The bodies are burned on the side of the Bagmati River and then the ashes released into the river. Crowds of people lined the river banks to watch the priests burn the bodies during the festival.

A Saddhu usually does not have a home to return to after the festival. They will make pilgrimages from temple to temple. They will go to peoples houses and ask for money in exchange for a blessing prayed for them. They will read palms and tell peoples fortunes in an effort to make money also. They are seen as holy men and treated with respect. People will consult a Sadhu in an effort to find wisdom.

The Saddhus begin their quest for enlightenment by shaving their heads. Once they begin they will not likely ever cut their hair again and the length of their dread locks can be a sign of how long they have been a Saddhu. Shaving their heads is a way of showing their death of their previous ignorance. From that point on they will try and put to death all forms of materialism. They do not want anything to worry about. They believe that life is a prewritten script and that everything is already decided for them.

There are four sects of Saddhus. The Nath, Bairagi, Naga, and Udasi all worship in different ways and can be distinguished by differences in their appearance and worship styles. The Naths pierce their ears. The Bairagi wear all white. The Naga have a complete disregard for all material things including most of their clothes, but by far the most interesting are the Udasi. The Udasi are attired in black and they strike fear in the eyes of children when they come around. They believe that nothing in the world is detestable. This means that consuming human flesh is not a sin. They are often seen around crematoriums practicing the ritual of eating dead bodies. Parents in Hindu families often use these Saddhus to scare their children by threatening them that if they don't behave a Udasi will eat them.

I asked some of my language teachers about the festival in an effort to learn more about it. They told me to be very careful visiting the festival. There will be many people at the festival trying to steal from visitors and it will be obvious that I am just a visitor. They also can pray some black magic on you if you don’t give them the money that they ask for.

I found myself being stared at by many of the people at the festival. Saddhus approached me three different times and tried to place a red dot on my forehead as a blessing from lord shiva. They were not happy when I refused to let them and tried to explain that I was not a Hindu. Many others approached me and asked me for money and were not too happy when I refused to give them any.

Today was also important because it was another strike or bandh. The Maoists called the bandh and because of it everything was closed. Stores cannot open and vehicles cannot drive on the road. People have to walk or ride a bike if they want to go to work. If a person decides to drive a vehicle he or she can do one of a couple of things. The driver can cover the license plate and just make a run for it and hope that they do not get caught or they can write an excuse on the side of their vehicle. The few vehicles that I saw on the road had signs displaying, “Tourist Only, Media, or Medical Emergency.” If a mob seizes one of these vehicles it will be overturned and torched.

This month is a special month because it is the anniversary of the peoples war. This is why we are experiencing so many bandhs and riots. There has also been an increase in the amount of bombing in Kathmandu. Please pray for peace during this month that many celebrate the night of the god of destruction.

Posted by Jon at February 17, 2004 11:38 AM