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Hindu Festivals

Nepal looks for replacement of king's role

AFP, Kathmandu
As Nepal adjusts to life without a monarchy, the country is now trying to decide who should inherit the role of keeper of its all-important Hindu celebrations.
Once a "god king" whose subjects fell at his feet for blessings. King Gyanendra's fall from grace has seen him banished from even a ceremonial role at the festivals.
The duties have been temporarily taken over by the interim prime minister, but many in the Himalayan nation are now debating whether putting an elected leader in place of the king is the answer.
"We cannot end these traditions just because there is no king," says Chunda Bajrachatya. a professor of . ‘cultural stiidlfes’ at Kathrriahdu's1 Tribhuvan University.
"The fact that Nepal is now a republic is not an excuse to drop centuries-old traditions."
Almost every aspect of life in Nepal has its own festival, from the late January celebrations that mark children's first attempts to read and write, to the fruitmarrying festival that is meant to protect girls from becoming widows.
But it is those that pay homage to power, which the king previously presided over, that the country is now grappling with.
Although formally stripped of his powers in May, the monarch's role had been gradually decreasing for more than a decade.
The abolition of the monarchy not only ended the 240-year-old Shah dynasty, it also turned a man
once seen as the incarnation of a Hindu god into a commoner.
During last year's Indra Jatra, one of the most important festivals on the Nepalese calendar, interim Prime Minister G.P Koirala carried out the duties normally reserved for the king.
A practice da tin g back to 1768, the festival has traditionally allowed the monarch to receive blessings - and tacit approval of their rule - from the Royal Kumari, a young prepubescent girl worshipped as a living goddess.
Bajracharya says that under the neworder. itwouldhavebeen bizarre to let the king play the ceremonial role because he no longer had any power.
“The Kumari and other festivals the king was involved in were to acknowledge the person who holjis Ihe pother topTrrteftth^t&ion."}
Satya Mohan Joshi, who writes about Nepali culture, says it is natural for the new leader of the country to take over the king's duties. *
"Cultural hegemony has shifted from the king to the people," says Joshi.
"It's natural that these religious ceremonies are carried out by the president or prime minister."
Royal priest Madhab Bhattarai. now out of work, says the end of royal participation in festivals is sad because it was a way of uniting the country.
"For centuries Nepal has remained socially harmonious, despite being a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-faith country. " Bhattarai says.
Bhattarai says putting an elected leader in that role just isn' t the same.